BELLE Vue put the official seal on top spot in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership with a stunning comeback to win 49-41 at Ipswich on Thursday.
The ATPI Aces trailed by eight points with six races remaining at Foxhall but in a devastating show of strength, they recorded a 16-point swing in those closing heats to leave their hosts stunned.
And after GP stars Brady Kurtz and Jason Doyle put them ahead for the first time with a 5-1 in Heat 13, and Tate Zischke and Zach Cook had added a 4-2 in the next race, Aces boss Mark Lemon put his faith in Zischke and Peter Kildemand for the final race.
The duo duly delivered as Zischke underlined his tremendous improvement this year with a fourth win of the meeting whilst Kildemand also moved into double figures as the pair got the better of Tobiasz Musielak and Richard Lawson.
Not only was it the Aces’ fifth away win of the season, taking them nine points clear at the top, it was also a result which ensures that other significant league business remains unresolved heading into next week.
Ipswich remain in fourth place but the Witches are now under increasing threat from King’s Lynn, who picked up maximum points against Leicester and could now pip their local rivals over the course of the final fixtures.
That is potentially significant for the Aces, who will meet whichever team finishes fourth in the play-off semi-finals later this month.
And for the first half of the meeting in Suffolk it looked as though the Witches were taking a giant step towards confirming that position, although the Aces weren’t without their misfortunes along the way.
The early stages were tight as the meeting opened up with three shared races, Kurtz being relegated to the back of Heat 1 as Norick Blodorn took a fine win, whilst Zischke took control of Heat 2 whilst home reserve Jason Edwards just got the better of Aces guest Sam Hagon on the last bend.
Kildemand overcame the threat of home skipper Danny King to win Heat 3 before the Witches edged ahead in the next race as Musielak defeated Doyle with Edwards adding third place.
Aces had some serious bad luck in Heat 5 when Kurtz and Blodorn were set for a 5-1 only for Blodorn to hit mechanical trouble on the last lap, before Doyle rode a strong first lap in Heat 6 to overhaul Lawson and Scott Nicholls.
The gap remained two points as Kildemand and Zach Cook packed in behind Musielak in Heat 7, but further issues for Blodorn in the early stages of Heat 8 handed a routine 5-1 to Scott Nicholls and Edwards as the Witches went six-up.
They added a 4-2 in Heat 9 as Doyle split Tom Brennan and King which made it 31-23, but the comeback began in the next race as a frantic couple of laps saw Lawson get to the front for Ipswich only to get things wrong on the second bend of lap two enabling Kildemand and Cook to come through for a 5-1.
Musielak made it three out of three by winning Heat 11 but the Aces ramped up the pressure in a terrific Heat 12 as Zischke dived through on the inside of both King and Edwards on lap two whilst Kildemand kept up the chase for third place and snatched it from Edwards on the run to the line.
With the gap down two points the Aces were right back in play, and they turned things in their favour when Kurtz hit the front in Heat 13 whilst Doyle initially dealt with Musielak for third place before showing his class to go all the way around Lawson at the end of the first lap for a big 5-1.
That made it 40-38 to the Aces and with Zischke by now full of confidence he took the honours in Heat 14 ahead of Brennan, with Cook adding third place.
It meant the Witches needed a 5-1 from Heat 15 to draw the match, but the depth of the Aces team was clear for all to see as Zischke made the start again from the inside whilst Kildemand rode a determined first lap to maintain control of second place, and a superb turnaround away win was complete.
Lemon said: “The last couple of seasons, when Ipswich had the likes of Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov in their team, it’s been a tough hunting ground for us.
“We came here in the Knockout Cup last year and then the play-off semi-final, and we went home with our tails between our legs. But this season, the tables have turned.
“It’s really pleasing to see Tate’s performances, and Norick’s as well, in all fairness, because they didn’t have the greatest seasons last year.
“We’re not really focussed too much on who gets that fourth spot. We’ve had some good results and obviously there’s the battle between King’s Lynn and Ipswich.
“Going into the last section, that was in our minds, but I just said to the boys to go out there and race. Whatever happens, happens.
“If you’re going to be good enough to win, you’re going to have to beat everyone.”
The ATPI Aces now wrap up their regular league campaign with a rearranged home clash against Sheffield on Monday. Tickets and hospitality available from https://www.bellevue-speedway.com/tickets .
Prior to that, Kurtz continues his World title chase with the Danish GP at Vojens on Saturday, which also features Doyle and a very welcome return for Dan Bewley, whilst Will Cairns competes in SGP2 on Friday.
IPSWICH 41: Tobiasz Musielak 10, Tom Brennan 8+1, Danny King 6+1, Richard Lawson 6, Scott Nicholls 5+2, Jason Edwards 4+2, Kevin Juhl Pedersen 2.
BELLE VUE 49: Tate Zischke 12, Peter Kildemand 10+2, Jason Doyle 9+1, Brady Kurtz 8, Zach Cook 5+1, Norick Blodorn 4+1, Sam Hagon 1.
Belle Vue win the aggregate point