A closely contested battle at the National Speedway Stadium ended with a 48-42 victory, and three more league points, for the Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces over King’s Lynn.
Despite concerns of thunderstorms plaguing Manchester in the build-up to the meeting, Gorton was fortunate as to avoid any major downpours prior to tapes up.
But the home team found themselves somewhat depleted after it was confirmed that both Jye Etheridge and Matej Žagar had been ruled out due to injuries sustained over the weekend.
It seemed as though the odds were stacked against them, but once again the ATPI Aces proved their tenacity and delivered a stupendous win against a determined Stars team.
The club utilised Rider Replacement for his team mates to cover the injured Etheridge’s rides while Peterborough’s Michael Palm Toft accepted a guest booking at No.3 to cover for the injured Žagar.
Charles Wright, a busy man on the night taking six of a possible seven rides, top scored for the Mancunians with 12+1 and was delighted to see his side notch another win.
He said: “All the boys did their job tonight. We did miss Jye and Matej, for sure, but I think this was an important result for us because we’ve proved we can rise to the challenge.
“Track conditions were very tricky after all the rain we had the previous day, and it was very wet in the first few heats so it took a while for it to settle down.
“But as it was drying out it got a little more grippy on the outside and you really had to hang onto the bike when you were out there, but I quite like the dirt to be honest!
“Going into Heat 15 I didn’t realise how close the scores were, and while we try not to focus too much on that myself and Max [Fricke] knew we had a job to do.
“Overall I think we can be proud of what we achieved tonight. King’s Lynn didn’t make it easy for us but at the end of the day we got the three points which is the main thing.”
Words: Hayley Bromley
Images: Ian Charles
