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BELLE Vue raced to their second four-point away match haul of the Elite League season with a commanding 52-41 victory at Leicester.The Aces followed up their win at King’s Lynn with success at Beaumont Park, led by skipper Scott Nicholls (12+2) who dropped just one point from five rides at the head of a powerful display from their top five.The Lions were given some hope by a mid-meeting 8-1 from Szymon Wozniak and Paul Starke, whilst No.1 Patrick Hougaard impressed with 11+1.Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “We were pretty much solid all evening and the points were there for the taking. It’s a fantastic result that brilliantly echoes what we produced at King’s Lynn, so I’m really happy.“The Heat 8 tactical was a little bit of a concern but not enough to get us worried because I knew we had enough firepower with the heat-leaders especially to recover the lead we built up.”Leicester boss Norrie Allan said: “We had more determination in our riding than the previous week against Lakeside, but we still fell short against Belle Vue. “The team has no out-and-out top stars and as a result it is built around everyone doing their job for us to be successful. Unfortunately as a unit we are still not performing to our capabilities, and we need to rectify that and quickly.”Rye House made the perfect start to their Premier League programme with a 53-39 victory over Ipswich at Hoddesdon.The Rockets raced into an early ten-point lead and controlled the meeting thereafter with Edward Kennett scoring a 12-point maximum, Leigh Lanham picking up 10+1 and former Witches rider Cameron Heeps adding 9+1. Nico Covatti was the top visitor with 15 points.Heeps said: “It was always going to be a tough match, and especially for me. I felt like I put a little bit of extra pressure on myself. I think I needed that change of place to push on, though. “I had a chat with (Ipswich co-promoter) Chris Louis and said that I thought I needed a break, and should try something else because I felt a bit stale, and he agreed with me.”Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “It was a real tough night for us - as a team, you’re not going to take a lot from it, but as individual riders they are going to have to take things from it; maybe from improvements made throughout the meeting and build on them for Thursday. As a team we are going to have to improve a lot on Thursday night.“Apart from Nico, they were out-trapping us. Nico set an example out there tonight and hopefully the others will step up and take on board what he is doing ready for Thursday.”Workington boss Tony Jackson was pleased to see the Comets get their League Cup campaign up and running with a 57-35 home victory over Redcar, despite rain which once again threatened to ruin the evening.Jackson said: “Typically it began to rain fifteen minutes before racing got underway but despite making the track greasy as it continued to fall for much of the meeting we got through it.“It was a very solid team effort but Claus (Vissing) raced to an excellent paid maximum while Rasmus Jensen registered paid eleven from his four rides, despite never having seen the place before, which was a tremendous effort. “Overall every team member registered at least one race win or paid win, including Mason Campton, who made his return from injury and ended with a victory in his final outing.”Meanwhile Berwick established a 50-40 advantage over Newcastle from the first leg of the Tyne/Tweed Trophy at Shielfield Park.Reserve Matthew Wethers kept up his fine scoring for the Bandits with 11+2 whilst captain Kevin Doolan added 11, although the individual honours were taken by Newcastle No.1 Robert Lambert with a five-ride paid maximum – and guest Ryan Fisher only dropped one point.Berwick boss Scott Courtney said: “Newcastle are a good strong side, and I think to hit so many 5-1s past them shows we are also a solid side capable of getting a good result.“Whilst this was a pre-season friendly it was still a good example of what we are all about.”The first-ever British Youth Pairs Championship took place at Northside, with Tom Brennan and James Hitchen taking the honours in the 500cc class, defeating Alex Spooner and Jordan Jenkins in the Final.The 125cc class was won by Luke Harrison and Ryan Morris, with Jordan Palin and Corbin Pavitt the runners-up.
