BELLE VUE boss Mark Lemon said his side worked “overtime” to produce an epic comeback against Ipswich.
ATPI Aces reeled in a 14-point deficit to force a 45-45 draw in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday night.
The Witches took the Super Heat 5-4 but Lemon was delighted to salvage a point despite being without Aussie Jaimon Lidsey.
He said: “Halfway through the meeting it wasn’t looking so great.
“Obviously we were working overtime. The boys were trying to get everything dialled in.
“It was a little bit frustrating tonight, what normally worked, wasn’t working.
“It took quite a bit of resolve from the boys to knuckle down and pull it back.
“To bring back 14 points against the table toppers is quite some feat, especially without Jaimon.
“It wasn’t what we were expecting. I knew we were in for a tough match
“Credit where credit is due, we did so well to get the result we did.
“The Super Heat could have gone either way. I could have put Zach out there. But you’ve got the big guns against their two big guns. It seemed like a fair match.
“Brady has had a lot of hype around his position in the World Championship, it takes a lot out of you. He hasn’t been feeling the best. Seven races tonight might have just been a bit too much.
“The bike just wasn’t working for him. He was giving it absolutely everything in the Super Heat.
“We got the news late about Jaimon. The availability of riders as guests was limited.
“Rider replacement only brought in five points for Jaimon’s rides, we know Jaimon is good for double figures. That just flips the scoreline straight away.
“But we know you’ve just got to get to the play-offs and then start again. That’s the process here.”
Zach Cook delivered yet another impressive performance with paid 13. It included two vital on-the-line wins over Jason Doyle and Tom Brennan.
He added: “The track probably rode a little bit different than what we thought on track walk.
“I had speed all night. I wasn’t really making the best of starts, I was having to do a lot of chasing. So it’s lucky I had the speed. There were some good races and I was lucky.
“I wasn’t sure I’d got either of my photo finishes. We have the big screen here so I could check it!
“We were definitely missing Jaimon and hopefully he’s back soon.
“I felt we did well to bring it back to a Super Heat. Everyone dug deep in the second half of the meeting. It just wasn’t quite enough in the end.”
It was another outstanding display from Dan Bewley with paid 16. But he celebrated winning heat 15 with a wheelie and donut, thinking they’d won the meeting!
He said: “I actually thought we needed a 4-2 to win the meeting. I thought that was the end of the night.
“In heat 15 there wasn’t too much skidding going on. I felt really good but not to get the result, it’s very disappointing.
“I’m just really enjoying riding at the minute, I feel really comfortable on the bike.
“Just my starts aren’t very good on the weekend. After a couple of races tonight, they weren’t too bad. I’ll just keep working on that.”
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2
BELLE VUE 45: Dan Bewley 15+1, Zach Cook 12+1, Brady Kurtz 11, Norick Blodorn 4, Jake Mulford 2+1, Tate Zischke 1, Jaimon Lidsey r/r.
IPSWICH 45: Emil Sayfutdinov 11, Dan Thompson 8+2, Tom Brennan 8, Danny King 7+1, Jason Doyle 5+2, Jason Edwards 3+1, Adam Ellis 3.
Ipswich beat Belle Vue 5-4 in Super Heat.