A triumphant night for the Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces saw them face down one of their toughest challenges to date on home shale with a solid 51-39 win over Oxford.
It was far from a stroll in the park for the ATPI Aces who initially found it difficult to shake off the pursuit of the OXS Spires, who seemed to match them shot for shot, corner to corner.
Certainly in the opening races, there was little to separate the two sides; in fact, they were locked in something of a stalemate for several heats with just two points the difference overall.
And even after some extensive grading and a 4-2 in Heat 9 from Ben Cook and Jaimon Lidsey, it wasn’t until much later on that the home team were able to establish dominance.
Heat 13 saw the turn of the tide for the ATPI Aces who, after a stunning 5-1 from Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley, held the Spires’ challenge at bay to seal the win one race later.
And with a final 5-1 in the closing race of the night, they now prepare to take a 12-point advantage to Sandy Lane later this month.
Aces new boy Cook continued his impressive run by topping the scores with 13 points while Dan Bewley followed up with a typical double figure score of 11+3 and captain Kurtz added 9.
Kurtz said: “This was probably one of the toughest meetings we’ve had so far at home, but it’s clear to see why because Oxford have such a strong team both on paper and in practice.
“We knew we had to be on our game but with the weather playing its part once again, it did give us a few headaches and some of the boys did struggle.
“But I think that everyone put their two-cents worth into this meeting and it was so satisfying, after such a closely contested battle, to come away with the win and another couple of points.
“It will be interesting to see if 12 points is enough to secure the aggregate point at Sandy Lane. It’s a track that a lot of us have never seen before but we’re really looking forward to going there.
“For now, we can consolidate the last week or so, because it has been a busy period for us, and get ready for next Monday against King’s Lynn.”
The Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces return home on Monday, May 20 when we welcome the King’s Lynn Stars for our first encounter at the National Speedway Stadium, tapes up 7:30pm.
Meeting tickets, race day programmes and south stand parking are now available to pre-book, along with race day hospitality, at bellevue-speedway.com.
RESULT - BELLE VUE V OXFORD – MONDAY, MAY 13 @ 7:30PM [P1]
Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces 51: Ben Cook 13, Dan Bewley 11+3, Brady Kurtz 9, Norick Blodorn 6, Connor Mountain 4+1, Jaimon Lidsey 4, Connor Bailey 4.
Oxford ‘OXS’ Spires: Craig Cook 8+2, Maciej Janowski 8+1, Rohan Tungate 7+1, Charles Wright 6+1, Erik Riss 6+1, Chris Harris 3, Ashton Boughen 1+1.
Image: ©Belle Vue Speedway