It was another nerve tingling last heat decider which is becoming the norm these days at Beaumont Park. Close racing, numerous passing by both sets of riders, two new track records and many talking points along the way made it another action packed evening of speedway.
Leicester made their best start at home for some time when Patrick Hougaard edged out Chris Harris to win the first heat in a time that broke the existing track record and Aaron Summers secured third place. All eyes were then on the Lions new signing Ludvig Lindgren who along with Josh Auty raced to maximum points.
Then came three exclusions in the space of two heats when first of all Nicolai Klindt returned to the pits after a false start which was against the rules and then double exclusions for Paul Starke and Jason Garrity following crashes.
The setbacks took the rhythm out of the Lions and it enabled the Aces to pull level after four heats. In two separate passing manoeuvres both Summers and Lindgren overtook second placed Joe Jacobs to gain a share of the points in Heat 5. Belle Vue responded immediately to chalk up a 5-1 and Craig Cook’s time of 60.63 broke the record set earlier by Hougaard.
Auty went around Scott Nicholls and Richie Worrall in one movement in the eighth race and Summers then switched inside Nicholls to pass the Aces captain and with Lindgren third the Lions were just two points down at the end of Heat 9.
Belle Vue counteracted with their third maximum of the match and the Paul Chapman and Sons Lions responded with a 4-2 in Heat 11. Then came a big moment and another win for Auty who readjusted his line to catch and pass Richie Worrall on the pits turn and then Lindgren swept past the Aces rider around turns three and four. Now level on points Lindgren came in for Garrity and over the first two laps there was passing and re-passing but Lindgren broke clear and he was well on his way to his first win for his new club when misfortune struck the team again. Ahead of Harris and Cook and on the fourth lap Lindgren went high around the pits turn and collided with the air fence. The race was stopped and awarded which resulted in an advantage to Belle Vue who were now four points ahead.
The final two races were drawn which left Leicester on the wrong end of a 47-43 result. Whilst the Lions are still trying hard to break their losing sequence at home, the closeness of the scoring, two committed sets of riders and a track that is producing strong lines for overtaking all adds to the fact that the entertainment level at Beaumont Park reached another level last night.
Scorers
Leicester 43 points: Patrick Hougaard 12, Aaron Summers 6+1, Nicolai Klindt 3, Paul Starke 1, Jason Garrity 1+1, Ludvig Lindgren 8+2 and Josh Auty 12+1
Belle Vue 47 points: Chris Harris 9+2, Rider Replacement for Max Fricke, Steven Worrall 2+1, Scott Nicholls 14+1, Craig Cook 12+1, Richie Worrall 9+1 and Joe Jacobs 1
