A vital victory at Ipswich means the Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces are the final team to seal their place in the 2024 ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Play Offs along with the Witches, Leicester and Sheffield.
Going into the action at Foxhall, the ATPI Aces were the favourites for the final spot after dominating their opponent at home in the reverse fixture and all but sealing the aggregate bonus.
But despite being heavily patched up, the Tru7 Group Witches did not go down without a fight and maintained a solid façade against the visitors right from the word go.
Disaster struck for them, however, in Heat 2 after Keynan Rew clipped the back of Belle Vue rising star Jake Mulford, crashing heavily and taking no further part in the meeting.
It was a misfortune that the ATPI Aces made certain to capitalise on, rattling off a number of race advantages to counter the Tru7 group Witches at every turn.
British GP winner Dan Bewley top scored with 11+1, complimented by skipper Brady Kurtz who bagged 10+1 while Jaimon Lidsey added 9 to the tally.
Securing all three league points has put the Mancunians on equal footing with Ipswich and Leicester in the standings, and only four points behind league leaders Sheffield.
And club No.4 Ben Cook, who bagged 5+2 on the night, says there’s no reason why they can continue to climb as high as they can in the coming days.
He said: “There’s no reason why we can’t challenge for top spot while we have matches still to race, we have to climb the ladder as far as we can.
“Thursday’s result is a huge boost for the team because we have struggled on the road this season and now is definitely the right time to be coming into some good form.
“Ipswich did have a depleted team but we can only race what’s in front of us, and we have to take advantage of such circumstances and I think it was a solid performance from everyone.
“It’s a unique track that throws up challenges you don’t find at many other places in the UK and it can be a bit of a bogey for some, but we got the job done and we’re pumped up for Monday.”
The ATPI Aces next face reigning league champions Sheffield in a massive bank holiday double header, beginning in Manchester on Monday, August 26 at 12pm.
They then head to Owlerton later that same day for the deciding leg, and with league points still very much their aim as the 2024 play offs draw closer.
Meeting tickets, race day programmes, hospitality and south stand parking for the home leg are now available to prebook at Bellevue-speedway.com/events.
IPSWICH V BELLE VUE – THURSDAY, AUGUST 22 @ 7:30PM [P2]
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches 41: Scott Nicholls 15+1, Danny King 12, Jordan Jenkins 11+1, Zach Cook 2+1, Dan Thompson 1+1 Keynan Rew 0, Emil Sayfutdinov r/r
Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces 49: Dan Bewley 11+1, Brady Kurtz 10+1, Jaimon Lidsey 9, Norick Blodorn 7+1, Ben Cook 5+2, Jake Mulford 4+2, Antti Vuolas 3
Aggregate Score: Ipswich 67-107 Belle Vue
Image: ©Belle Vue Speedway