PIRATES MOVE FOR JAKOBSEN

Frederik Jakobsen will replace Mateusz Szczepaniak in the Volvo Cars Poole Pirates septet from Wednesday, promoter Matt Ford has confirmed.

Szczepaniak has struggled for form since joining the Pirates at the start of the 2018 SGB Premiership campaign and, following Wednesday’s Knockout Cup defeat at home to Somerset, Ford has moved to draft in Danish prospect Jakobsen on a 4.00 average.

Ford said: “Mateusz has far more ability than he has shown and we needed him to really increase his average, bit it’s just not happening for him at the moment, in either the UK or Poland.

“He’s a great lad and it’s with a heavy heart that we have removed him from the team.

“Frederik isn’t a club asset yet but once he achieves a certain average he will become one. I brought him over to the UK a few years ago for the Blue Riband and he was always going to become a Pirates rider, but originally this was going to be in 2019.

“However, he let me know a few weeks ago that he was ready to come over and had been approached by Belle Vue and Somerset, so the timing was right for us.

“He rode for Denmark in the Speedway of Nations and I believe him to be the best young asset the Danes have. That’s why I have courted him for the past couple of years.”

Jakobsen, 19, will make his Pirates debut at reserve at home to Belle Vue on Wednesday, alongside fellow Dane Nicolai Klindt, while Kacper Woryna moves back into the main body of the team.

Ford added: “There isn’t a lot to lose in this. We’ve given Mat a fair run in terms of time and it hasn’t happened for him.

“Frederik is hungry for success and has every intention of going to the top so we hope he will hit the ground running for us.

“We had to do something after Mat failed to score on Wednesday and although both Kacper Gomolski and Oliver Berntzon, the young Swede, were in my thoughts, they were out of the question due to a lack of equipment.”

Klindt will miss the SGB Premiership clash against the Aces on Wednesday due to Danish commitments, so Somerset star Nico Covatti comes in as a guest for the Pirates.