BELLE VUE boss Mark Lemon was delighted to dump dangerous Leicester.
The ATPI Aces delivered a comfortable 52-38 win over the Lions in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday night.
With World No.4 Dan Bewley and current World Championship leader Brady Kurtz in outstanding form, the Manchester club were always in control against last year’s Grand Final rivals.
Lemon said: “My heart was racing before heat 1 to be totally honest.
“We did the track walk and it was all sweet. I walked into the pits and there’s three shiny new engines in bikes, three riders were using new engines.
“Then Brady’s main engine blew up on the stand. So I thought ‘great, what are we in for tonight’. I don’t like too much change.
“But the boys delivered. We know the Lions can be dangerous here in Manchester. They’ve got a lot of quality in their team. I’d never underestimate them.
“To win comfortably and get the bonus point keeps us pushing in the top four.
“It’s still mid-season. The play-offs are looking promising but we don’t want to count our chickens before they’ve hatched.
“We still have a lot of work to do but the boys rode great and the track was good.”
It was another very solid all-round team performance just four days after the strong win at Oxford.
Jaimon Lidsey was also excellent with paid 11 and Zach Cook is growing in stature with paid eight.
Cook said: “We’ll forget my first race but definitely happy. I felt a lot better, I had a new engine in. I felt like I had a lot more speed.
“It makes your life a lot easier at the National Speedway Stadium when it’s like that.
“I think the track was really good for us, there was a lot more moisture in it. Everyone played with the set-ups and got dialled in.
“It can be a tough place coming here as an away rider. It was a nice win for the team.
“I’m settling in now. It helps when you’ve got guys like Dan, Brady and Jaimon who have been here for a long time. I’m loving it.”
Bewley only had one blip when Max Fricke spoiled his maximum in heat 11.
He said: “You never know what you are going to get with Leicester.
“They can be strong. But tonight we had a solid performance. It was a good result and everyone rode well.”
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1
BELLE VUE 52: Dan Bewley 13+1, Jaimon Lidsey 10+1, Brady Kurtz 9, Zach Cook 7+1, Norick Blodorn 7, Tate Zischke 4+1, Jake Mulford 2+1.
LEICESTER 38: Max Fricke 9, Ryan Douglas 8+1, Kyle Howarth 7+3, Sam Masters 5, Luke Becker 4, Drew Kemp 4, Joe Thompson 1+1.
Belle Vue win the aggregate point.