BELLE Vue began their Bank Holiday, National Development League opener in fine style with a 61-29 thumping of the Berwick Bullets at the National Speedway Stadium.
Three of the ‘Cool Running’ Colts riders finished their afternoon on maximums, with Sam Hagon, James Pearson and Jack Smith all going unbeaten by an opposing rider.
A lengthy delay after an accident in Heat 1 saw Berwick No.2 Archie Freeman withdraw from the meeting with a suspected broken leg, and from there the visitors’ luck failed to improve.
But it was the opposite story for the home team, who picked up from where they left off at home in 2022 with an emphatic performance from start to finish.
Leading the meeting from the get-go, all seven Cool Running Colts riders recorded at least one heat win or paid heat win and no less than six 5-1 heat maximums between them.
Skipper Jack Smith said: “Obviously we send our best wishes to Archie, after his accident. He was one of us at Belle Vue last year and to see him in pain wasn’t nice, so I hope he recovers soon.
“The rest of the meeting, as a captain, I think I expected this team to be strong at home. I mean, I knew that Steve and Graham wouldn’t put together a 1-7 that wasn’t strong at home.
“I honestly didn’t know what to expect from some of the new boys but I’m happy with how everyone chipped in and both Sam and James were pretty much perfect.
“There’s not much else to say on that. We wanted the win to kick things off and to get our first league points on the board and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”
The Easter weekend culminates in Manchester on Monday, April 10 when the ATPI Aces face Wolverhampton in Manchester at 12pm, before heading to Monmore Green at 8pm.
Meeting tickets, race day parking and hospitality are now available to pre-book online at bellevue-speedway.com.
RESULT – BELLE VUE V BERWICK – FRIDAY, APRIL 7 @ 1PM
Belle Vue ‘Cool Running’ Colts 61: Sam Hagon 15, James Pearson 14+1, Jack Smith 11+1, Freddy Hodder 9+1, Matt Marsen 5+2, Paul Bowen 4+1, Luke Muff 3+1
Berwick ‘GHT’ Bullets 29: Danny Phillips 9, Connor Coles 8, Jamie Halder 5+2, Josh Embleton 4, Greg Blair 3, Mason Watson 0 Archie Freeman 0
League Points: Belle Vue 2 Berwick 0
Image: Ian Charles