West Cumbrian star Dan Bewley helped Belle Vue clinch the final place in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-offs with a 49-41 win at injury-hit Ipswich last night.
The Aces only needed one point to be mathematically sure of progressing along with the Witches, Sheffield and Leicester, but they took all three available at Foxhall to join their hosts on 34 points, along with the Lions.
Ipswich’s problems increased when high-scoring reserve Keynan Rew crashed out of the meeting in Heat 2, although he is understood to have avoided serious injury.
Bewley, fresh from his British Grand Prix triumph on Saturday, led a strong Aces score-chart with 11+1 from five rides, with captain Brady Kurtz adding 10+1 from four.
Workington’s Finnish rider Antti Vuolas won the reserves race but then didn’t score in his other three rides.
Scott Nicholls racked up 15+1 from seven for the Witches, with Danny King collecting 12 and reserve Jordan Jenkins 11+1.
King’s Lynn completed a positive week by following up their victory at Birmingham with a 48-42 win over Oxford.
The Stars did threaten to take the aggregate point as well as despite trailing by 18 points from their trip to Cowley last week, they had cut that gap to two with four races remaining.
But the Spires finished strongly with two 5-1s in the last two races to take some reward on the night.
West Cumbrian Richard Lawson starred for the Stars as their guest with 13 and Jan Kvech added 12, whilst Maciej Janowski raced to 14+2 for the visitors on one of his old home tracks.
Ex-Comet Charles Wright was riding for Oxford and he had eight plus a bonus from his four
Leicester have all-but clinched the WSRA National Development Leage title after a dramatic 46-44 win at Sheffield.
Captain Joe Thompson was the Lion Cubs’ hero at Owlerton as he took the vital Heat 15 ahead of home stars Nathan Ablitt (13) and Luke Harrison (10+2) to make it eight out of eight this season for the leaders.
Harrison was riding alongside another member of last season’s Comets team in Ace Pijper who scored eight from four rides which included two wins and an exclusion after a fall.
Last season’s Comets’ skipper Luke Crang was in the Leicester team and he scored three and three bonus points from four rides.
