BELLE VUE boss Mark Lemon praised “special performances” after a thrilling comeback win over Sheffield.
ATPI Aces had to dig deep from eight-points down to snatch a last heat decider 46-44 victory at the National Speedway Stadium.
But the joy didn’t last long with a massively disappointing 57-33 defeat at Owlerton just five hours later.
However the last-gasp effort from Zach Cook in heat 14 and then Dan Bewley and Brady Kurtz to take the points in Manchester, delivered another classic to savour.
Lemon said: “Bank Holiday Mondays are always nail-biters here. To come away with a home win was the most important thing.
“We stuck to our processes and eventually got back in it. It took some special performances towards the end of the meeting.
“To keep winning at home is pretty important. The meeting at Owlerton was hugely disappointing.
“When you are eight-points down, you are always trying to be one step ahead.
“It was challenging because every time we could use a tactical it fell onto gate four.
“Eventually I had to put Brady (Kurtz) off gate four and it worked a treat with him and Jaimon (Lidsey) and that got us back in it.
“You shouldn’t be using tacticals as a home club. But it worked and that’s all that matters.”
Bewley was his usual swashbuckling self and powered clear in the all-important decider.
He said: “For me it was just the first race, gate four wasn’t easy to get off. But obviously Jaymo (Lidsey) made a good one off it.
“I just thought of brighter things to come and better gates. After the first race it wasn’t too bad.
“I saw that we were a few points behind. The tactical with Brady (Kurtz) and Jaymo pulled a few back.
“Then Zach (Cook) getting Justin (Sedgmen) on the line got us level. It can change so quick. It was a close win.”
Zach Cook has become something of a penultimate heat specialist and came from last to fourth right on the line to draw the teams level with one race to go.
He added: “I didn’t make the best of starts and gate four by heat 14 is pretty worn out.
“I made some changes during the night and I knew I had speed so I just tried to pick them off one at a time. Luckily Sedgy didn’t clamp me coming into bend three. I just hoped I took off coming out of the last corner and it did.
“I’ve been struggling to find a set-up that works. Hopefully I can stick with what I had today and it continues to work.”
Lidsey had another very steady afternoon with paid 10 including the vital tactical substitute 5-1 with Kurtz.
He said: “I couldn’t imagine racing anywhere else. I came here back in 2019. Had a few years out but happy being back with the Aces.
“There’s so much stability in the team and the club. You can focus and do your job. I enjoy it more when I’m in front!
“It’s always tough these Bank Holiday meetings but the track staff did a pretty good job.”
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP
BELLE VUE 46: Brady Kurtz 12, Dan Bewley 10+1, Jaimon Lidsey 9+1, Norick Blodorn 7, Zach Cook 6+2, Jake Mulford 2, Tate Zischke 0.
SHEFFIELD 44: Jack Holder 11+1, Leon Flint 9+1, Josh Pickering 8, Chris Holder 7+1, Justin Sedgmen 3+1, Anders Rowe 3, Lewis Kerr 3.
SHEFFIELD 57: Josh Pickering 13+1, Jack Holder 11+1, Lewis Kerr 8+2, Leon Flint 8, Anders Rowe 7+2, Justin Sedgmen 5+3, Chris Holder 5+2.
BELLE VUE 33: Dan Bewley 12, Tate Zischke 5+1, Jaimon Lidsey 5+1, Zach Cook 4+1, Brady Kurtz 4, Norick Blodorn 2, Jake Mulford 1.
Sheffield win the aggregate point.