BELLE Vue Speedway will roar back into action for the new season on Monday March 16 (7pm) – and tickets for the traditional curtain-raiser are now on sale.
The campaign kicks off with the Peter Craven Memorial Trophy, a meeting firmly established as a must-see event and one which historically attracts a top line-up to the National Speedway Stadium.
It’s the first opportunity for ATPI Aces fans to get to see the majority of their team on track in Manchester this year, and as usual there will be big guns aplenty chasing the prestigious silverware.
They will do so under the unique and hugely popular format which sees the meeting conclude with a five-rider semi-final followed by a spectacular six-rider Grand Final.
Aces skipper Brady Kurtz is chasing a hat-trick having triumphed in both 2024 and 2025, whilst team-mate Dan Bewley has been on the rostrum in the last three seasons but has to go back to 2021 for his last victory.
They will be joined by returning team members Zach Cook, Norick Blodorn and Tate Zischke along with new signing Peter Kildemand as the Aces are put through their paces ahead of the start of the Premiership season.
Elsewhere in the line-up, former World No.2 and Wolverhampton legend Fredrik Lindgren is again a welcome addition and the Swede, who does not race regularly in the UK, will be keen for track time in Manchester ahead of Grand Prix weekend in June.
Former Aces skipper Max Fricke was the Premiership’s top rider last season with Leicester, and he will be chasing his first Peter Craven title ahead of his high-profile move to King’s Lynn.
And another former Belle Vue rider to be confirmed is Tom Brennan, who won the league title with Ipswich in 2025 and can be expected to be in Great Britain’s World Cup plans this year.
Belle Vue CEO Mark Lemon said: “It’s the season curtain-raiser for the Premiership in many senses, and it’s a great shakedown for the club and the riders.
“We’ve worked hard to build the meeting up over the years, and it certainly justifies the title. Peter Craven was a legend of the sport, and we are privileged at Belle Vue to be able to honour the great man with a meeting of this quality.
“When I first got involved at Belle Vue I was clear that we wanted to create this event to be one of the big meetings on the calendar that the riders really wanted to ride in, and every year we’ve managed to make it better and better.
“The riders are all keen to do it, which obviously makes my life easier, and the crowds always respond in great numbers.
“It comes down to a spectacular climax with the five-rider semi and six-rider Final, and to see the six riders going across the line is quite breathtaking. I think we under-estimate our sport at times, but when you see that you genuinely think ‘wow!’”
Seven more riders are to be confirmed to complete the line-up, with more top international stars expected, and tickets are now on sale from www.bellevue-speedway.com/tickets .
Meanwhile, fixtures for the new Premiership season will be confirmed as soon as possible, with confirmation of the league structure expected in the near future.