BELLE Vue go into a packed Easter Monday of racing with their target clear to maintain their interest in the Premiership KO Cup.
The ATPI Aces face Leicester in a noon showdown at the National Speedway Stadium, before making the trip to the East Midlands for the reverse fixture at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park at 7.30pm.
Belle Vue have two points on the board so far courtesy of last week’s home win over Sheffield, but they missed out on the aggregate point when they were beaten at Owlerton on Thursday.
That means outscoring the Lions over two legs is imperative, and ideally the Aces need to take an away win from Leicester to put pressure on Sheffield.
Manager Mark Lemon is forced into two changes following Norick Blodorn’s crash in Heat 1 last week which saw him signed out of UK racing for nine days, whilst captain Brady Kurtz is serving a mandatory eight-day suspension after missing the Sheffield away match due to illness.
In their places, Lemon has called upon former Aces Rising Star Tom Brennan, who won the league title with Ipswich last season and is building up to a big season in the No.1 berth for the Witches.
Meanwhile Workington’s Jonas Jeppesen stands in for Blodorn, with the Dane having scored paid-seven when he visited the NSS with Birmingham last season, as well as impressing on his visits to Leicester with the Brummies.
The Lions, who are KO Cup holders, are racing for the first time this season and have made a couple of significant changes from last season with former Belle Vue star Max Fricke released despite topping the Premiership averages, whilst Luke Becker also misses out on a return.
Dan Thompson and Nick Morris are back with the Midlands side, who are led by experienced UK campaigners Sam Masters and Ryan Douglas, whilst Joe Thompson comes in for the injured Dan Gilkes in the Rising Star berth.
Lemon said: “We know really we need two wins, and if we can get them then hopefully the result on Thursday at Sheffield will mean nothing.
“Brady is out under the eight-day rule, and Norick for nine, and that’s the way it is – it does affect your morale a little bit, but at the end of the day we have some good replacements, and we’ll be making a big effort.
“Leicester have always been there or thereabouts in recent years and they’ve put together a very solid-looking side. It’s going to be an extremely busy day but we’re all looking forward to the challenge.”
Tickets for the meeting, along with Bank Holiday dining options, remain on sale from https://www.bellevue-speedway.com/tickets . Hospitality opens at 10.30am with North & South turnstiles opening at 11am.
For those unable to attend, both meetings will be streamed live with the home clash on BVTV https://www.bvtv.live/ and the away match will be covered by the British Speedway Network https://www.britishspeedwaynetwork.co.uk/ .
BELLE VUE: Tom Brennan, Jonas Jeppesen, Peter Kildemand, Zach Cook, Dan Bewley, Tate Zischke, William Cairns.
LEICESTER: Ryan Douglas, Dan Thompson, Nick Morris, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson.