King's Lynn Stars swoop for a world champion

The King's Lynn Stars have signed a World Champion.

Erik Riss, the former German champion, holds two World Longtrack titles and he joins the Tru Plant Stars in time for tonight's trip to Belle Vue.

And in an ironic twist he will be up against his brother Mark, who makes his debut for the Manchester men!

Riss comes in for Jason Garrity and he moves straight into the main body of the side with Michael Palm Toft moving to reserve.

Boss Dale Allitt said: "I'm delighted to welcome Erik to the club although it is a bit harsh on Jason, I'll admit that.

"I'm disappointed it's not quite worked out with Jason and we thank him for his efforts in the short time he's been with us.

"But this move makes us stronger in my opinion. Erik has a lot of quality and with Michael moving back down to reserve it gives us added strength in that department.

"We had a bad result against Poole on Wednesday and it's important for us to hit back although we know heading to Belle Vue it will be very tough.

"Then we're back at the Adrian Flux Arena on Wednesday when we need our fans to once again turn out in force and get right behind the boys.

"The league table is so tight right now we need to keep putting points on the board and these two meetings are important for us."

King's Lynn are the only team to beat Belle Vue at the National Speedway Stadium this season – but Allitt insists that counts for nothing.

"They were depleted that night although it was a wonderful performance by us," he said.

"We will need everyone to be firing on all cylinders again when we go there. They have a good side and like us they are challenging for a play-off place, so it's a big week for both teams."

Belle Vue: Craig Cook, Steve Worrall, Dan Bewley, Rohan Tungate, Max Fricke, Mark Riss, Damian Drozdz.

King's Lynn Stars: Robert Lambert, Erik Riss, Ty Proctor, Thomas Jorgensen, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Simon Lambert, Michael Palm Toft.