REIGNING Premiership champions Belle Vue are now seven points clear at the top of the Sports Insure Premiership after defeating Peterborough 55-35 at the National Speedway Stadium.
Words: Hayley Bromley Images: Ian Charles
An early meeting scare from the visitors saw them take an early lead in Heat 1 with Niels-Kristian Iversen and Ben Cook teaming up for a 5-1 over Dan Bewley and Tom Brennan.
But in an exceptional show of skill, in the next race Jake Mulford and Simon Lambert – who was guesting in place of the injured Norick Blodorn – repaid the compliment with a 5-1 of their own.
The ecstatic crowd were on their feet and cheering as the ATPI Aces continued to assert their dominance with a succession of heat advantages as they gradually extended their lead.
The Crendon Panthers tried desperately to respond to the growing threat of the home team, but there was little they could do to recover the massive deficit.
With only four heat wins and two heat winners, the Panthers failed to match the reigning Premiership Champions’ strength while the Belle Vue boys cruised to another emphatic home victory.
Captain Brady Kurtz topped the scores with 12 points while Jaimon Lidsey added 10 of his own, and Rising Star Jake Mulford recorded his best home tally so far with 4+1.
Kurtz said: “It’s nice to bang in a big score at home and to see the whole team performing so strongly is very rewarding as well. This was another great night for us.
“We’ve got a strong case for the bonus aggregate point when we go to Peterborough next week. We’ll be aiming for the win on the night, but every point is crucial right now.
“To see Jake in the points was really cool and Simon came in and did a great job for us in place of Norick, so things are looking positive for the rest of the year.
“We always felt that Peterborough would be one of those teams that we should be putting in a shift against, and after losing at Leicester this is a fantastic boost for the boys.”
The ATPI Aces head to Peterborough next Monday, June 26, before returning to the National Speedway Stadium on Monday, July 3 against the Wolverhampton Wolves, tapes up at 7:30pm.
Meeting tickets, race day programmes, hospitality and south stand parking are now available to pre-book at bellevue-speedway.com/events.
