ICE-cool Paul Starke faces a race against time to reach Leicester but the Pirates reserve insists his trusty satnav can help him win his battle against the clock.

The doubling-up ace is due to ride for Somerset at Scunthorpe from 3pm before turning out for Pirates at Beaumont Park tonight (7.30pm).

A road trip of 80 miles separates the two tracks and despite the potential danger of bank holiday traffic, Starke is confident he will arrive for Elite League duty with time in hand.

He told the Daily Echo: “My satnav says it is going to take an hour and 40 minutes as long as there is no traffic or hiccups, so I should be able to get to the meeting for about 7pm.

“It’s going to be tight but it’s not a bad journey from Scunthorpe to Leicester so fingers crossed we can get away as soon as possible and get down on time.

“It’s an important match for Somerset and if I have a good meeting then I might be needed in heat 14.

“I’ve got to be there just in case something happens but, hopefully, the team can take a bit of pressure off me and we can be in a good situation before it comes to that, and maybe I will be able to get away a little bit earlier.

“I’ll set the bike up before I even get to Leicester – I imagine I will do that at Scunthorpe so everything will be ready when I get there.”

Although the prospect of arrival some 30 minutes before tapes-up might not be considered ideal, Starke believes it could work in his favour.

He added: “I had a situation previously where I did Buxton in the morning and then Leicester in the afternoon and it actually worked out well in the second meeting.

“The track was horrendous but I didn’t have a chance to look at it so I just went out and went for it and ended up with 11 points.

“Sometimes it’s better to just get on the bike and not think about it.”

Pirates have experienced mixed fortunes of late with a draw at home to Belle Vue followed by a heavy defeat at Wolverhampton, a home win over the same opposition and an impressive victory at Lakeside.

Starke added: “We really need to make sure we stay on track now and get the league points we need.

“We lost and drew at home recently so we need to turn the screw and make sure we are in a good position come the play-offs.”

LIONS: (from) Jason Doyle, Lewis Bridger, Bjarne Pedersen r/r, Szymon Wozniak, Grzegorz Zengota (guest), Ashley Birks (guest), Simon Lambert. Team manager: Norrie Allan.

PIRATES: (from) Davey Watt, Chris Holder, Dakota North, Kacper Gomolski, Maciej Janowski, Paul Starke, Kyle Newman. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.