Rising star Simon Gustafsson has got his famous dad worried with his stunning start to the season.

The 18-year-old Swedish reserve has been notching double figure scores on a regular basis for Eastbourne Eagles.

He will be a key man as Eagles face league leaders Lakeside on each of the next two evenings.

Fans and management alike at Arlington are delighted to see potential begin to be realised so dramatically after a testing debut season.

His dad Henka, the former World Cup rider, shares that delight but knows he could be on the receiving end.

Father and son have ridden for the same top-flight team in Sweden until now but a winter transfer by Henka, 38, means they go head to head in the opening round of meetings a week on Tuesday.

Stopping one of the hottest young properties in the sport is quite a challenge, even for his dad.

“This year he is looking unbelievable,” Henka said. “He’s looking more mature. He’s not 19 until May and there will still be one or two dips but at the moment he is looking really good.

“I’m a bit worried. We’re racing against him and I might have a little look at some of that machinery he has got there beforehand!

“It will be the first time we’ve raced against each other in proper league stuff.”

A series of wins in reserve races plus scalps such as Chris Holder, Bjarne Pedersen and Simon Stead mean Gustafsson junior is on his way out of the Eastbourne reserve berths as soon as new averages come into play.

He will be a big factor at Lakeside tonight (8.00) and Arlington tomorrow (7.30) as Eagles look to underline their bright start to the season.

Gustafsson the Eagle puts his great form down partly to gaining experience and partly to a winter training regime.

Top Swedish performers in various motorcycle disciplines were brought together in Stockholm at the beginning and the end of the close season.

They were given winter training regimes, then tested to see if they had stuck to them Henka said: “The federation got them working but Simon has always been very keen on training in the winter anyway.

“He did some work with me in the construction industry for a couple of weeks as well.”

Gustafsson junior reckons it was the type rather than volume of exercise which got his slight frame even more streamlined.

He revealed: “I’ve been doing more running, more stretching, less gym and I’ve lost 2kg.

“I’ve really got my mind into it. I just want to win the next race.

“I feel like I can beat anyone if I make the gate and that’s how you’ve got to think.”

A few of the cynics who wrote Eastbourne off as likely wooden spoonists will now be looking at Gustafsson’s move from reserve as a problem for his team.

It need not be. Any of the current top five would plunder plenty of points from a reserve berth.

There also remains the prospect of Russian champion Denis Gizatullin coming in at some stage, if necessary.

Eagles have no immediate plans to make a change but Ricky Kling could do with a couple of good meetings against the club from whom he joined Eastbourne on loan.

Lakeside are weakened this weekend by the loss of Joonas Kylmakorpi with a broken elbow.

His partnership with Lee Richardson was arguably the key to Lakeside’s 19-point home win over Eagles recently which smoothed their way through a two-leg Knockout Cup tie.

Eagles team manager Trevor Geer knows Kylmakorpi well. His son Chris is the Finn’s mechanic and the rider often stays at the Geers’ house in Polegate.

Young Gustafsson is also a regular overnight guest.

“A great lad, very mature for his age,” said Geer of his star No. 7.

“He has got very good technique on the track, never looks in trouble at all and, because he has grown up with speedway around him thanks to his dad, he just wants to get to the top.”

Belief is gradually increasing throughout the Eagles camp that Gustafsson’s rise could include a part in a title challenge this season.

The next two nights might tell us how realistic that belief is.

Meanwhile, Eagles’ Elite League meeting at Ipswich last night was washed out at 7pm. A steady drizzle had turned into steady rain by this time, and referee Phil Griffin had no option than to call a halt.

Lakeside: Shields, Davidsson, Richardson, Kylmakorpi r/r, Nieminem, Morris, Robson Eagles: Watt, Norris, Bridger, Woodward, Dryml, Kling, Gustafsson.