On a night where they were down two of their regular men, the Belle Vue Aces rallied together to negate a late surge by the King’s Lynn Stars and secure a vital 48-43 victory in Manchester.
Conditions were far from usual after persistent light rain soaked the North West for much of the afternoon, though true to form the National Speedway Stadium’s circuit proved most resilient.
The home team looked powerful and favourites for the win after a first heat 5-1 from Steve Worrall and Kenneth Bjerre gave them an early advantage which they would maintain for the night.
But the Trucks R Us Stars were on a mission to salvage their season after losing ground on the Premiership’s top four and were determined to, if nothing else, recover a consolation point.
They succeeded in that venture, and even forced the Rentruck Aces into a last-heat decider after conditions took turn for the worse in the latter half of the evening; with rain plaguing proceedings.
Club asset Steve Worrall said: “Obviously it’s not ideal when the track is as wet as it was, for more than one reason but particularly because we ultimately lose what home advantage we have.
“Things started off well for us. We got to grips with conditions after all the rain in the afternoon, but when it started coming down again it seemed to really play to the King’s Lynn Stars’ favour.
“Fair play to them in getting the point. They ran us close all the way to the end of the meeting and proved that even after just a week they have a great team spirit and a determination to succeed.
“Obviously it was a vital win for ourselves in terms of the league. We’re just about holding onto that second place but we can’t say for definite that we’re safe into the Play Offs just yet.
“There’s still a long way to go and a lot of meetings to race so we need to really knuckle down and get to grips with the idea of this year potentially being our year to be league champions.”
Words: Hayley Bromley
Images: Ian Charles
The Rentruck Aces head to Rye House on August 16, while National League action against Birmingham returns to Manchester on August 18. Tickets available at www.bellevueaces.co
