BELLE VUE ACES 48 – 42 IPSWICH WITCHES
Belle Vue’s Matej Zagar and Brady Kurtz were the heroes on Monday night for the Manchester side, as a 5-1 from the duo in the final heat gave the Aces victory over a tough Ipswich Witches side 48-42 in front of the television cameras at the National Speedway Stadium. The man named ‘the King of Slovenia’ in Matej Zagar saw the former Grand Prix star racking up 17 points with his only dropped point of the night coming against Jason Doyle in heat 5.
For the fourth time in five home meetings, it saw the traditional sight of the visitors taking a maximum in the opening heat – through Jason Doyle and Ben Barker. Meanwhile, Brady Kurtz finished third as a rider replacement rider for the missing Max Fricke, who was involved in a Grand Prix qualifier along with Norick Blodorn. Ben Barker saw him taking victory in the reserves race, as he and Danyon Hume collected a 4-2 to put the Witches 9-3 up.
Heat 3 saw the hosts land a counter-punch with a 5-1 from Matej Zagar and Charles Wright, as Wright battled with Danny King for a lap before joining his teammate at the front of the race for maximum points. Barker was heavily involved in the early stages of the meeting, as he raced in four out of the first six races and picking up seven points. It saw the Ipswich man making the initial gate before Brady Kurtz kept it wound on to come around Barker and take the lead and go on to take the win.
Heat 5 saw two races in one, with Jason Doyle and Matej Zagar battling for the lead, while Wright and Hume passed and repassed each other and rode so close together that it was a case of peeking through fingers to watch them fighting it out for third, with Wright hold on for a point. Zagar and Jye Etheridge then picked up a 4-2 to draw the scores level at 18-all in Heat 6 with Troy Batchelor and Danyon Hume restoring the Witches two-point advantage with a 4-2 in Heat 8.
Zagar and Wright took a 4-2 to see the sides level again after nine races gone, before a couple of shared heats kept this meeting in the balance at 33-33, following a great race involving the two Aussies in Kurtz and Doyle – with the Ipswich no1 remaining perfect after winning his third race of the night in Heat 11.
Belle Vue’s first lead in the match coincided with the home sides late rally to the meeting also, as yet again that man Matej Zagar was involved, as he and Tom Brennan took a surprising 4-2 ahead of King and Barker, with the latter having three straight races where he encountered bike problems. Doyle made it four wins in a row in Heat 13, while teammate Troy Batchelor saw him come through into second for a 5-1, before the Aces of Kurtz and Wright relegate him to the back and have the Witches no1 looking to have the Indian sign over the home riders.
Ben Barker decided to get things working in Heat 14, as Wright and Brennan made sure the Aces led 43-41 going into the finale by packing the minor places. The Ipswich team manager took the surprising decision by many to put Troy Batchelor in Heat 15 when many felt Danny King was the better way to go. Belle Vue boss Mark Lemon went with Matej Zagar and Brady Kurtz with both men eager to get one over Doyle.
Zagar made a good start while Doyle came under pressure from Brady Kurtz, with the Australian having enough to get round the Witches no1 and have Doyle trying everything to get by the Aces rider in over the course of four laps, but he couldn’t avoid the home riders taking maximum points to make the scoreline look a bit misleading. ‘Matej’ was involved in every heat advantage that Belle Vue recorded in the match, as he proved to be the difference maker in the match and came up big in Fricke’s absence.
Belle Vue Aces = 48
- Max Fricke R/R
- Jye Etheridge – 0, 1, Tx, 2 = 3
- Matej Zagar – 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3 = 17
- Charles Wright – 2′, 1′, 1, 1′, 1′ = 6+4
- Brady Kurtz – 1, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2′ = 13+1
- Zach Cook (G) – 2, 0, 0 = 2
- Tom Brennan – 0, 0, 2, 1′, 1′, 1, 2 = 7+2
- Connor Bailey – DNR
Ipswich Witches = 42
- Jason Doyle – 3, 3, 3, 3, 1 = 13
- Paul Starke R/R
- Danny King – 1, 2, 3, 2 = 8
- Justin Sedgmen (G) – 0, 1′, 0 = 1+1
- Troy Batchelor – 1′, 2, 3, 2, 0, 0 = 8+1
- Ben Barker – 2′, 3, 2, R, R, 0, 3 = 10+1
- Danyon Hume – 1, 0, 1, 0, 0 = 2
A Track With A VUE 