BELLE Vue face their nearest challengers Leicester in a top-of-the-table ROWE Motor Oil Premiership encounter in Manchester on Monday (7.30pm).
The ATPI Aces were edged out 46-44 in a cracking contest in the East Midlands recently, but they still comfortably secured the aggregate point from the Round 1 encounter which means they have a five-point lead over the second-placed Lions.
Leicester do have two matches in hand and will arrive at the National Speedway Stadium on a high after retaining the Premiership KO Cup with victory over Ipswich last week.
And although the Lions have struggled at the National Speedway Stadium on their previous visits this season, Aces boss Mark Lemon is urging his team to retain their focus as the most crucial phase of the campaign approaches.
With 10 wins out of 13 so far, and aggregate points obtained against all but one of their rivals – Aces dropped a point to Sheffield when they were hit by injuries at the end of May – the current position is a strong one.
Lemon names a full-strength line-up with Jason Doyle having returned to racing following the fall at Leicester which saw him aggravate a rib injury.
Their opponents are set to be forced into a change following last week’s news that Kyle Howarth is taking time out of the sport.
Jonas Jeppsen, who had a spell with Northampton as injury cover earlier this season, comes in to guest at reserve whilst they await news of a new signing.
The Lions include one of the league’s in-form riders in Australian star Ryan Douglas, whilst a re-shuffle due to August averages sees Drew Kemp move up from reserve to line up at No.2.
Lemon said: “I think it would be fair to say the Lions haven’t shown their best form at the NSS this season, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be respecting them given the experience in their team.
“In Ryan Douglas they have a rider who has become an out-and-out No.1 in the Premiership this season and is someone who will certainly give the likes of Brady (Kurtz) and Doyley a challenge.
“We still have to visit Leicester again, so it’s important to score as many points as possible here, and in the bigger picture of the season it’s entirely possible that they will be a team we need to beat over two legs this autumn if we are to achieve our ultimate goal.”
Anyone not able to attend the meeting can follow the live stream from https://www.bvtv.live/ , whilst tickets and hospitality are available from https://www.bellevue-speedway.com/tickets .
BELLE VUE: Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Peter Kildemand, Zach Cook, Jason Doyle, Tate Zischke, Will Cairns.
LEICESTER: Ryan Douglas, Drew Kemp, Nick Morris, Dan Thompson, Sam Masters, Jonas Jeppesen, Joe Thompson.