BIRMINGHAM’s 2025 season got underway with a heavy 57-33 defeat in the home leg of their Premiership Knockout Cup tie with Leicester on Monday night.
The Curtis Sport Brummies had an entire septet making their debuts for the club – and the new look side were dominated by their opponents who finished runners-up in the league last year.
The visitors capitalised on a slow start from captain Tobiasz Musielak and mechanical gremlins for Jonas Jeppesen by claiming a 5-1 in the opener before reserve pairing Jason Edwards and Antti Vuolas took the minor placings in a shared Heat Two Leicester added a 4-2 in the third when Michael Jepsen Jensen had chain issues away from the tapes before Edwards became Birmingham’s first race winner of the season with a mature Heat Four outing.
The visitors’ opening pairing of Max Fricke and Luke Becker sealed a second maximum in Heat Five, despite the battling efforts of Keynan Rew, before Musielak and Jeppesen delivered the Brummies’ only heat advantage of the night in the sixth with a 4-2.
Leicester restored their 10-point lead with a 4-2 of their own in Heat Seven with Matej Zagar finding a way past Kyle Howarth before Jeppesen made a flying start to help him on his way to victory in the eighth.
Rew and Jepsen Jensen got by Kemp to take the minor placings in Heat Nine before Leicester outgated the Brummies for another 5-1 in the tenth.
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Team manager Chris Adams reflects on a disappointing defeat last night – insisting his riders need to master a set-up to get them out of the starts on home shale.#BIRLEI | #britishspeedway pic.twitter.com/8fnlvYEo97
— Birmingham Speedway (@BrumSpeedway) March 25, 2025
Two further maximums followed for the Lions in Heats 12 and 13 with shared races in 11 and 14.Brummies team manager Chris Adams says his riders need to master a set-up to get them out of the starts on home shale.
The Second City side managed just three race winners and one heat advantage all night in a contest where they were dominated away from the tapes by their opponents.
Unsurprisingly, Adams was disappointed with the result, but with him predicting that Leicester will be the toughest team they’ll come up against at home, he hopes his Brummies will know what to do differently when Ipswich visit in the league on Monday, April 7 (7.30pm).
“It’s not how we wanted to start our season off whether it’s the cup or not,” Adams said.
“We were well below par and second off the gates all night.
“Take nothing away from Leicester though, they were far better than us out the gates and that’s just the way it went unfortunately for us.
“We’ve got seven new guys, none of them are used to racing here week in, week out and let’s be fair, Leicester are a good team, they’re solid and probably out of all the teams in the league, they’re probably going to be the best ones that come to Birmingham.
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Team manager Chris Adams reflects on a disappointing defeat last night – insisting his riders need to master a set-up to get them out of the starts on home shale.#BIRLEI | #britishspeedway pic.twitter.com/8fnlvYEo97
— Birmingham Speedway (@BrumSpeedway) March 25, 2025
“It was a good test for us, the lads were all trying different set-ups to work but it’s definitely from the gate they need to be working it from.”
The second leg takes place at Leicester’s Hydroscand Arena tonight (March 27, 7.30 pm).
There is action at Perry Barr on Monday (March 31, 7.30 pm) as Birmingham’s Ductair Bulls face Leicester Fox Cubs in the National Development Trophy.
BIRMINGHAM 33: Keynan Rew 9, Jonas Jeppesen 5, Matej Zagar 5, Jason Edwards 5, Tobiasz Musielak 4, Antti Vuolas 3+3, Michael Jepsen Jensen 2+1.
LEICESTER 57: Max Fricke 13+2, Ryan Douglas 11, Drew Kemp 9+2, Kyle Howarth 9+1, Luke Becker 7+1, Sam Masters 7, Sam Hagon 1+1.
