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| | | | | | YOUNG STARS SIGN KENNETT Wednesday August 12, 2026 39-year-old Kennett has made a comeback to regular speedway this season, having had a spell in Oxford’s Championship side as a replacement for the unwell Erik Riss. He will now race for the Young Stars, taking the place of Jack Kingston in the one-to-seven, with his first appearance to come in the home match against Middlesbrough on Wednesday August 26. Team manager Jason Pipe said: “This is a signing that’s come right out of the blue. Edward himself rang me yesterday morning to ask about any plans I had regarding the Young Stars team, as he knew we were struggling this season with injuries etc and asked if I could fit him into our NDL side at King’s Lynn, as he was now without a team spot in any of the three leagues, having been released from the Oxford Championship side, right out of the blue, so Oxford could bring Erik Riss back in. This was something Edward was not expecting at all. "Edward has loved being back racing Speedway this season. I’ve bumped into Edward on quite a few occasions this year, whether it’s been at a Speedway track or even at Grasstrack and we’ve had chats on a few occasions and he’s someone I’ve got on quite well with this season. "It’s quite fitting that Edward should now be racing in the NDL, as the league is sponsored by the WSRA ( World Speedway Riders Association ) and the president of the WSRA is none other than his Uncle, Barney Kennett! "Once Edward rang me, I knew it was a no brainer and because of our current ongoing team issues, I just had to bring him into the Young Stars line up. After a few phone calls and messages between a few people, which had to be done so that we got this right, a deal was agreed and all sorted within a couple of hours. "Edward comes into the NDL on a converted average of 10.00, as his current Championship average is 5.00. By Edward coming in, it also gives him a chance of more rides and also helps us out big time. "He will come into the Young Stars line up to replace Jack Kingston. Things just haven’t worked out for Jack this year, due to circumstances in the end, that seen him having to focus more on his own business and then a midweek track became more difficult for him and then when he was in a position to allow himself more time for Speedway and a planned comeback at our recent meeting away to Middlesbrough, Jack was involved in a couple of crashes that were no fault of his own and ended up with wrist damage, so that then ruled him out of the Middlesbrough away fixture. "It was then planned for him to return to the side at Buxton last Sunday, but after a practice last Thursday, his wrist was still playing him up and then it was a case of not knowing when Jack would be fit again. So with Edward calling me out of the blue and with Jack’s current situation, I had to make a change for the good of the team and I notified Jack that I would be taking him out of our 1-7 and allow Edward to come in, which Jack was very understanding about. "I’m gutted that things didn’t work out with Jack and King’s Lynn this season and I can say there has never been any fall out with Jack and I’ve already tried to get him a team spot with a couple of other clubs, which I do hope they’ll at least take a look at having Jack in their team. "I know this signing will receive a few negative responses, but when you get an opportunity out of the blue like this to bring in a rider, which strengthens the team up, you don’t dismiss that, especially when we’ve been looking at bringing a rider in for a few weeks now with no joy. "The facility we had for Jack ran out after our meeting at Buxton last Sunday and we were left with having to put an unattached and a very inexperienced 2.00 point rider into our 1-7 and we’d would have been just so weak with a team average then of around 33. "I owe it to our fans, the club and the rest of the riders in the team to make this team stronger, so that we can give other teams a good close meeting and put on some good entertainment for the fans. "Now this heat leader position is sorted out, I can now have a closer look at the number 2 position and one of the reserve berths over the next couple of weeks. "I need to look to see when Kenzie Cossey maybe back racing again. We also have Sam Woods who is out injured and when he maybe back and also look at what Kyran Lyden’s availability is, as I only had an agreement with him to come in and do meetings up to including our away fixture at Buxton, but he was then ruled out with concussion and missed the trip to Buxton. "As well as that and with knowing that Ollie Binns will be in the main 1-5 for our last 2 meetings, it may even be a case of giving opportunities to other 2.00 point unattached riders over the last 3 meetings, as I really like to give these riders a feel for this level of racing, when an opportunity arises to do so. "Having Edward in the team will also be a big boost for the younger riders in the team, as I’m sure they’ll learn a few things from Edward over these remaining fixtures and take something from them and take on board what advice Edward passes onto them and they use that advice as they progress with their career development. "We can hopefully now finish this very disappointing season on a positive, by being very competitive in our 3 remaining meetings. Win lose or draw, we can now make sure we are competitive in these remaining fixtures and give the fans some good racing to watch." | | Share This: | | | | | | | KING'S LYNN STARS vs. | | | IPSWICH WITCHES MONDAY AUGUST 24, 2026 @ 7.30pm PREMIERSHIP R2 | | |