THE Lakeside Hammers begin their new Elite Superleague season on Friday when they welcome Leicester to The Raceway.

The Hammers warmed up for the new campaign with a 45-45 draw in the Remembering Rico Spring classic last weekend.

The meeting, held in memory of former rider Lee Richardson, saw the Hammers take on Lee’s All Stars.

Former Hammers captain Davey Watt showed he remembered his way around The Raceway, sweeping round the Hammers pairing of Jonsson and Nilsson in heat one, while in the following heat, Sky Sports commentator Kelvin Tatum rolled back the years with a tapes to flag victory. The shared heat theme continued for the next three races, before new Hammers signing Edward Kennett teamed up with Mikkel Bech to deliver a 5-1 and open the first advantage of the night to the Hammers in heat six.

Two further shared heats followed, including another victory for the impressive Kennett, before former Hammers Richie Worrall and Ben Morley combined to deliver a 2-4 over Nilsson and Ellis in race nine.

After a further three-all in the 10th, Nilsson was squeezed into second place between the All Stars heat leaders Schlein and Nicholls in the 11th.

New reserve Ashley Birks won his first race as a Hammer in heat 12, before two further shared heats left the meeting delicately poised at 42-42 entering the nominated heat 15. After Schlein led from the tapes in the final race, his team mate Nicholls over-cooked it exiting the second bend of the last lap, causing Lawson to fall. The Belle Vue rider was subsequently disqualifed, resulting in an awarded race and a final shared heat and a draw on the night.

As the victor in heat 15, Rory Schlein won the inaugral #Rico Spring trophy.

The first race at The Raceway is at 8pm on Friday.