THE hotly anticipated grudge match between Belle Vue and Sheffield begins its second chapter on Bank Holiday Monday when the two sides meet at the National Speedway Stadium.
Their last encounter in the Premiership Knockout Cup saw the Tru7 Group Tigers boot the ATPI Aces out of contention for the semi-finals after a thrilling Super Heat at Owlerton.
Now they bring their War of the Roses rivalry into the ROWE Motor Oil league competition, with the current World no.2 Jack Holder and triple world champion Tai Woffinden.
Just one change to the visitors while Josh Pickering remains sidelined due to injury, he is replaced by former ATPI Aces racer Tom Brennan, who this year joined Birmingham after parting ways from the club.
After an injury scare concerning skipper Brady Kurtz after a crash in Sweden last week, the captain is confirmed as suffering from ligament damage in the aftermath with R/R at No.1 on Monday.
The Aussie battled through the pain barrier to finish third in the Zarnovica GP Qualifier to progress through to the GP Challenge later this year, but he will sit out of Monday’s action in Manchester.
Sheffield, meanwhile, have enjoyed a successful May campaign, particularly on home shale, and are keen to bring Belle Vue’s spotless home record to an end.
But the home team have fond memories of their last encounter in Manchester and will be drawing on their recent success and form to ensure that victory doesn’t elude them.
Club CEO Mark Lemon said: “Our two clubs have always enjoyed a fierce but respectful rivalry and we’re looking forward to another great afternoon of racing against Sheffield.
“We’re disappointed for Brady after his brush with injury, but he has been seeking treatment and hopefully will be back in action for us soon; and massive congrats to him on a successful GP Qualifier at the weekend.
“Although we were pipped to the post at Oxford, I feel the boys are starting to find some very good and consistent form which will be crucial on Monday against the reigning league champions.
“We’ve already demonstrated our ability to beat them on home shale, and we pushed them extremely hard at Owlerton in the KOC.
“It would be very satisfying to make it two of two in Manchester against them, and though they are a man down I’m certain they will make us work just as hard for the points.”
The Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces are back at home on Monday, May 27 for another Bank Holiday bash against the reigning Premiership champions Sheffield, tapes up at 12pm.
Meeting tickets, race day programmes and south stand parking are now available to pre-book, along with race day hospitality, at bellevue-speedway.com.
BELLE VUE V SHEFFIELD – MONDAY, MAY 27 @ 12PM [P1]
Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces: Brady Kurtz (C) R/R 8.72, Norick Blodorn 5.68, Jaimon Lidsey 8.04, Ben Cook 5.85, Dan Bewley 8.13, Connor Mountain 4.54, Connor Bailey RS; TM: Mark Lemon
Sheffield ‘Tru7 Group’ Tigers: Jack Holder 8.89, Kyle Howarth (C) 5.62, Chris Holder 7.13, Tom Brennan (G) 6.78, Tai Woffinden 8.44, Jason Edwards 3.00, Dan Gilkes RS; TM: Simon Stead
Image: ©Belle Vue Speedway