PREMIERSHIP KO Cup winners Leicester return to league business this week with a visit to league leaders Belle Vue on Monday (7.30pm).
It’s the first of two trips north for the Watling JCB Lions in the space of four days as they also visit Sheffield on Thursday, and any points they can gain on the road will make their current healthy position even stronger.
Lions are second in the table, five points behind Belle Vue with two matches in hand, whilst they have a three point advantage over third placed Sheffield with one match in hand.
Their most recent clash with the Aces was a blockbuster encounter at the Hydroscand Arena when the Lions came back from 12 points down to win 46-44 in a last-heat decider.
But the Manchester venue is a different challenge entirely with the National Speedway Stadium having proved an impregnable fortress so far in 2026, not just for the Lions but for every other visiting club.
The Aces track a full strength side with skipper Brady Kurtz now leading the World Championship standings on countback after finishing third at Lodz on Saturday, whilst Jason Doyle is back in action after his recent crash at Leicester.
The Lions’ line-up undergoes a reshuffle due to new averages for August, which sees Drew Kemp move up into the main body of the team.
Kemp will race at No.2 alongside Ryan Douglas with Nick Morris and Dan Thompson forming the middle order combination.
Lions operated rider replacement for Kyle Howarth in the second leg of the KO Cup Final against Ipswich, but that is now not possible as he has dropped to reserve.
Danish rider Jonas Jeppesen, who is currently without a Premiership team place after spending a mid-season spell with Northampton as injury cover, comes in to guest in the No.6 berth.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “Thursday night was brilliant, but now we turn our attentions back to the league and we have two big matches this week at Belle Vue and Sheffield.
“At the moment I’m talking to a rider and trying to do a deal regarding him coming in to replace Kyle, and I do also have another plan of attack, so we were on that straightaway.
“It’s not as easy as just clicking your fingers and getting a rider just like that, but I’m hopeful of getting something sorted.
“Belle Vue is a venue we’ve struggled at on more than one occasion in recent years so obviously we want to improve on that, and the first target will be to keep it much closer so we can think about the aggregate point, and then we’ll see what happens from there.”
Lions fans not making the trip to Manchester can still watch the meeting via the Aces’ live stream at https://www.bvtv.live/ , whilst live score updates will be available from https://live.britishspeedway.co.uk/ .
BELLE VUE: Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Peter Kildemand, Zach Cook, Jason Doyle, Tate Zischke, Will Cairns.
LEICESTER: Ryan Douglas, Drew Kemp, Nick Morris, Dan Thompson, Sam Masters, Jonas Jeppesen, Joe Thompson.
