Lewis Bridger insists he is the man for a pressure situation after helping Eastbourne Eagles get their league campaign up and running.

Bridger ensured Eagles scored a full three points from their Arlington opener in the Elite League by winning heat 15 in spectacular style.

He charged around the outside off the unfavoured gate four to beat previously invincible Krzysztof Kasprzak and secure a 54-42 win over Belle Vue Aces.

Eagles were fairly comfortable victors, despite double-points heat wins for Kasprzak and his skipper Charlie Gjedde. However the new scoring system meant the meeting was still alive when Aces closed to 50-40 going into the nominated race.

No one had got near Kasprzak and a Belle Vue 5-1 would have meant Eagles took just two points to their visitors’ one, which would given the win a bit of a hollow feel.

Kasprzak had the inside gate but Bridger thrilled a crowd of about 1,000 with his terrific gate and first two bends. He then had the speed and composure to finish the job.

Meanwhile, skipper Davey Watt rode a sensible race in third, ensuring Gjedde was kept at the back, meaning Eagles would have got the result they needed even if Bridger had come a cropper.

Not that it looked like happening. The 19-year-old is more mature and secure on the bike than ever and he completed another pleasing personal performance in style.

Bridger said: “I love a bit of pressure. Davey said to me ‘you’re off four and you’ve got to be up there, if you’re not I’m going straight out to the dirt’.

“I knew it was either get roasted or give 110% and beat Kasprzak, who was on a maximum. It was a great way to finish the night.”

Bridger, who is targeting a Grand Prix spot at Cardiff this season, was back on his favoured Eastbourne bike for his later rides and offered praise to tuner Neville Tatum, the man whose work he had criticised recently.

He said: “My Eastbourne bike felt awesome. Great thanks to Neville, he has done me some really good stuff.

“I love stepping up to the challenge. That’s why I’d love to get the wild card for Cardiff because I won’t be fazed by it, I’ll have nothing to lose.”

The new scoring system has kept most meetings alive right up to heat 15 in the first week of the league season and Eagles team manager Trevor Geer is a fan.

He said: “We all thought we would win but the new scoring system brings a lot of life into the meeting.

“Because of that we had to drop Ricky Kling from his last ride, which is a shame, but you have got to go for it all the time. Simon Gustafsson and Lewis Bridger had fantastic meetings and they got good support.”

Aces have a poor record at Arlington but they led 10-8 after three heats.

Kasprzak’s heat one defeat of Watt was not in the home script.

Neither was success in heat two for Patrick Hougaard, ending Gustafsson’s unbeaten record in reserves races this year.

Gustafsson, though, bounced back for another good meeting, sharing in three of the hosts’ five 5-1s.

David Norris was clearly thrilled with his win in heat eight, then angered when he was excluded after going down under pressure from Gjedde in heat ten after getting out on a 5-1 behind Watt.

The veteran is easing his way back into form and dropped just one point from his first three rides. Even that spill into the third bend air fence had its lighter side.

“It was my seventh crash already,” said a grinning Norris.

“People were worried about what would happen when I had my first crash. Well I’ve had seven now!”

Cameron Woodward’s patchy early season form is not a laughing matter but he will come good, while Ricky Kling has yet to really fire.

Generally, though, the signs are promising, in terms of both results and entertainment.

Saturday’s attendance, while below the target figure of 1,200 per meeting, was not a disaster given it was an early-season fixture against, in theory at least, not such attractive opposition.

Good Friday’s visit of Poole, and joint track record holder Chris Holder, will offer a more telling guide of how good this team is and how the public is responding.

Bridger, who clocked a speedy 55.6sec in heat 15 is, of course, well up for it.

“That was fast but not as fast as Holder,” he said: “There’s a lot a more to come.”