BELLE Vue stormed into the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final with another clinical display on their home track to overcome Ipswich by a massive 40-point aggregate margin.
The ATPI Aces won 58-32 on the night to back up last week’s victory at Foxhall, and they will now face the winners of the Sheffield/Leicester semi-final which is set to conclude in the East Midlands on Thursday.
It was a near perfect night at the National Speedway Stadium as the full Aces septet were in the major points, with everyone paid for at least seven points, and there were only two last places.
Jason Doyle was the sole maximum scorer with 11+1 from four rides as the likes of Tom Brennan and Danny King performed strongly for the Witches, but the Aces were never under any pressure in the tie.
Leading by 14 points heading into the meeting, it was always going to take something highly unusual to put them under pressure, but any tension was eased as they recorded four 5-1s in the opening five races.
Ipswich got off to a disastrous start when Scott Nicholls exceeded the time allowance in Heat 1 and Richard Lawson then shed a chain on the start line in the re-run, with skipper Brady Kurtz and Norick Blodorn romping to maximum points.
Tate Zischke then eased Jason Edwards wide on the opening lap of Heat 2 with Will Cairns reading the situation superbly and sneaking through for second place as the Aces made it back-to-back 5-1s.
Brennan and King fashioned an Ipswich response in Heat 3 as the latter came through on Peter Kildemand on the last lap, but Belle Vue quickly regained the initiative thanks to a superb ride by Cairns to get ahead of Tobiasz Musielak early in Heat 4 and follow Doyle home for another 5-1.
Kildemand and Zach Cook redeemed their earlier blip by outpacing Lawson and Nicholls in Heat 5, and a constant run of Aces advantages continued in the next race even though a determined Musielak managed to repass Blodorn for second place behind Kurtz.
Two more 4-2s followed in the next two races, first with Doyle winning Heat 7 as King fended off Zischke in the early stages, whilst an excellent Heat 8 saw Blodorn get the better of Edwards with plenty of battling between the pair.
The Aces were 33-15 up on the night and needed just a 3-3 from Heat 9 to mathematically confirm their progression, but in the event they did far more than that as Kildemand and Cook squeezed out Musielak for a 5-1, although the Witches rider never stopped chasing.
There was a rare defeat for Kurtz in the next race as he was relegated to third place after a hard first turn by Brennan, but a win for Blodorn kept the scorechart ticking along, and another 4-2 followed in Heat 11 despite Lawson offering a threat to Doyle before the Belle Vue rider made it stick around the outside.
Ipswich finally got another race win on the board in Heat 12 thanks to King, who fought back to defeat Kildemand whilst the scrap for third place saw Cairns re-pass Kevin Juhl Pedersen for a 3-3.
Kurtz and Doyle steamed clear of Musielak and Lawson for a 5-1 in Heat 13 albeit there was a nervous moment for Doyle who nearly hit the fence off turn four, and at that stage the Aces looked likely to top the 60-point mark at home once more.
However, credit to former Belle Vue rider Brennan who rode an intelligent race to defeat Zischke in Heat 14, and he then combined with King for a consolation 5-1 in Heat 15, the former British Champion coming through inside Cook heading into lap three as the Aces rested their top two riders.
Manager Mark Lemon said: “The boys executed to perfection really, to get a win away at Ipswich in convincing style, and the performances on the road this year have been tremendous.
“Obviously to come home and finish it off in front of our home crowd was the perfect recipe, and we’re in the Grand Final which is an amazing achievement from the boys – but we’ve got some more work to do.
“Whichever team we come up against, I have faith in these boys to do the job they’ve done all season. The processes and routine will be as normal, but just with a little bit more riding on it!
“We’ve had a lot of success over the last ten years, and that’s really down to the riders that we bring into the camp.
“It’s been a great transition over the period, the focus is always about winning and doing the job right, and in a fair manner, and these guys have excelled in that aspect.
“Brady has led us as captain for a number of years now, and hopefully he can lead us to another championship. We’re not getting carried away, but with the opportunity to win it at home, there’s a little bit more on this one.”
Dates and ticket details for the Grand Final – where the Aces will host the second leg - will be confirmed later this week, with Sheffield holding a 57-33 lead over Leicester ahead of their deciding leg at the Hydroscand Arena on Thursday.
BELLE VUE 58: Jason Doyle 11+1, Brady Kurtz 10, Norick Blodorn 9+1, Peter Kildemand 8+1, Zach Cook 7+2, Tate Zischke 7, Will Cairns 6+3.
IPSWICH 32: Tom Brennan 11, Danny King 9+2, Tobiasz Musielak 5, Richard Lawson 3, Jason Edwards 3, Kevin Juhl Pedersen 1, Scott Nicholls 0.
Belle Vue win 110-70 on aggregate.