BELLE VUE boss Mark Lemon admitted his side are “on a roll” after going TEN POINTS clear at the top of the Sports Insure Premiership.
The ATPI Aces delivered a spectacular 46-44 win at Ipswich on Thursday night to stretch their lead in the table, live on BSN.
The defending league champions had captain Brady Kurtz to thank with a super-cool last heat decider win over flying home duo Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov.
There were also hero performances from Brit kid Tom Brennan with paid 14 and Charles Wright with paid nine.
Lemon said: “It’s a far cry from where we were a few years ago. It’s pretty pleasant where we are sitting right now.
“What I like about this team is that Dan Bewley has had a poor night and the rest have all stepped up.
“Tom Brennan has come of age. He’s riding really well but he’s now showing a lot of composure. He had a bit of a tough week and a year ago those performances might have carried on.
“But he’s picked himself up and put some real credible rides in and taken some scalps too.
“We are having a great season, to win on the road like we have done is a real credit to the boys. There’s been a few exceptional performances by the guys.
“We have got on a bit of a roll and that success can sometimes snowball. But it can be the other way too. I would rather be in our position.
“This probably consolidates our Play-Off position. That’s first and foremost our target. We do know when we get into the Play-Offs it’s a whole new ball game. We won’t get carried away, we still have plenty of meetings left.”
It was a gritty performance from the ATPI Aces. Top man No.1 Dan Bewley had another off night, crashing for the second time in five days.
The Great Britain star is nursing a back injury from a dreadful pile-up at Wolves on Monday. He rode through the pain barrier in Suffolk but fell again while leading Heat 5.
Lemon added: “Dan took a nasty tumble at Wolves on Monday and I withdrew him from the meeting. I personally didn’t think he was right. And he’s still not right.
“It’s brutal out there. I think some riders underestimate when they are carrying an injury, that how harsh the conditions can be. As good as Dan is, he’s not 100 per cent and he’s getting caught out.
“He made a schoolboy error in his second ride and got caught out by track conditions and went down.”
Belle Vue are next in action at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday with the return fixture against Ipswich.
Lemon added: “Now we will go back to routine for our meeting with Ipswich at the National Speedway Stadium.
“It’s another big event for us and we need to keep the results and wins coming.”
Words by Holeshot Media.
Images by Taylor Lanning.