VICTORY in their first home team appearance of the season saw the Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces triumph against reigning league champions Sheffield to gain an 8-point advantage in the Knockout Cup.
Earlier worries of potential rain were soon put to rest as the two clubs took to the track in front of a healthy crowd to round off the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
There were no easy heats against the Tru7 Group Tigers, who are fabled for their abilities around the National Speedway Stadium, but they have had a somewhat challenging start to their year.
And the ATPI Aces weren’t about to make life any easier for them, as memories of last year’s opening fixture against our Yorkshire rivals persisted.
But unlike 2023, it was the home heroes who emerged the early leaders, with Norick Blodorn, Connor Bailey and newcomer Connor Mountain setting the pace for the rest.
And it didn’t take long for the Belle Vue boys to establish dominance in Manchester, even with the Tigers tailing them closely throughout the afternoon.
But their efforts, ultimately, were not enough to take any advantage to Owlerton, while the ATPI Aces feel confident that their performance has given them a decent edge for the return leg.
Jaimon Lidsey returned to form in brilliant style, topping the scores for Belle Vue with 10 points whil Blodorn followed up with a string 9-point haul and Ben Cook putting in 7+2.
Belle Vue captain Brady Kurtz said: “This was a very important result for us. We knew Sheffield weren’t going to make it easy and there were a couple of moments where we almost tripped up.
“But it’s credit to the boys that not only did we get a pretty good result, but everybody dug in and got on with the meeting, given how iffy the weather was looking.
“It wasn’t perhaps my finest hour. We made quite a few changes to the bike and eventually found something that worked, but that’s one of the great things about this team.
“We’ve got the guys there who can step up and fill in the gaps when others are struggling, and with that in mind we can feel pretty good about going to Sheffield on Thursday.”
The ATPI Aces to Owlerton Stadium on Thursday, April 4 for the return leg of their KOC Quarter Final with the Sheffield Tigers, with the aggregate winner advancing to the semi-finals.
Then, the Premiership big guns return home to the National Speedway Stadium on Monday, April 8 for another tasty league battle, this time against the Leicester Lions, tapes up at 7:30pm.
Meeting tickets, race day programmes and south stand parking are now available to pre-book, along with race day hospitality on Easter Monday, at bellevue-speedway.com.
RESULT – BELLE VUE V SHEFFIELD – MONDAY, APRIL 1 @ 12PM [PKOC]
Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces 49: Jaimon Lidsey 10, Norick Blodorn 9, Ben Cook 7+2, Connor Bailey 6+3, Dan Bewley 6+1, Connor Mountain 6, Brady Kurtz 5
Sheffield ‘Tru7 Group’ Tigers 41: Tai Woffinden 13+1, Chris Holder 8+1, Josh Pickering 7+2, Jack Holder 6+1, Kyle Howarth 5, Jason Edwards 2, Dan Gilkes 0
Referee Scorecard
belle_vue_01.04.24_resWords by Hayley Bromley – Images by Ian Charles
