THE real Kaj Laukkanen is ready to stand up when he begins his third spell with Belle Vue in March.
The 31-year-old Finn made a flying visit to Manchester on Tuesday to sign his contract and, more importantly, to find a house to share with his wife Mari and their first child, who is due on February 11.
Laukkanen has been one of speedway's great wanderers for years, spending hours at airports for eight months of the year as he jetted in and out of Finland to ride in the British, Polish and Swedish leagues.
Now he is taking the Finnish flights out of the equation so he will be able to spend more time with his family in the north west when Mari will have a fresh scene in which to indulge her passion for shopping.
Pressures
Laukkanen, who rode for the Aces between 1999 and 2002, returned for a handful of meetings during the 2004 season and he comes back on a five-point average based on what he admits was an unsettled period at the club.
He also had business pressures to sort out at home but now he is turning his life around - literally - and he feels confident he can make a substantial improvement to his contribution.
He said: "I am at the point now when I am free to come over again and do the business for Belle Vue.
"If the family stayed in Finland I would see them only one or two days a month but it will be easier to spend my days off with them if they are in England.
"I have been looking back at my averages when I have been in England before and they have been over six, over seven and somewhere close to eight.
"When I came in 2004 I only did 10 or 15 meetings and that wasn't enough for me to improve my average, about five at that time.
"Things weren't going well for me but now I think I can go much higher than the figure I'll have at the start of the season."
What do you make of the signing? Have your say.
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On his day Laukkanen is a brilliant rider who is hugely entertaining to watch too. He could easily hold down a heat leader berth with a 7.00+ average........but we've also seen the other side of Laukkanen in the past...the disinterested,tired, chain-smoker riding well under his true capabilities...we've seen him say in the press that he takes 10-12 meetings (nearly half a season) to get going before he rides at full effort..... It all depends which Kaj turns up.....being based in the North West will help, and if he is really going to give it a serious go and not lapse into his old ways he will be a brilliant signing.
We really need Kaj to go well this year. We can't expect our heat leaders to add too much to their average so the other team members must hit the floor running
Kaj could the signing of the season for any elite league club but at the age of 31 is time on his side?
Anyway best of luck for the forthcoming season to all the riders, and thanks to the M.E.N. for the good coverage they give the Aces.
Sounds good to me that Kaj is going to be spending more time in the North West. Im sure it will help his performances for Belle Vue this season.
Lets hope the team can all pull together with the help of a great team manager in Eric Boocock. I feel that we could do much better than some people expect.
Can't expect our heat leaders to improve their averages? I didn't realise we had any!