ouch

Ulrich was number 2 in the averages and on the team sheet at the time of the final. He upped his average whilst at reserve being 0.07 above 4th in the team Harris. This meant all riders could take an RR ride at Alwalton, in essence replacing a reserve, strengthening the Panthers. (Only dropped a point to the opposition). Whilst Aces fans mentioned missing Kurtz it’s probably more accurate to say, two full strength teams with no injuries would have seen The Aces take their third win of the season at Alwalton. It wasn’t meant to be and it’s just another one of the many unfortunate silver medals in our collection.

I bet Mark thought the same thing about Max at the SON. 5 ride max v Sheffield week before and 15+1 week after. Priorities with the lions rather than the roos. Or maybe he just had a bad night.

Belle Vue doing it different again. All the fans go on the bus and the team waves from the kerb.

It was at the 1979 InterContinental Final at London's White City. Ivan and Finn Thomsen had both finished on 10 points, so a run-off for third place was needed. Ivan gated and led all the way until the very last bend when his bike had an engine failure. Or so we all thought. He deliberately shut his throttle off because he didn't want to finish third. He knew the rider who finished third would have two rides on the trot in the World Final and Ivan didn't want that. I would wager the other 15 riders that day would not have known that. Such was his attention to detail that he missed out on a podium finish and prize money because he saw the bigger picture. It certainly paid off because the great man won his record-breaking sixth World Final that year. Legend!

They say you’re only as good as your last performance and that’s certainly true of Max. To say he goes missing at the big meetings is a little bit unfair. You’ve only had the semi-final and the final that you could term as big meetings and in the semi-final, he did excellent and pretty much got you into the final. It’s always going to be difficult when you’re up against a top two like The Aces have, same with Ipswich had their top two been in play, Max is number three in the averages for a reason and that reason is he’s an excellent rider. He had two rough nights at the wrong time but that’s no reason to condemn him as a poor rider.

The thing is for the league campaign, teams are going to compete knowing the rules as set out at the beginning (stop laughing at the back). When Brady was out we had Harris as a guest one time and then run rider replacement. I’m sure if it was a must win meeting we would’ve done things differently. Same with riders in each individual race, they race a lot differently when titles are on the line than they do for just some qualifier. I remember Ivan used to feign an engine failure so he could get a more favourable position in the next round. It’s all about the end result and because of this the league table means nothing and if it did then teams would do their upmost to finish top.

I felt the same when they tried to dispense with the rule book in ‘22 but we had to make them abide by it and last year when they DID dispense with the rule book and Sheffield won. Rules are a joke and it’s hard to get excited by this sport but well done Aces.

Max for Ben and average per race Jake top scored for the visitors. Very heartening for later as you don’t get a much more gate’n’go track than Poole.

Anyone who trots out the line that thems the rules & you know what you signed up to, has very little understanding of how modern day speedway works.

Belle Vue usually have between 25-30 events per season.

Great news that Ben is back on track. That’s was my only concern about NKI, that he wouldn’t get the paid 11 Ben achieved last time. Also an uninjured Aces side have never been defeated in a play off final.

Belle Vue could well “choke” as they have done in the past. The biggest choke was the 1980 KO cup v Cradley. We put in a terrific performance in the home leg against a tough Cradley team and had our hands as good as on the trophy. We lost out in the second leg. We were reliant on our top two scoring the bulk of the points but they got quickly wiped out by the opposition and it was then plain sailing for them. Brady and Dan contribute almost half the team’s total using the current declaration so losing those would see us struggle badly. Must admit I’m not into having injured teams described as chokers (not that you are doing here). It seems extremely disrespectful and uncaring towards injured lads at a time when they need all the support they can get. Modern times I expect.

Ipswich don’t help train up youngsters and they use the money saved to offer better terms to lads that have developed some potential elsewhere.

I believe Wal was Sheffield’s rising star in ‘65.

An hour!! What would I do with the other 58 minutes? 😂

A speedway meeting, even our biggest won’t make a dent on the Manchester hotel trade.

Christ, you’re even adding a kicking boot emoji to emphasise your feelings towards the injured. Grim.

They will probably be at our do on the 25th.

Yes, I’ve send the 4 point mentioned in the rule book just never seen the 3 point mentioned though it could be an addition

In the same was as PC bottled it in 1977 of Jason Doyle did this year. Talk about kick an (injured) man when he’s down.

Interestingly that stand very much helped us secure next years GP. Speculate to accumulate - not UK speedways way but then “we’re from Manchester, we do thing differently here.”

We’ve had the fan zone a good 20min walk from the stadium in the past and many pubs the fans use are a good walk away. There’s loads of pubs within 20-25 mins walk of the stadium but as has been mentioned get into the 2nd most visited city in the UK and sample the atmosphere there. If you want to make it work you can, if not, we’ll stick with the masses.

One frustrating fact about The Aces is they have way more silver medals than anyone else. Yes, we have way more gold as well and I suppose you have to be up there challenging to come second but there’s still been plenty of heartache to go along with the joy. I didn’t think we’d ever win the play offs due to our regular injuries at that time so the win in 2022 was most welcome.

Can’t really have the same banter with the Lions fans as you sort of feel please for them being in the final whilst at the same time wanting to beat them. If it was say Poole, Coventry, Wolves or Sheffield you can have ago about them cheating or the fact their track is gate’n’go. Say gate’n’go to a Lions fan and they agree with you. Maybe we could both set up a re enactment society and recreate the 1971 Battle of Hyde Rd during the interval. I’m playing Wilkie. I hope the weather issues can be overcome and we get a decent 2nd leg and not just a going through the motions event, that would be a disservice to both teams. Fingers crossed with the track and that everyone has a safe meeting. Very civilised.