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SCUNTHORPE are chasing their first home win of the season when they host Peterborough in the League Cup.Scorpions boss Rob Godfrey is hoping for a repeat of last year’s dramatic home victory over the Panthers at the Eddie Wright Raceway.Ashley Morris makes his debut for the home side, whilst the Panthers are looking to hit back after losing to Sheffield at the Showground on Friday.Godfrey said: “Every time Peterborough come to the Eddie Wright Raceway, it seems to be a fantastic meeting. I'm sure everyone remembers last year's clash, when we turned it around with three 5-1s in the final three races.“It's going to be a tough meeting, but Sheffield went to Peterborough on Friday and won there, so we know that the Panthers are beatable. We'll be going all out to record our first home win of the season.”Peterborough star Nikolaj B Jakobsen said: “Beating Scunthorpe is the only option. It is a must-win for us and we need to pull together as a team.“We are better than we showed against Sheffield and it is up to all of us to prove it. At Scunthorpe we need to make sure we get out of the gate fast and ride aggressively. We will use the defeat against Sheffield to motivate us.”Berwick take a ten-point lead to Newcastle in the second leg of the Tyne/Tweed Trophy, following their 50-40 win at Shielfield Park on Saturday.But Bandits boss Scott Courtney expects a strong response from the Diamonds on their home circuit.Courtney said: “I think it could go right down to the wire. It could be a really close meeting at Brough Park.”Mildenhall are on team business for the first time when they host Kent in the opening fixture of the National Trophy southern section.Fen Tigers boss Kevin Jolly sees the match as an early-season highlight, given the Kings’ form on the road so far in 2016 with big wins at Eastbourne and Rye House.Jolly said: “Sundays meeting should be a classic, both sides have a powerful heat leader trio plus plenty of potential match winners elsewhere in their line-ups. “Our lads have been waiting for some team action, and after last Sunday and Monday I have every confidence that we can claim all three points and get our National Trophy assault off to a flyer! “Everyone has now had some valuable track time and although this is our first full meeting in effect, there will be no excuses from our side - we want this, and only a victory will be good enough.”Meanwhile Glasgow is the host venue for the first round of the British Youth Championship, with a packed afternoon of racing scheduled at Ashfield across the four categories of the series.
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BELLE Vue skipper Scott Nicholls has backed the decision to further delay the commencement of racing at the club’s new home.The Aces’ clash with Leicester on Friday was postponed with more work required on the National Speedway Stadium circuit as defects have been reported on turns three and four.Nicholls said: “I know there's a lot of people who have been left very frustrated by the number of postponements we've had, none more so than myself and the rest of the Belle Vue riders“But I think I speak on behalf of all the team and the officials when I say that I'd much rather us delay our home fixtures and get the track sorted than try to rush things for the sake of it.“Unfortunately the weather got the better of us on Friday but in hindsight I feel that was a blessing in disguise. We've got some big events coming up this year and we want them to be successful.“As frustrating as it is, I think it is the best and wisest decision to conduct further work on the track ready for our next meeting and the management team have our fullest support in that respect.”
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KENT promoter Len Silver has slammed the early postponement of his team’s National League trip to rivals Eastbourne on Saturday.The Eagles pulled the plug on the meeting early in the morning after heavy rain during the week and overnight left the Arlington circuit flooded.But Silver said: “All I can say is that it shows how scared the Eagles management are about facing the Kings at present. “Having made the controversial signing of Adam Ellis - a rider who is currently getting double-figure scores in the Elite League - it would seem they obviously wish to have him in their side when they meet us.“Well, they may find that the re-staging, when it happens, will not produce the victory they expect. I’d have thought the Eagles' management had more confidence than they obviously have.”(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY APRIL 10:LEAGUE CUP: Scunthorpe v Peterborough 6.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Mildenhall v Kent 3.30TYNE/TWEED TROPHY 2nd leg: Newcastle v Berwick 6.30AIR FENCE CHALLENGE 2nd leg: Buxton v Stoke OFFBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 1: Glasgow 3pm
MONDAY APRIL 11:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v King’s Lynn 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Rye House 7.30
WEDNESDAY APRIL 13:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30, Leicester v Swindon 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Stoke (follows EL fixture)NATIONAL TROPHY: Birmingham v Buxton 7.30
