Aces Hit By Injuries In Bank Holiday Clash

Belle Vue suffered a Bank Holiday nightmare as both Tom Brennan and Charles Wright crashed out of their meeting at Wolverhampton on Monday evening.

Brennan was taken to hospital suffering from lower-back pain after falling on the first bend of heat 8 at Monmore Green, and just two races later Wright was also withdrawn from the meeting with a shoulder injury, after being brought down by Wolves Josh Pickering as they raced up the back straight during the Aces’ 50-40 away defeat.

Earlier in the day Belle Vue had taken a hard-fought 47-43 win at the National Speedway Stadium in the first of the two traditional Bank Holiday home-and-away double meetings.

The noon meeting got off to an unusual start with the two teams trading alternating maximum heat wins across the opening five heats.

It was Wolves who made the best start with skipper Sam Masters and ex-Ace Steve Worrall taking a 5-1 win in heat 1.

The Aces hit back to level through Norick Blödorn and Jye Etheridge, only for the visitors to reopen the four-point lead in the next.

Man-of-the-match Blödorn won again in heat 4 with Max Fricke coming through from the back to join him, but again Wolves due Masters and Worrall took a 5-1 as Wolves led 17-13 after 5 heats.

The Aces clawed back two points in heat 7 and finally took the lead in the next race as Blödorn and Brennan rode the race of the day to come through from the back and turn a Wolves maximum into an Aces 5-1.

Belle Vue got some breathing space when Brady Kurtz and Charles Wright comfortably took heat 9 to open a 6-point gap.

A Sam Masters Tactical Substitute ride was nullified when Matej Zagar beat him in the tenth race, and the Aces sealed the match with back-to-back 4-2 advantages in heats 12 and 13.

Still Wolves fought back with their lively American Luke Becker winning the final two races to claw back the deficit to 47-43, earning them a bonus league point for staying within 6 points.

The evening match in the Midlands got off to the same tight start with the teams locked together at 21-21 after 7 races.

But Tom Brennan’s awkward fall in heat 8 allowed the home side to take a maximum win, and they followed this with a second successive 5-1 to lead 31-23.

Belle Vue looked to hit back as Brady Kurtz led heat 10 with Charles Wright battling away in third place until Josh Pickering clipped Wright’s back wheel, sending the Aces man somersaulting up the back straight and out of the meeting.

Without Brennan and Wright the Aces battled to keep the deficit down to six points, but they finally ran out of steam as the home side clichéd the match with maximums in heats 13 and 14.

A final race Aces 5-1 from top-scorers Kurtz and Fricke kept the scores respectable at 50-40.

Aces scorers: (home)  Max Fricke 11+1, Norick Blödorn 10, Brady Kurtz 8, Jye Etheridge 6+2, Matej Zagar 6, Tom Brennan 4+2, Charles Wright 2+1.

(away):  Brady Kurtz 15, Max Fricke 10+1, Charles Wright 6+1, Matej Zagar 5, Jye Etheridge 3, Norick Blödorn 1, Tom Brennan 0.

The Aces complete their regular home league programme on Monday (5 September) when they entertain Roses rivals Sheffield at the National Stadium (7.30pm).

Belle Vue asset Dan Bewley pulled off a sensational second Grand Prix win in Wroclaw on Saturday night.

The 23-year-old British star became the first rider to win two G.P. rounds this season as he topped the FIM Speedway G.P. of Poland podium just a fortnight after sending the home crowd crazy with his astonishing first ever G.P. win in Cardiff.

The Cumbrian hero scored just five points from his first four qualifying heats, but kept his head to win heat 20 and finish on 8 points to grab the eighth and final place in the semi-final races.

There he lined up against fellow Brit Robert Lambert, Britain’s three-time World Champion Tai Woffinden and Poland’s World No.1 Bartosz Zmarzlik.

And it was the two youngsters who led the way with Bewley heading Lambert into the final.

The Belle Vue youngster was now in full flow and jetted away from the start to win the final from Leon Madsen, whilst Lambert took third ahead of Maciej Janowski.

It was the first time that two Brits had stood on a Grand Prix rostrum since Martin Dugard’s win at Coventry in 2000.

It now propels Bewley into third place overall in the World Championship standings on 84 points, breathing right down the neck of silver medal placed Madsen on 92.   Double World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik leads on 108.

Picture by Ian Charles