ACES HIT BACK
BELLE Vue sent out a serious statement of intent to their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off rivals with an impressive 54-36 win over Sheffield at the National Speedway Stadium.
Brady Kurtz scored a 15-point maximum for the Aces in front of a bumper Bank Holiday crowd, as the home side only just fell short of the mark required for the aggregate point after a 20-point defeat at Owlerton earlier this month.
Kurtz was backed up by 10+2 from Dan Bewley and strong contributions in the middle order, whilst reserve Tate Zischke gained two confidence-boosting race wins.
Jack Holder scored 13 for the Tigers with his efforts in Heats 11-13, where he took two wins and a second place, ensuring the visitors would add to their points total.
Aces manager Mark Lemon said: “We always know these War of the Roses clashes will be hotly contested.
“We lost the aggregate point, which is disappointing. But we gave them a pretty good shake-up to miss out by just two points.
“When you win a meeting by 18 points you generally get the bonus. We’ve still got work to do, but there were some really encouraging signs today.”
Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “Credit where it’s deserved, Belle Vue were on fire making great starts and making us work really hard.
“The fact that we did such a good job on them at our place goes to show how important that is in getting the aggregate point.
“But we draw a line under this one because anything can happen, and at the end of the day it’s one bad meeting.”
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Photo credit: IAN CHARLES
