Richard Lawson says he’s ready to battle from the back in order to win the Premier League Pairs for Glasgow.
The 29-year-old is expected to be joined by Tigers No 1 Nick Morris, who has recovered from his fall against Sheffield on Tuesday night.
Lawson is in scintillating form, dropping just one point to an opponent. He did most of his work from the gate, proving virtually untouchable when making the start.
But the Cumbrian insists his game is not all about what he does at the tapes – and he’s slowly becoming the “full package”.
Lawson said: “I know in most of my races I’m renowned for winning them from the start – starts are my forte. Now the passing is coming into it and I’m not such a gating tart now.
“I’m learning all the time and it’s nice to come from the back now and again.
“When I first came into speedway I was really inexperienced and I discovered I was pretty good at gating straight away, which I think came from the motocross background.
“I used to just say to myself, right, I’ll gate on them and just try and hold them up for four laps, because I didn’t have the speed but I knew I could beat them out the start and I could just wing it from there.
“It’s good to get the starts, you keep yourself out of trouble, but obviously you’ve got to pass as well to be the full package and that’s coming along slowly, so I’m quite happy with that.”
UNFAZED
Lawson says he’s “excited” about the challenge of becoming the Tigers’ first Pairs winners since Joe Screen and James Grieves in 2011.
He said: “We’re both riding pretty well at the minute. I’ve had a quick look at the other pairings and nobody really fazes us too much.
“I think the favourites are probably Somerset – they’re both going pretty well and it’s on their home track. But apart from that, I think we could really do something. You’ve just got to get through those heats and make it to the semi-finals and then see what happens.
“I’ve done the Pairs for a couple of seasons. I think the best I’ve done was last year with Aaron Summers (for Redcar). We got into the semis and we missed out there. It’s a really good event, I like being a part of it and quite excited to do it this year.
“I enjoy the team riding aspect – and you do have to ride slightly differently. You’ve got to avoid that last place at all costs with second and third actually being better than the win. It’s all about how well you ride with your team-mate. Obviously Nick rode there last year so he should be able to share some track craft with me. It’s all looking good.”
Glasgow are in a different group from rivals Edinburgh, throwing up the prospect of the teams meeting for the first time in either the semi-final or the final itself.
CONFIDENCE
Lawson said: “That could be quite exciting – I’m sure the fans will get into it if that does happen. You just have to race whatever team you’re out with, but that would give it an added bit of spice.
“The atmosphere is great there. Hopefully we can get a few Tigers supporters down there backing us as well. They’ve been out in force at most of the away matches we’ve had. We really appreciate that and we hope to see a load down there.”
Former Workington man Lawson is also racing in the Elite League for Lakeside, racing several times a week, and puts his current form down to having the right machinery.
He said: “The bikes are going really well. That’s always a good thing when you can rely on your bikes and you’ve got confidence in them.
“I like to be busy – that’s how I seem to ride better. I’m just enjoying my racing. Obviously you have bad races now and again, but in general, it’s going well and I’m feeling confident. That’s the main thing – I’m just enjoying it.”
Tomorrow’s Pairs meeting starts at 7pm and the Tigers are in Group B along with hosts Somerset, Workington, Redcar and Berwick.
The pairs representing each team are:
GROUP A
Edinburgh: Sam Masters/Kevin Wolbert
Ipswich: Danny King/Rohan Tungate
Rye House: Edward Kennett/Nikolaj B Jakobsen
Peterborough: Ulrich Ostergaard/Michael Palm Toft
Newcastle: Lewis Kerr/Steve Worrall
GROUP B
Glasgow: Nick Morris/Richard Lawson
Somerset: Brady Kurtz/Josh Grajczonek
Workington: Kyle Howarth/Ricky Wells
Redcar: Lasse Bjerre/Stuart Robson
Berwick: Thomas Jorgensen/Kevin Doolan