Workington’s Finnish youngster Antti Vuolas made a winning start to his home debut for Belle Vue in last night’s ROWE Motor Oil Premiership clash with the Oxford Spires.
Brought in as a reserve guest, Vuolas won heat two and went on to collect three more third places, while also running a last, in a five ride performance.
He had made his debut last week at Oxford and scored two, beaten in the reserves race by Erik Riss, but in the return last night he gated superbly and was never in danger of being caught as team-mate Jake Mulford finished in third for an Aces 4-2.
The six points he scored on the night were vital as the home side won 54-36, overturning a 16-point deficit from their defeat at Cowley last week.
The young Finn had been brought in by Belle Vue following the absence of his Comets team-mate Tate Vischke qwho crashed out on his Belle Vue debut and has been ruled out for the season.
It was Belle Vue stars Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley who conjured a big finish for the Aces to secure the aggregate point against a gritty Oxford side in which former Comets rider Charles Wright battled well for seven points and a bonus.
Kurtz and Bewley combined for 5-1s in Heats 13 and 15 but it was the final race of the night which was an absolute thriller and got the home crowd on their feet. The Aces riders came from the back against Spires duo of Maciej Janowski and Rohan Tungate.
Kurtz and Bewley both scored 13+1 for the hosts who saw Jaimon Lidsey walk away from a heavy crash in Heat 3 and continue in the meeting, whilst Tungate scored ten for the Spires.
Said Kurtz: “They have a lot of class riders in their team so beating them is never easy. We really wanted that aggregate bonus point, especially after last Thursday I think we redeemed ourselves.
“It was a real team effort to get this result. Everybody chipped in and did their bit, and that’s what we really need to be doing as we get closer to the play-offs.”
Oxford manager Peter Schroeck said: “It’s very deflating to come here with a 16-point lead and not take away the aggregate point.
“We didn’t really lose it in Heat 13 or 15, you know what can happen in those races around here with Belle Vue have their big guns out. The last race was exciting to watch for the supporters, with the wall of death stuff from Brady Kurtz.
“We lost the aggregate point in other races where we should have scored more. It could prove costly at the end of the season and we need to make up for it elsewhere.”
