LEICESTER’S three-match winning run came to an end as they were beaten 52-38 at ROWE Motor Oil Premiership champions Belle Vue on Monday.
The Aces took maximum points from the meeting as the Watling JCB Lions were only able to provide four race wins on the night, despite being involved in a great deal of exciting racing.
They made a promising start to the meeting and were within two points after four races, but the home side doubled their advantage by the halfway stage and inflicted a major blow when Leicester made their tactical move.
There was an early setback when Luke Becker suffered mechanical trouble away from the start in Heat 1, whilst skipper Max Fricke split Brady Kurtz and Norick Blodorn to prevent an Aces 5-1.
An excellent Heat 3 saw Ryan Douglas become the Lions’ first winner whilst Kyle Howarth had to be content with third place following a tight battle with Jaimon Lidsey.
There was more close action in Heat 4 as Sam Masters tried to fend off Dan Bewley, but the former British Champion fought back to re pass the Leicester vice-captain.
Belle Vue grabbed the first 5-1 of the night in Heat 5 when Zach Cook and Lidsey outgated Fricke and Becker, and a 4-2 followed in the next to make it 22-14.
Home duo Blodorn and Jake Mulford both made their way past a fast-starting Joe Thompson to share Heat 8 as Becker gave the Lions a welcome victory, and with the gap at eight points Douglas came into Heat 9 to team up with Masters for a tactical substitute ride.
But the move didn’t work out as Douglas found himself at the back and whilst Masters led for the majority of the race, he was swallowed up by Lidsey and Cook on the last lap to delight the home crowd with a 5-1.
That virtually ended the contest in terms of league points, although Douglas and Howarth raced hard in Heat 10 to relegate World Championship leader Kurtz to the back, and Fricke held off Bewley in Heat 11 as the Lions recorded a 4-2.
Kurtz and Bewley, however, took revenge despite Fricke working overtime to stop them as they collected maximum points from Heat 13, before Howarth got the race win he deserved for his efforts in the penultimate action of the night.
The Aces saw Lidsey disqualified from Heat 15 for breaking the tapes but Bewley completed proceedings with a home win as Fricke and Howarth got the better of home reserve Tate Zischke in another 3-3.
Lions manager Stewart Dickson said: “We have to remain sensible about things. Sometimes you can come here and have good and bad nights, but as the visiting team it never quite happened for us tonight.
“I look at the programme and most of the riders have had one good race, but you need two or three good races from all the riders if you’re going to have a chance.
“We were beaten by the better team tonight, so we can only draw a line under it and move on to Thursday at Ipswich.
“There’s no point in shouting or getting too intense about things – Belle Vue are a good team, and we know how tough it is to come here.
“We have other realistic challenges and that’s not being disrespectful to the rest of the league. There are meetings that I will target for points, and this probably wasn’t one of them although I would have liked a better show.”
BELLE VUE 52: Dan Bewley 13+1, Jaimon Lidsey 10+1, Brady Kurtz 9, Zach Cook 7+1, Norick Blodorn 7, Tate Zischke 4+1, Jake Mulford 2+1.
LEICESTER 38: Max Fricke 9, Ryan Douglas 8+1, Kyle Howarth 7+3, Sam Masters 5, Luke Becker 4, Drew Kemp 4, Joe Thompson 1+1.
Belle Vue win the aggregate point
Photo credit: IAN CHARLES