BELLE Vue extended their lead at the top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership with another demolition job at home, this time slamming defending champions Ipswich 62-28 in Manchester.
The ATPI Aces went one point better than last week’s 61-point total against Leicester as they moved five points clear in the overall league standings.
But despite the margin of victory, there was still some exceptional racing to enjoy at the National Speedway Stadium with the track craft of the home riders being a joy to watch.
Skipper Brady Kurtz purred to a dominant paid maximum but the biggest individual total came from Zach Cook with a paid-17 haul – whilst Peter Kildemand piled up paid-14 and he, along with the other home riders, was involved in several fine races as the Aces made light of the absence due to injury of Jason Doyle.
Witches skipper Danny King led the resistance with two race wins as he reached double figures, but it was a tough night for the Suffolk side although reserve Jason Edwards was arguably worth more than his score of 3+1.
Just as in the clash with the Lions, the ATPI Aces made a tremendous start to the meeting with advantages in each of the first four races.
Kurtz won Heat 1 by the proverbial mile with all the action over second place as Norick Blodorn made it inside a wide-riding Tom Brennan and then put pressure on King later in the race.
The Aces added an excellent 5-1 in Heat 2 with Tate Zischke switching inside Philip Hellstrom-Bangs to take the lead, and in doing so it created a gap for Will Cairns – who had earlier moved past Edwards – to follow him through.
Cook and Kildemand then got the better of a tough first bend with Richard Lawson in Heat 3 and team-rode together for another home maximum, and a further 4-2 followed in Heat 4 with Kurtz taking his second win whilst Cairns kept up the challenge on Tobiasz Musielak before having to be content with a point.
There was a comeback from the Witches in Heat 5 when King and Brennan gated on a 5-1, Cook being sent wide off turn two, but the Aces man regained speed and made it back inside Brennan heading into the last lap with Kildemand just missing out on following him through.
The visitors appeared to have a stroke of fortune in Heat 6 when Musielak jumped the start and penalised himself only to receive an all-four back verdict, but it made little difference in the re-run as Blodorn pulled off a great move around the outside to link up with Kurtz for another 5-1.
There was more spectacular action in the early stages of Heat 7 as Cook blasted around Lawson whilst Zischke was switching back inside both of the Witches riders, although with another 5-1 looking likely Lawson fought back and re-passed Zischke into lap three.
Blodorn quickly took control of a shared Heat 8 before the Aces locked things up with back-to-back 5-1s, first with Cook and Kildemand surging around Musielak in the early stages of Heat 9 before Kurtz and Blodorn got the job done emphatically in the next.
King gave the Witches some respite when he won Heat 11 amidst plenty of batting as Kildemand and Brennan clashed on the last bend enabling Zischke to come back through for a shared race.
Kildemand overhauled Edwards to lead Heat 12 on the second lap with Cairns completing a 4-2 by re-passing Lawson, and Heat 13 was shared with Kurtz out in front although this time Blodorn was pegged back by Brennan and Musielak.
But the Aces would finish with a flourish, first when both Zischke and Cook squeezed their way inside tactical substitute King off turn two in Heat 14, and then a tremendous last race saw Cook lead all the way whilst Kildemand provided the thrills with a stunning effort, first passing King on the exit of turn four and then chasing off after and passing Musielak, as the hosts again cleared the 60-point barrier.
Manager Mark Lemon said: “I was really concerned coming into the meeting missing Jason, who did a fantastic job last week with a 12-point maximum.
“Guest options weren’t available as we would have liked, so I backed the boys with rider replacement and it paid dividends.
“We know they are more than capable, and it does help them to grow in stature when they get more rides, and are winning.
“It’s great, but we’re not going to get carried away too much. The boys are riding very well and I think as a unit we’ve got this kind of culture at Belle Vue where we support the guys.
“It helps when you’ve got someone who is at the top end of the World Championship, and that confidence rubs off. Bringing Jason in has clearly helped, and the boys raised their game tonight because they knew they had to cover for him, and they did an exceptional job.”
The ATPI Aces now head to Foxhall for another clash with the Witches on Thursday, this time in the return Round 1 fixture where they have a 12-point advantage for the aggregate point.
BELLE VUE 62: Zach Cook 16+1, Brady Kurtz 14+1, Peter Kildemand 11+3, Norick Blodorn 9+1, Tate Zischke 8+1, Will Cairns 4+1, Jason Doyle r/r.
IPSWICH 28: Danny King 11, Tobiasz Musielak 6+1, Richard Lawson 4, Jason Edwards 3+1, Tom Brennan 3, Phil Hellstrom-Bangs 1, Scott Nicholls 0.