BELLE Vue Speedway hosted our prestigious ‘end-of-season’ awards night, The Maugers 2023, to roaring success on Saturday, October 28.
The event was well attended at the National Speedway Stadium, and with the majority of the ATPI Aces and Cool Running Colts in attendance the evening marked another successful year for the club.
And it was confirmed that planning for 2024 is already afoot with the annual Christmas Cracker event set for December 8 and the Peter Craven Memorial meeting pencilled in for March 18, 2024.
In the Premiership, the ATPI Aces finished top of the league table and came heartbreakingly close to qualifying for this year’s Grand Final after a magnificent comeback against Ipswich in the Play Off Semi-Final.
But the team still came away from the campaign with well-deserved silverware after racing to victory in the 2023 Premiership Pairs, the first time since 2006 that the Aces have won a pairs victory.
The Cool Running Colts, meanwhile, enjoyed another brilliant year after going nearly all season undefeated at home and securing every aggregate bonus point bar one on offer in the NDL.
Only a change in league rules saw them miss out on qualification for the National League Grand Final, with only two places available, and club bosses couldn’t have been prouder of the collective achievements of both teams.
The Maugers 2023 started proceedings with the Ron Lowe Volunteers Award, this year being presented to Beverley Lambert for her outstanding contribution to Belle Vue Speedway.
Then, the Cool Running Colts took centre stage with five accolades being presented between Sam Hagon, Freddy Hodder, Jack Smith and James Pearson; a full list of winners can be found below.
Brady Kurtz made it a clean sweep in the ATPI Aces awards, taking the 2023 Aces Rider of the Year award, with votes obtained by club officials after every match.
He also scooped the Supporters Club Rider of the Year, ‘Chris Morton’ Top Points Scorer Award, ‘Dent Oliver’ Team Manager’s Rider of the Year Award and ‘Alan Wilkinson’ Team Man of the Year trophies.
The night was rounded off first with the presentation of the Ivan Mauger Excellence Award presented to Dan Bewley.
The gong was awarded for his individual successes, including his SGP Wroclaw win, successfully defending his British Championship and winning FIM Silver in the Speedway World Cup.
The final award of the night, the ‘Steve Casey’ Clubman of the Year award went to Steve Williams and was presented by the late Casey’s daughter Mia.
Belle Vue CEO Mark Lemon said: “We were delighted to see such a strong turnout for this year’s annual Maugers 2023 celebration and we hope everyone enjoyed their evening.
“It’s always a special event where we come together for one final time before winter to share in the great achievements of our riders, and many congratulations to all the trophy winners.
“It’s always difficult, with two such committed teams, to pick the winners in certain categories because all of them deserved to win, and I think Brady Kurtz summed it up perfectly.
“He accepted his many, many trophies on behalf of his team mates as well because their efforts were just as crucial to our successes this year.
“On behalf of our owners, I’d like to personally thank all of our brilliant staff, volunteers, riders, mechanics, sponsors and club partners and of course our valued supporters for another fantastic season of Speedway in Manchester.
“It’s always nice to finish off celebrating the success of the stars of the show. It was a fun and also an emotional evening as we paid our respects to “Our forever Aces” who had passed in 2023.
“The campaign might have concluded but the hard work has already begun as we start planning in earnest for 2024 and we’re very excited to see what new challenges the New Year brings.”
Here is a full list of our 2023 winners:
BELLE VUE SPEEDWAY CLUB AWARDS
- Ivan Mauger, Excellence Award: DAN BEWLEY
- Ron Lowe, Volunteers Award: BEVERLEY LAMBERT
- Steve Casey, Belle Vue Clubman Award: STEVE WILLIAMS
BELLE VUE ACES, CLASS OF 2023
- Rider of the Year: BRADY KURTZ
- Chris Morton, Top Points Scorer Award: BRADY KURTZ
- Dent Oliver, Manager's Rider of the Year Award: BRADY KURTZ
- Supporters' Rider of the Year: BRADY KURTZ
- Alan Wilkinson, Team Man of the Year Award: BRADY KURTZ
BELLE VUE COLTS, CLASS OF 2023
- Rider of the Year: JAMES PEARSON & SAM HAGON
- Eric Broadbelt, Top Points Scorer Award: JACK SMITH
- Williams & Goodwin, Manager's Rider of the Year Award: FREDDY HODDER
- Supporters' Rider of the Year: FREDDY HODDER
- Team Man of the Year Award: SAM HAGON
Image: Ian Charles