LEMON – A BIG GAMBLE

BELLE Vue boss Mark Lemon admits the club took a team-building gamble over the winter regarding the possible availability of Dan Bewley.

Lemon was prepared to wait and see whether restrictions governing the number of other leagues riders competing in Poland can undertake would be lifted, following an initial proposal between federations in late November.

He said: “I will freely admit, I took a big gamble and waited to see if that regulation would change.

“If it had, and I had finalised my team prior, that is something I would have regretted, and the Belle Vue supporters wouldn’t have forgiven me for not waiting and allowing Dan to return.

“The chance was there that we could potentially have brought him back to Belle Vue in 2022, had that rule changed, so I felt the best decision was to wait it out.

“Unfortunately, as time went on the situation became more political and we were ultimately told that the regulation change would not happen this year.”

Lemon says the club are close to naming their final signing, who will be in place for the Aces’ League Cup opener against Sheffield on March 28.