EXCITING BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND SEES ACES & TIGERS TAKE WIN EACH

A challenging, yet exciting bank holiday of racing saw the Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces move from fourth to second in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership, ahead of their final meeting at King’s Lynn on August 28.

The National Speedway Stadium was packed with eager supporters from both sides of the Pennines as Manchester basked in some of the most pleasant weather, creating perfect conditions for racing. 

Their afternoon got off to a rocky start with the Tru7 Group Tigers taking an early lead before the ATPI Aces responded with a triple whammy of 5-1s to take the lead for themselves.

It was the beginning of what summed up the entire afternoon, with the Aces one minute behind and next in front with the final result coming down to a last-heat decider.

Controversy in Heat 14 put rival racer Josh Pickering in the spotlight after some argy-bargy with Antti Vuolas at the tapes before words exchanged with Ben Cook after the chequered flag.

But the ATPI Aces racers rose above the mind games and ultimately triumphed in the final race to take a 6-point advantage to Owelrton.

British GP Champion Dan Bewley led the way with 12 points while Cook added an impressive 11+1 and Brady Kurtz, despite struggling through injury, bagged 8+1.

Bewley said: “It wasn’t ideal with them taking such a strong lead early doors, and it does and doesn’t raise the stakes a little for the boys to respond to that.

“But I believe in this team, we know our capabilities at home and we just had to make a point of actually putting that into practice and that’s exactly what we did.

“It’s important at this stage of the season to get that good momentum behind us. We know we’re in the play offs, we’ve got a good idea of who we may face and now the hard work begins.”

It was a tale of two meetings when the ATPI Aces journeyed across the Pennines to Owlerton for the reverse fixture, where it was Sheffield who were the dominant force.

The visitors were on the back foot early doors after Brady Kurtz was forced to withdraw still suffering the effects of a crash in Poland a week ago.

Despite their best efforts, the ATPI Aces were unable to replicate the form they established at Ipswich and ultimately had to settle for second best on the day.

Bewley continued: “It just wasn’t our night for whatever reason. Losing Brady hurt us and hopefully he’ll be back stronger for the play offs.

“Starts are so important at Sheffield and their boys can ride this place, but so can we. We struggled to gate and once we did, their boys had already got where they wanted to be.

“It was a bit annoying for myself, with machine problems and by the time I found something that worked we were out of it. We know we can get results here but it just wasn’t our night.”

The Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces complete their 2024 calendar fixtures at King’s Lynn on Wednesday, August 28 after which they then await confirmation of their play off dates and opponent.

RESULT – BELLE VUE V SHEFFIELD – MONDAY, AUGUST 26 @ 12PM  [P2]

Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces 48: Dan Bewley 12, Ben Cook 11+1, Brady Kurtz 8+1, Antti Vuolas 7+3, Norick Blodorn 5+1, Jaimon Lidsey 4+1, Jake Mulford 1.

Sheffield ‘Tru7 group’ Tigers 42: Josh Pickering 15+1, Jack Holder 10, Chris Holder 7+1, Tom Brennan 4, Kyle Howarth 3, Jason Edwards 2, Joe Thompson 1+1.

RESULT – SHEFFIELD V BELLE VUE – MONDAY, AUGUST 26 @ 7:30PM [P2]

Sheffield ‘Tru7 group’ Tigers 56: Chris Holder 15, Jack Holder 12+2, Kyle Howarth 11, Josh Pickering 9+2, Jason Edwards 7+2, Joe Thompson 2, Tai Woffinden r/r.

Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces 34: Dan Bewley 13, Ben Cook 9+2, Norick Blodorn 4, Antti Vuolas 4, Jaimon Lidsey 2+2, Jake Mulford 2, Brady Kurtz r/r.