West Cumbrian ace Dan Bewley crashed out of last night’s ROWE Motor Oil Premiership meeting at Leicester.
Bewley was ruled out after a crash in Heat 6 when he clipped a falling Max Fricke and went into the fence.
Belle Vue CEO Mark Lemon said: “Track conditions early on were challenging. It’s always difficult at this time of year to get the moisture levels right.
“Max Fricke unfortunately made a mistake, which is rare for him, and that had a knock-on effect for Dan.
“He took a pretty heavy knock to the whole body and unfortunately was ruled out.
“It’s hard to put the finger on why our away for has eluded us this year. We have some quality riders in our team, but at the same time it does demonstrate the competitive nature of the league.
Leicester raced to a 55-35 win to move to within a point of the top four with Workington skipper Craig Cook getting the better of the Comets’ young Finn in the reserves race.
Cook won it while Vuolas finished last and the Comets skipper went on to do well and be selected for heat 15, although he finished last.
The Lions secured their biggest victory of the season in a meeting which saw Cook notch 10+1 against his old club while Belle Vue skipper Brady Kurtz scored 12, and Ben Cook won two races to finish on 10+1.
Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “Losing Dan did impact them a bit, but I don’t think it takes anything away from us. It might have been 14 or 16 points rather than 20, but I can only look at it from my point of view.
“For me, the plus points were Luke Becker now finding the consistency we want, and Craig Cook now getting the hang of the track, and that’s coming. He’s getting there.”
Cook and Vuolas, who scored one plus one bonus point, team up tonight for the Comets at Scunthorpe.
