BELLE VUE CEO Mark Lemon has reflected on a hugely successful weekend of Grand Prix racing in Manchester – as the National Speedway Stadium staged a double header of action for the second season in a row.
Former ATPI Aces skipper Max Fricke headed an historic Australian one-two-three in the first event on Friday, whilst current captain Brady Kurtz then secured a sensational Saturday night victory in front of his home UK crowd.
Kurtz’s win, which takes him to the top of the World Championship standings, saw him go from last to first against Bartosz Zmarzlik, Jack Holder and Michael Jepsen Jensen in one of the all-time classic Finals.
Lemon was delighted not only with the racing served up by the sport’s top stars on a superb NSS track, but with the running of the event overall, and he paid tribute to all those involved behind the scenes.
He said: “It was an amazing weekend, and we’re just delighted with how it went. The whole team here at Belle Vue exceeded expectations from my perspective, we delivered an amazing event, and everyone here should be very proud of their efforts.
“The track team led by Andy Meredith with Jonathan Swales and Graham Bell and all the track staff absolutely nailed it, and everybody involved on the sporting side did a tremendous job to put on an exceptional GP weekend.
“We all know the racing on the track is sensational, and last year the Friday meeting was described as the best GP ever, but we knew that we had work to do behind the scenes as far as the customer experience was concerned.
“I’d like to think we exceeded in that respect this year, and we delivered an event worthy of returning custom.
“There were no queues anywhere from what I could see, and that was what I was looking for when I watched it back afterwards and they showed the drone shots!
“We can still refine things a little more, because I went to town on making sure we had full resources in place and in all honesty we probably had too many this year, but I’d rather it be that way around than not enough.
“We were aware of a toilet situation on the Friday and we brought extra infrastructure in to offset that, which I think we achieved, and the internal issues on the South Stand are going to be addressed. We are tenants at the stadium, but people are aware and it will be rectified.
“I’d like to thank everyone who played a role in the weekend behind the scenes, and of course everyone who supported the event and helped make it such a success.”
With six rounds to go in the GP series, the World title battle looks set to be fought out once again between Kurtz and Zmarzlik, with the Belle Vue man now having a three-point advantage heading to his home Polish circuit of Wroclaw on June 20, whilst Holder is also in contention.
Zmarzlik declared himself satisfied with his weekend’s work, especially following his crash in the early stages of Friday’s Final, but there was no doubt Kurtz delivered a clear message to his rival as he secured his sixth win in the last ten GPs.
Lemon said: “There’s nowhere to hide on this track, you have to ride aggressive and attack it. If you try to defend, you’re going to get beaten!
“Brady’s ride in the Final on Saturday was absolutely outstanding, and I’m not sure when was the last time Bartosz was passed from the lead in a Final.
“Having three Aussies on the podium on Friday was of course pretty special for me, and really the only downside was the fact that we were missing Dan (Bewley). That would have been the icing on the cake, especially with the form he was in, but he was certainly there in spirit.”
The Grand Prix infrastructure is being removed from the NSS this week, and attention will then switch back to the race for the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-offs.
The ATPI Aces are back in action next Monday (June 15) when they face a home clash with Leicester, with successive Monday fixtures following in June against Ipswich (22nd) and King’s Lynn (29th).