BELLE Vue’s four-match winning run came to an end as they were edged out 46-44 by nearest rivals Leicester in a dramatic meeting at the Hydroscand Arena.
The ATPI Aces did come away from the East Midlands with the aggregate point, which was always expected given their advantage from the reverse fixture, and it means they maintain a healthy five point advantage at the top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
But there will be some frustration over events at Beaumont Park where fortune deserted them on several occasions as the Lions were able to pull back from 12 points down to force a narrow victory.
That was especially cruel on Norick Blodorn, who put in one of his very best showings in Aces colours, and there was also a very notable race win for Will Cairns as well as the usual excellent showing from Brady Kurtz.
In the first five races there was only one side in it as the Aces dominated, and Kurtz and Blodorn combined for 5-1s in both Heats 1 and 5, the first of those seeing them relegate in-form home star Ryan Douglas to the back.
There was also a maximum advantage for Zach Cook and Peter Kildemand in Heat 3 after Nick Morris had fallen for the home side, whilst Cairns superbly beat home skipper Sam Masters to win Heat 4 in a 4-2 with Jason Doyle in third place.
The only setback over that period was a fall for Tate Zischke who was leading Heat 2 until he locked up on the apex of turns one and two and came down awkwardly, fortunately without injury.
But more significant than that was a crash for Doyle in Heat 6 when he was challenging Douglas, and having taken a further knock to his ribs the Australian was withdrawn from the remainder of the meeting.
The home side began to claw their way back into contention with a 5-1 from Douglas and Dan Thompson over a lively Zischke in the re-run before Drew Kemp snatched third place from Cook on the run to the line of Heat 7, as Masters took the win.
Blodorn was beaten by Joe Thompson in Heat 8 with Leicester narrowing the gap to four points, but after just making it to the start in time for Heat 9 as Doyle’s replacement, the German got the Aces back on the winning track by defeating Morris and Kyle Howarth.
Kildemand led Heat 10 for two laps before Douglas surged through, but yet another Kurtz/Blodorn 5-1 followed in Heat 11, this time over Masters, to leave the Aces 36-30 up with four races remaining.
Not surprisingly Leicester used the tactical substitute in Heat 12 and Douglas duly won the race whilst Morris defied all efforts from Zischke to pass him, meaning the gap was back down to two.
And the match was all square after Heat 13, which Kurtz led for all but the final yards after what had been a perfect defence against Douglas only for the home No.1 to pull off a great outside move heading down to the line and snatch the win for a 4-2.
Proceedings then swung the Lions’ way as Kemp and Howarth gated on a 5-1 in Heat 14 with Cairns doing everything he could to split them, but there was no way through and suddenly it was the home side who led 44-40.
There was still a chance for the Aces to force a draw, with gate choice for Heat 15, and their hopes were raised when Kurtz and Blodorn yet again hit the front. But the inspired Douglas was not to be denied as he passed Blodorn at the end of lap one, although the Aces racer still came back at him and forced him to re-pass once more on the fourth bend, and that left the visitors just short.
Manager Mark Lemon said: “The Premiership is a tough league, and as much as we wanted to win and we certainly tried, it’s not always going to be the case.
“Fair play to Leicester, they came back strong, and obviously we did miss Jason who took another blow to the ribs which left him feeling violently ill in the pits from the pain, which wasn’t nice and we wish him a speedy recovery.
“The rest of the guys stepped up, and Norick was very impressive. He got the rider of the night from BSN which was well deserved, Brady was class again, and the boys chipped away.
“I know Zach will probably go home pretty disappointed, but as a team we have been performing well, and the more laps the riders get the better they will be for it.
“We are in a good position. The league table is not going to lie right now, we are travelling very well, but Leicester will be chasing us so we’ve got to keep the pressure on.”
The Aces now have a short break before their next fixture sees them welcome Leicester back to Manchester in a Round 2 fixture on Monday August 3.
LEICESTER 46: Ryan Douglas 14, Sam Masters 7, Drew Kemp 7, Kyle Howarth 5+2, Dan Thompson 5+1, Nick Morris 4+1, Joe Thompson 4.
BELLE VUE 44: Norick Blodorn 13+2, Brady Kurtz 13+1, Peter Kildemand 6, Will Cairns 6, Zach Cook 3, Tate Zischke 2, Jason Doyle 1.
Belle Vue win the aggregate point