BELLE VUE consolidated their position at the top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership with a hard-fought 47-42 win at Northampton for a second league victory on the road this season.
The ATPI Aces were taken down to a last-heat decider by a battling home side, but Jason Doyle and Zach Cook got them over the line on a night when all three meetings around the UK resulted in away wins.
Doyle delivered an immense display under pressure in Heats 13 and 15 especially, whilst in an all-round team effort there were vital contributions from Norick Blodorn and Tate Zischke, and a terrific last-gasp overtake by skipper Brady Kurtz.
In testing conditions with the Northampton track still settling down for speedway, and in serious heat throughout the night, the Aces maintained their focus and they deserved their victory, which also confirmed another aggregate point.
Blodorn took the opening race with Kurtz suffering a rare last place, but the visitors took the lead in Heat 2 with a tremendous ride by Zischke to work his way to the front, whilst guest reserve Sam Hagon relived Troy Batchelor of third place as the home reserve went backwards.
A close contest developed with Niels-Kristian Iversen winning a shared Heat 3 for the Foxes before the hosts edged a 4-2 in Heat 4 as Nicolai Klindt held Doyle at bay with Luke Harrison adding third place.
Iversen took his second victory as Heat 5 ended in a 3-3 but the Aces made a big move with the first 5-1 of the night in Heat 6 against a strong Foxes paring, as Zischke pulled off a brilliant second bend to go between Jaimon Lidsey and Kye Thomson to team up with Doyle up-front.
An unusual Heat 7 saw Klindt for the home side and Peter Kildemand for the Aces both retire on the first lap, with Cook then going past Batchelor to give the Aces a 3-2.
And when Thomson fell on the second bend of Heat 8 and was disqualified, Blodorn took charge of the re-run with Hagon third for a 4-2 which put the visitors apparently in the clear at 27-20.
Northampton fashioned a fightback when a previously scoreless Matej Zagar gated with Iversen in Heat 9, before a strong ride by Doyle at least split the Foxes, but a 5-1 from Lidsey and Thomson in Heat 10 cut the gap to a single point.
Heat 11 looked set to be shared before Kurtz made up tremendous ground on the last lap to move inside Batchelor, snatching the verdict by 0.017s, with Blodorn third for a 4-2.
The Foxes hit straight back in Heat 12 through Zagar and Harrison, split by Kildemand, but the Aces took a huge step towards victory with maximum points in Heat 13 with Lidsey making the start for the home side only for Kurtz and Doyle to pass him either side on the exit of turn two.
A nervous finish still looked likely as Northampton held a 5-1 for most of Heat 14, before Cook again passed Batchelor on the inside to make the task a little easier in the decider.
The Aces needed to avoid conceding a 5-1 in Heat 15, but they did much better than that with Doyle making a fantastic start from the outside, and although Lidsey was in second place Cook provided the added insurance with third.
Manager Mark Lemon said: “We came and delivered, we got the result, which was nice although I did feel a bit for Northampton because they battled away and conditions were pretty testing for both teams.
“We just had the edge all night, but they kept pulling it back and Zagar showed some class towards the end. Our boys rallied and never gave up, and we deserved the win.
“Ironically Jason had a problem with an engine before the meeting, and Brady had a problem in Heat 13 where he was lucky to survive the four laps, hence why he didn’t go out in Heat 15 jumping onto a fresh bike, so we had a bit of luck in fairness.
“Considering Norick is carrying an injury I was really impressed with him, it’s good to see the improvement there, and the same can be said for Tate, who again showed his real potential.
“It’s a great result for the Aces and it’s important that we pick up these away wins to keep us at the top of the table.”
The Aces return to Manchester on Monday for another clash with Northampton, this time in a Round 2 fixture. Ticket and hospitality details are available from https://www.bellevue-speedway.com/tickets .
NORTHAMPTON 42: Niels-Kristian Iversen 10, Jaimon Lidsey 8+1, Matej Zagar 6, Luke Harrison 6, Troy Batchelor 5, Kye Thomson 4+1, Nicolai Klindt 3.
BELLE VUE 47: Jason Doyle 13, Zach Cook 9, Norick Blodorn 8+1, Brady Kurtz 7+1, Tate Zischke 5+1, Peter Kildemand 3+1, Sam Hagon 2.
Belle Vue win the aggregate point