BELLE Vue warmed up for the play-offs in style with a 53-37 win over Roses rivals Sheffield to complete the regular season with a 100 per cent home record.
The ATPI Aces have finished a massive 12 points clear at the top of the table and are the only team to boast an unblemished record on their own circuit after Leicester slipped up at home to Ipswich.
The Lions have still finished second which means the Aces’ opponents in the semi-finals will be either Ipswich or Sheffield, with the Suffolk side the more likely – although they are in third place at the moment, and would drop back to fourth if Sheffield defeat bottom club Northampton at home on Wednesday.
Monday’s clash at the National Speedway Stadium was close in the early stages with the Aces just two points up at the halfway stage – but a powerful second half of the meeting saw them record another convincing home victory.
Tigers guest Ben Cook achieved a race win over Aces skipper Brady Kurtz in Heat 1, but an opening 4-2 to the visitors was cancelled out by Tate Zischke’s victory in Heat 2 with Will Cairns supplying third place.
Zach Cook picked up the win in Heat 3 with Peter Kildemand moving inside Leon Flint into turn three as the Aces edged ahead, but extending that advantage proved to be more problematic.
The next two races were shared with Sheffield skipper Josh Pickering pulling off a great ride to get the better of Jason Doyle and then Cairns in Heat 4, whilst Ben Cook defeated his brother in the next race as the gap remained at two points.
Kurtz defeated Pickering in Heat 6 with Norick Blodorn third for a 4-2, and Doyle took the honours in Heat 7 with Zischke overcoming Flint midway through the race to put the Aces six points up.
However, the Tigers struck back with maximum points in Heat 8 through Luke Killeen and Anders Rowe, the latter just holding on for second place on the line despite Cairns’ best efforts.
That made it 25-23 but then the Aces got to work with Zach Cook just holding off Pickering in Heat 9 whilst Kildemand took third, and then Kurtz and Blodorn combined for a big 5-1 in Heat 10 at the expense of Flint and Chris Holder – a result which was backed up in the next by Doyle and Zischke ahead of Ben Cook, and suddenly the lead was out to 12 points.
Sheffield clawed two back in the first race after the interval with all the action over third place as Cairns just missed out to Holder in a race-long scrap with numerous position changes.
Pickering manged to split Kurtz and Doyle in Heat 13 but the Aces still carded a 4-2 to secure victory, and the aggregate point was confirmed in the next race as Zach Cook won from Flint, with Zischke re-passing Killeen for third.
Cook then found himself disqualified from Heat 15 for a tapes offence, but Zischke still claimed third placed in the re-run as his replacement after a fine scrap with the Tigers duo, Doyle eventually taking the win ahead of Pickering.
Aces manager Mark Lemon said: “It’s been a fantastic job by the boys. To top the table is a mighty effort, they’ve been solid all season, and the confidence is really there for everyone to see.
“Again tonight we worked hard behind the scenes because the conditions were slightly different and the bikes weren’t working how they normally would.
“The boys found it quicker than Sheffield which is a fundamental bonus to our riders that they were pretty dialled in and knew what they were doing.
“It’s a great job and we can celebrate topping the table, but I’ve spoken before about what happened in 2023 and what can happen, so we still need a bit of luck on our side.
“If we can keep this team together and keep doing the job we’re doing, I think the result will be good – but let’s not get carried away, there’s still a lot of racing to go between now and lifting the trophy. We have to keep that focus and mentality going strong.”
The Aces now await confirmed news of their play-off opponents and dates for the semi-finals, and that information should follow later this week.
BELLE VUE 53: Jason Doyle 11+1, Brady Kurtz 11, Zach Cook 11, Tate Zischke 8+1, Peter Kildemand 5+1, Will Cairns 4, Norick Blodorn 3+1.
SHEFFIELD 37: Josh Pickering 11, Ben Cook 10, Chris Holder 5, Anders Rowe 3+1, Luke Killeen 3, Leon Flint 3, Jye Etheridge 2.
Belle Vue win the aggregate point