REIGNING Premiership Champions Belle Vue continued in their rich vein of form at Peterborough on Monday night, defeating the Panthers 35-55 at the East of England Arena.
In another dominant performance – following their win at Ipswich last Thursday – the ATPI Aces led the meeting from start to finish and bolstered their league ranking up to second behind Sheffield.
Finding their stride early on, there was little opportunity for the home team to respond and negate the charge of the Manchester outfit, who recorded 10 of the 15 heat winners.
Rising Star Jake Mulford returned to the side after a spell on the side-lines following a concussion and learned plenty from his first experience of East of England Arena.
Similarly, on his first trip to Peterborough since 2019, fellow reserve Jaimon Lidsey hit fantastic form to record a top score of 14 points from five rides.
Charles Wright followed up with another impressive tally of 10+1 and skipper Brady Kurtz recording 9+2 and GP star Dan Bewley adding 8+2.
Club No.3 Tom Brennan said: “Now that we’ve got a few meetings under our belts we’re starting to find our feet and settle down, and we’re starting to show what this Belle Vue team can do.
“We’re much more cohesive as a unit than we were a few weeks ago. The level of communication has picked up significantly, the team is working as a team and we have the results to show for it.
“We did have confidence coming to Peterborough. We never underestimate any team but without the support of Nicki Pedersen it has put the rest of their riders under more pressure to perform.
“I personally don’t think that Monday’s result would’ve been any different if the Panthers had been at full strength, purely because I think we were the stronger team throughout.
“We weren’t just recording heat wins, we were packing the minor places as well and I believe that was another key difference for us on the night.
“It’s something we need to continue when we go to Leicester on Thursday. It will be a challenging night, I’m sure but if we can continue this form I feel we have an excellent shot at another win.”
The ATPI Aces continue their Premiership pursuits later this week with a visit to top flight newcomers Leicester on Thursday, April 20.
They then resume their title defence at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday, April 24 with the reciprocating fixture against the Peterborough Panthers.
Meeting tickets, race day hospitality and south stand parking are now available to pre-book at bellevue-speedway.com.
RESULT – PETERBOROUGH V BELLE VUE – MONDAY, APRIL 17 @ 7:30PM
Peterborough ‘Crendon’ Panthers 35: Niels-Kristian Iversen 9, Hans Andersen 8, Jordan Jenkins 5+2, Richie Worrall 5, Ben Cook 4+2, Benjamin Basso 4, Michael Palm Toft 0
Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces 55: Jaimon Lidsey 14, Charles Wright 10+1, Brady Kurtz 9+2, Dan Bewley 8+2, Tom Brennan 7+2, Norick Blodorn 6+1, Jake Mulford 1
League Points: Peterborough 0 Belle Vue 2
Image: Taylor Lanning