Maryport ace Dane Bewley was in sparkling form last night as he spearheaded Belle Vue’s 48-42 victory over Leicester on a night of thrilling racing at the National Speedway Stadium.
Rival captains Dan Bewley and Max Fricke starred with a series of passing moves, Bewley twice coming from the back to win races in the closing yards.
The result consolidates the Aces’ third place in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership whilst the Lions took some consolation from an improved performance.
Both sides had gone into the meeting on the back of heavy defeats and were generally out of form.
Bewley scored 14 from six rides for the hosts with Jaimon Lidsey adding 11, whilst Fricke racked up16+1 on his old home track, dropping his only point to Bewley in a sensational Heat 13.
Bewley said: “It wasn’t the biggest of wins tonight. We weren’t making the best of starts and had we done that I think we could’ve made it a bigger win, but we still got the job done.
“It’s good to get a win on the board at home, it’s been a while since we’ve been here so it was nice to get that monkey off our backs and get the two league points.
“Leicester put up a tough fight and we knew we’d have to step things up to cover the rides at No.1, but I think that’s something we managed to do.”
Belle Vue had to use rider replacement for the injured skipper and number one Brady Kurtz.
Connor Bailey, last year’s number one for the Workington Comets, won the reserves race but then only picked up two third places from another four rides to finish with five and one bonus point.
Comets captain Craig Cook was at reserve for the Lions and after finishing second to Bailey he was unable to add to his points tally in three other rides.
Ex-Comet Richard Lawson, at two for the Lions, won his first race but then only picked up two more points and a bonus from his subsequent three outings.
Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “It was certainly a better performance than the last performance at Ipswich, and we showed a bit of fight and a bit of character.
“Again I’ll say the same thing, I’ve not got all seven riders firing. I know every team manager will say the same, but when I look down the programme we’re still one or two scorers short to where we could be.
“It was certainly a better effort, a more spirited performance, and the aggregate point is up for grabs – but at the same time I’m still not overly pleased.”
