BELLE VUE ACES 57 – 33 BIRMINGHAM BRUMMIES
(ACES WIN THE BONUS POINT 100-80)
Belle Vue moved temporarily to the top of the Premiership standings with a big win over the Birmingham Brummies at the National Speedway Stadium this Bank Holiday Monday, as Jaimon Lidsey finished a 13+2 paid maximum while the Aces were solid throughout. Having seen the Aces losing out to their opponents 47-43 in a controversial final race at Perry Barr last Monday night, it saw Mark Lemon’s side looking to put that defeat right and try to chalk up another home win as well as the overall aggregate bonus point.
It looked like it could be a tricky encounter with the Brummies having some top riders amongst their line-up, and it saw the visitors making a great start with a couple of 4-2s going their way, as former ex Ace Steve Worrall and Piotr Pawlicki in heat one, followed by Vaclav Milik and Leon Flint helped to give Birmingham an 8-4 lead after two races gone. Belle Vue then bounced right back with a 5-1 in heat 3, where the Aussie duo of Jaimon Lidsey and Ben Cook recorded maximum points where a stunning ride by Cook saw him pass Wiktor Lampart, before then chasing down Steve Worrall for second place and making it 9-9.
It then saw three straight 4-2 heat wins for the home side, with Heat 5 including another superb ride by Ben Cook, as the Belle Vue rider forced his way up the inside and shoved over the Brummies captain in Steve Worrall to take third place and give the hosts a 16-14 lead. Heat 6 saw the two Birmingham riders running out wide on turns one and two with Milik being forced to pull up, as it looked like he suffered a hand injury and had him doubled up in pain on the centre green. Meanwhile, that allowed Brady Kurtz and Norick Blodorn to take a 4-2 with Tom Brennan getting past the German eventually to limit the damage and move the score along to 20-16.
Heat 8 saw a potentially bad heat forthcoming for the home side, as Birmingham had Steve Worrall and Leon Flint looking faster than the Aces twosome of Norick and Connor Bailey, as both of whom were struggling in the Manchester sun. In the end it was Flint taking victory while the home duo packed the minor places for a 3-3. Birmingham team manager Sam Ermolenko saw him making a tactical substitute by bringing in Piotr Pawlicki to partner Tom Brennan against Lidsey and Cook, and for once it saw Cook making the gate instead of Lidsey, but the Belle Vue heat leader brilliantly cut between the Brummies duo on the opening lap to see him and Cook take their second 5-1 in the match and put them up by 10 at 32-22.
Birmingham by now had lost their way, as Heat 10 saw Wiktor Lampart making the initial gate until Brady Kurtz flew underneath him to take the lead, while Blodorn held third comfortably from Vaclav Milik who didn’t look the same rider after he pulled up in heat 6. That said, having his bike smoking didn’t help his cause either as the Aces moved on to 36-24. The Brummies misery was compounded when their number 1 in Piotr Pawlicki saw him having bike troubles, as Dan Bewley & Connor Mountain took an easy 5-1 with Lidsey and Bailey picking up a 4-2 in Heat 12 to seal victory. Many would have expected maximum points to come in Heat 13 from the Belle Vue boys in Bewley and Kurtz, but Tom Brennan showed his former side what he could do, as he got out like a rocket on gate 3 to leave both the Aces eating his dust.
Leon Flint was so unlucky in the penultimate race of the day, when the Brummies reserve saw him leading the race from tapes to the final bend of the race, when a slight mistake cost him dearly and saw Ben Cook coming through to snatch victory on the run to the line and give the Belle Vue a 4-2. Heat 15 saw confusion in the final race of the day, as Flint came out with just seconds before the race was due to start and got excluded, before eventually they sent out the other reserve in Vaclav Milik. In the end the changing of riders didn’t make too much difference at all, as Jaimon Lidsey hit the front while Dan Bewley flew round both of the Birmingham riders to join his Aces teammate for a 5-1 and win 57-33, and crucially take the aggregate bonus point too.
RIDER OF THE MATCH: Ben Cook – The Australian had to battle hard for every point he got, but his two stunning rides in heats 3 and 5 were worth the admission alone and saw him showing that he is liking his time at the NSS so far. 9+1 isn’t a bad score, and one can say that the 2nd and 3rd placed finishes were more impressive than that of his two wins later on in the meeting.
Belle Vue Aces : 57 (100)
1. Brady Kurtz – 2, 3, 3, 2 = 10
2. Norick Blodorn – 0, 1, 2, 1 = 4
3. Jaimon Lidsey – 3, 3, 2′, 3, 2′ = 13+2 Paid Maximum
4. Ben Cook – 2′, 1, 3, 3 = 9+1
5. Dan Bewley – 3, 3, 3, 1′, 3 = 13+1
6. Connor Mountain – 2, 1, 2′, 1 = 6+1
7. Connor Bailey – 0, 0, 1′, 1 = 2+1
Birmingham Brummies : 33 (80)
1. Piotr Pawlicki – 1, 2, 1, X, 0 = 4
2. Steve Worrall – 3, 1, 0, 0 = 4
3. Zach Cook – R/R (SW-1, LF-0, VM-0, WL-2) = 3
4. Wiktor Lampart – 0, 2, 2, 2, 0 = 6
5. Tom Brennan – 1′, 2, 0, 3, 1 = 7+1
6. Vaclav Milik – 3, 2, R, 0, 0, 0 = 5
7. Leon Flint – 1, 0, 3, 1, 2, X2 = 7
A Track With A VUE 