BELLE Vue have all but secured league leadership ahead of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership despite being edged out 49-41 in a last heat decider at Leicester on Monday.
The ATPI Aces easily did enough to secure the aggregate point, and they are now six points ahead of the Lions in the standings with both sides having two matches remaining – but the Aces have a massively superior race points difference.
They were also massively superior in terms of race wins at the Hydroscand Arena, clocking up ten compared to the hosts’ five, but four of those Leicester victories came in 5-1 advantages as the Lions maintained their own 100 per cent home record.
Skipper Brady Kurtz and Jason Doyle won three races apiece for the Aces and four other riders took the flag once with Tate Zischke very impressive at reserve, but a total of 11 last places or retirements proved costly in the final analysis.
Leicester had opened their home win over King’s Lynn last Thursday with three successive 5-1s, and they collected two on this occasion as Kurtz was squeezed out in Heat 1 by Ryan Douglas and Drew Kemp, and Peter Kildemand came to grief in Heat 3 when chasing Sam Masters and Dan Thompson.
Zischke did put the Aces on the board with a win in Heat 2 as Will Cairns took third place, which meant there was an early six-point gap between the sides.
Doyle superbly shot between Nick Morris and Joe Thompson on the opening lap of Heat 4, before Kurtz fought off a strong early challenge from Dan Thompson to head up a Belle Vue 4-2 in Heat 5 with Norick Blodorn in third place.
A run of shared races followed with Doyle closely pursuing Douglas throughout Heat 6 whilst Kildemand was an impressive winner of Heat 7 although Zach Cook was sent wide on turn two by Morris enabling Jordan Jenkins to come through for a 3-3.
Aces briefly held a 5-1 position in the next as Blodorn raced clear, but Kemp overhauled Cairns who then came under pressure from Joe Thompson, and the home rider switched inside off the last bend to share the race.
Doyle added another win as Heat 9 also ended in a 3-3, but there was a blow in the next race when Douglas and Kemp carded a 5-1 over Kildemand and Cook to double the margin to eight points.
Kurtz produced a superb ride to pass Morris on the final bend of Heat 11 and prevent the margin from increasing, and he then came into Heat 12 as a tactical substitute and won it, only for Kildemand to run a last place as the Lions again shared the race.
That was the outcome once more from a fiercely contested Heat 13 where Doyle rounded Douglas on the opening lap to inflict his fellow countryman’s only defeat of the meeting, but Kurtz found himself pegged at the back.
An Aces comeback from there appeared unlikely but Cook and Zischke rose to the occasion with a brilliant Heat 14 effort, Cook passing early leader Jenkins to take the win whilst Zischke rode a stormer to pass first Dan Thompson and then Jenkins heading into lap three for a 5-1 which suddenly gave the visitors a chance of a draw.
With choice of gates for Heat 15, the Aces selected one and three, but Douglas crucially got to the first bend ahead of Doyle, who looked to force his way through but got out of shape, and as he retired from the race Morris came through into second place as the Lions secured their win, albeit well short of the aggregate point.
Belle Vue manager Mark Lemon said: “We didn’t start off the best, Leicester got a bit of a jump, but we forced our way back and we also did a lot of testing to try and get the performance right.
“I think we’re going to be back here at some point in the season when it really matters, and the boys in the pits worked really hard.
“Obviously we like to win and we wanted to get another victory on the road, but being realistic Leicester are a strong outfit and I think the score reflected that.
“Heat 15 could have gone a little bit different in our favour but that’s the way it goes, and Dougy (Ryan Douglas) is on top form at the moment.
“There are still a lot of positives to take from tonight. We got the aggregate point which was the plan, and now it really looks like we’re going to finish top which is great.
“It’s a real achievement for the boys, and now we turn our attentions to one home and one away match remaining before the play-offs.”
The Aces race their final away match of the regular campaign on Thursday when they visit Ipswich, which could also be a warm-up for the play-off semi-finals depending on results over the next week. There is also the matter of the re-arranged home clash with Sheffield at the National Speedway Stadium next Monday (September 14).
LEICESTER 49: Ryan Douglas 14, Nick Morris 9+2, Drew Kemp 6+2, Dan Thompson 6+2, Joe Thompson 6+2, Sam Masters 6+1, Jordan Jenkins 2+2.
BELLE VUE 41: Brady Kurtz 11, Jason Doyle 11, Tate Zischke 6+2, Norick Blodorn 4, Peter Kildemand 4, Zach Cook 4, Will Cairns 1.
Belle Vue win the aggregate point