HE may have scorched away to a paid maximum in his debut meeting in the number one race-jacket in Somerset’s demolition of Sheffield, but Brady Kurtz admitted afterwards that there were just one or two ‘butterflies’ before the first heat of Friday’s meet.

“For sure, it is obviously a big thing to be riding at number one for a club such as Somerset, you only have to look back in recent years to see some of the great name who have ridden there for the Rebels,” he said afterwards.

“So yes, there were a few nerves before I went out in heat one, as it is a big responsibility to get the team off to a good start, but once I got to the tapes, those butterflies quickly disappeared and I had a peach of a first race, after which everything went better than I could have ever expected.

“The team were superb tonight, Starkey [Paul Starke] and guest Kyle Howarth both getting maximum’s as well plus Josh [Grajczonek] and Wrighty [Charles Wright] just missing out on maximums of their own.”

Fellow ‘maximum man’ Paul Starke was also, understandably, pleased with his night’s work, revealing afterwards when interviewed in the Oaktree clubhouse that some changes he made to his set-up made all the difference.

“Things haven’t gone quite as I had hoped so far this year, so I made some changes to the bike for tonight’s match, and I think you can safely say that they worked,” said Starke.