Belle Vue overcame a challenging night of inclement weather at the National Speedway Stadium to triumph 48-42 over the Oxford Chargers in the National Development League.
The sun initially bathed the circuit in a dry blanket of warmth at the beginning of the night when the club played host to the 500cc and 125cc classes of the British Youth Championships.
Cool Running Colts debutant William Cairns got off to the perfect start as one of the favourites in the 500cc, dominating the competition to take the top step of the podium.
Similarly, Tia May Brant put in an almost flawless performance in the 125cc to defeat her closest rivals and take the spoils in her division of the British Youth Championship.
But as the main NDL meeting got underway, the threat of rain soon became a full-on downpour with the action halted after Heat 3 following the arrival of a heavy shower.
Thankfully, it proved a temporary delay to proceedings, with extensive track work allowing the action to continue after a short hiatus and allowing the Cool Running Colts to regroup.
A quick succession of races saw the Cool Running Colts preserve a small 2-point lead on the night before a more substantial 5-1 in Heat 7 gave the home team a more comfortable cushion.
This was quickly negated by the Chargers, before a late surge by the Mancunians ensured victory on the night, though the aggregate bonus point ultimately proved just beyond reach.
Cairns, in his Colts debut, dominated the scores for the home team with a brilliant 17+2 while Sam Hagon added an equally impressive 12+1 and Freddy Hodder contributed 10+1.
Hagon said: “It was touch and go for a while as to whether we would be able to declare a result, with the heavy rain that fell after Heat 3, but we really wanted to get it done.
“The track was challenging after the rain but in those situations, you have to attack it or you will find yourself in trouble and the lads, to their credit, kept their heads down and got on with it.
“It was a team effort from start to finish. It was good to see Harry [McGurk] finish with a win and, really, those points proved crucial in the last heat decider.
“Will was worked very hard but so was the entire team. We’re disappointed to have just missed out on the aggregate bonus, but I think we can be proud of our performance to get the 2 points.”
The Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces are next to take centre stage at the National Speedway Stadium when they face the Birmingham Brummies on Monday, August 5.
Meeting tickets, race day programmes and south stand parking are now available to pre-book online at bellevue-speedway.com/events.
RESULT – BELLE VUE v OXFORD – FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 @ 7:30PM
Belle Vue ‘Cool Running’ Colts 48: William Cairns 17+2, Sam Hagon 12+1, Freddy Hodder 10+1, Matt Marson 5+1, Harry McGurk 3, Jack Shimelt 1, Luke Muff r/r
Oxford Chargers 42: Luke Killeen 13, Jody Scott 7, Senna Summers 6+3, Jacob Clouting 6+2, Max Perry 6, Ashton Vale 3+1, Jamie Etherington 1+1
Aggregate Scores: Belle Vue 88-91 Oxford
RESULT – BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP – FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 @ 6:00PM
500cc Class: William Cairns, Stene Pijper, William Hocaniuk
125cc Class: Tia May Brant, Jack Scully-Syer, Rhys Harrow
Image: ©Belle Vue Speedway