THE first major trophy of the 2017 speedway season went to King’s Lynn Stars, as their duo of Chris Holder and Robert Lambert won the SGB Premiership Pairs title at Somerset's Oaktree Arena.

The home ‘Cases’ Rebels representatives, Rohan Tungate and Patrick Hougaard, finished in fifth place, scoring 12 points from their three group outings.

Somerset missed out on progressing from the group stages and into the semi-finals by just two points, though the Rebels’ Rohan Tungate did have the satisfaction of heading home world number five and ex-Rebel Jason Doyle in their first outing of the night.

As it was, Wolverhampton, the eventual runners-up, and Swindon topped Group A to book their places in the semi-finals, as did King’s Lynn and Rye House from Group B, with the former looking particularly impressive in winning all three of their group heats by the maximum 7-2 scoreline.

The semi-finals saw Wolverhampton and King’s Lynn prevail over Rye House and Swindon respectively, but, in truth, Wolves never looked like upsetting the King’s Lynn apple cart.

Holder and Lambert ended the night as they had started it, with another maximum 7-2 heat win, and the SGB Premiership Pairs trophy was winging its way to Norfolk.

Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News:

WINNERS: The King's Lynn duo of Chris Holder and Robert Lambert celebrate their Premiership Pairs victory. Pic: Colin Burnett

Somerset team manager Garry May said: “First and foremost, it was an excellent night of speedway played out in front of a good size crowd.

"I think Rohan and Patrick did Somerset proud against some very tough opposition, and their performance tonight bodes well for the season ahead for the team as a whole.

“In saying that, however, King’s Lynn were a class act all night, and many congratulations to Chris Holder and Robert Lambert for their much deserved win.”

Results
Group A - Wolverhampton 17: Freddie Lindgren 10 & Jacob Thorssell 7 Swindon 14: Jason Doyle 10 & Nick Morris 4
Somerset 12: Rohan Tungate 6 & Patrick Hougaard 6
Belle Vue 11: Craig Cook 7 & Max Fricke 4
Group B - King’s Lynn 21: Chris Holder 11 & Robert Lambert 10
Rye House 15: Scott Nicholls 10 & Chris Harris 5
Leicester 11: Kim Nilsson 7 & Danny King 4
Poole 7: Brady Kurtz 4 & Jack Holder 3

Semi-final 1 - Thorssell, Lindgren, Harris, Nicholls (Wolverhampton 7, Rye House 2)
Semi-final 2: Doyle, Lambert, Holder, Morris (King’s Lynn 5, Swindon 4)
Grand final: Lambert, Holder, Thorssell, Lindgren (ret) (King’s Lynn 7, Wolverhampton 2)