mikec

Exciting guy to watch, excellent signing.

Don't think Monday night gave us any fresh insight into how the playoffs might pan out. We knew already that the Aces & Pirates are 2 well matched sides, whether with quality guests or both at full strength, home or away. Some brilliant racing again & Holder was an absolute joy to watch. Have said all season that this Aces side looks far stronger with Fricke in it, as proved again tonight. If Zagar starts to fire we'll be tough to beat, if not I think we'll pull up just short. Think Lemo will choose the 4th place & Wolves & Poole will do battle in a fantastic semi final - one not to be missed!

My paltry 70 on Kasprzak Over. Thanks.

Miedzinski seals it, congratulations Torun, commiserations to ZG.

Cracking ride from Dudek in heat 13, grateful that puncture hadn't occurred seconds earlier. Hopefully a ZG 5-1 in heat 14 to set up the last heat perfectly!

Wouldn't argue with that, I said on here last week that I fancy ZG to go through to the final & haven't changed my mind. If it finishes level does it go to a run-off, or do they have a 2-legged replay?

Was strange tonight in that the rain didn't seem to affect the track til late on. The time for heat 15 was 3.6 secs slower than heat 13. Track on the inside got a bit greasy for the youngsters in the second half but they handled it really well. Was illustrated by Kyle Bickley's stylish ride clocking a time a second quicker than heat 15 as the rain took hold. The kid is a serious talent, will be fascinating to see how far he can go.

Was good to see Jon Armstrong & young Jack Smith blasting round Belle Vue in great style tonight. Excellent effort from Tom Woolley too against his old team, only denied a max by Tom Bacon in heat 15. Couldn't fault Buxton for effort, tough for them without any big hitters (Bacon aside). Burton did well after a heat 2 fall, with the rest of the Hitmen keeping the Colts on their toes. A win each for Bacon & Smith when they met. Credit to Belle Vue for keeping the match flowing, all done just after 8.40pm.

Threatening skies but dry here in E. Manchester. First race is bang on 7.30pm, really iffy forecast, gonna have to get a move on with this one! Edit:7.45pm rain just arrived, still really windy, track still dry & no threat to racing as yet.

In the grand scheme of things a must win for the playoff chasing Colts on Friday night as the Hitmen come to Manchester. Jon Armstrong, Luke Priest & young Jack Smith guest for the Colts on a busy PL night which sees them without their top 3 + RR for Rob Shuttleworth. Buxton have chosen well in booking Tom Bacon as a guest, he was rapid in the Brummies win in the NL KOC over Belle Vue, beaten only by Dan Bewley in clocking up 14 pts from 5 rides. Shelby Rutherford & Ryan Blacklock rode well in the reverse fixture at the Hi-Edge Raceway, hopefully more of the same form from those two tomorrow. Teams: Belle Vue ‘Cool Running’ Colts Luke Priest (G); Tom Woolley; Jack Smith (G); Dan Bewley R/R; Jon Armstrong (G); David Holt; Andy Mellish; (No.8: Joe Lawlor) Buxton ‘Addison Engineering’ Hitmen Tom Bacon (G); Shelby Rutherford; Lee Dicken; David Wallinger; Ryan Blacklock ©; Lee Geary; Ryan Burton

You're spot on TMW. I hadn't seen any NL racing in several years & been really pleasantly surprised by the standard of racing. Enjoyed picking out potential young riders who could progress to EL level & beyond, fascinating to see who makes it. Hope the Swindon fans have enjoyed it tonight too, would be great to see the Sprockets in the 2017 NL.

Think Nicholls RR rides mustered 6 pts last night, not too far off his 4 ride par score round BV this season.

Monday won't be packed out, though there will be plenty more there than tonight. As for the Leicester match, Wednesdays might be a popular night for racing in Poole, Birmingham & other tracks - but in Manchester it just doesn't work, new stadium or not, always a big drop-off. As a result of the early season issues, rider availability & just get the fixtures in, we've had to run on them regardless, knowing this in advance. With a better structured fixture list (hopefully) in 2017, & far more Friday/Saturday home fixtures for the Aces (which was the original intention at the planning meeting in Gorton Monastry many moons ago) then crowd figures should pick up. If not, then we should look again. You never know, with that better planned fixture list you might see a home match or two round Wimborne Road in June 2017.

Said in the programme tonight Paddy Hougaard's average is 6.30. Is that correct? That average & how much he enjoys the Aces track should make for interesting conversations in boardroom post-season with a view to 2017. Hopefully he's available for what looks a titanic tussle on Monday night.

Totally agree Kev about Shanes, he was brilliant round the wide open spaces of Belle Vue too. Looking forward to watching Tom Bacon again guesting for Buxton on Friday night too, not to mention Jack Smith for the Colts. Back on topic, how did Jack Thomas get on tonight?

A shocker of a fall for Richie Worrall in heat 12. Hope he's OK! Walking away but looked really nasty. Richie walked past us at pit gate, so lucky that his bouncing bike missed him. He was on brother Steve's bike, hope that's OK too!

Ref spot on there for me, theatrics from Holta imo.

Think Sweden takes priority as Aces/Lions is re-arranged. Nicholls racing against Fricke's powerful Rospiggarna side.

Swedish playoffs with Piraterna.

A full strength Leicester side come to Manchester to take on an Aces side missing Max Fricke & skipper Scott Nicholls. Danny King again guesting for Belle Vue. The first Leicester match at the NSS was a close affair, expect another strong performance from the Lions. Hougaard, Wozniak & Starke have all shown good form in Manchester already this season. Teams: Belle Vue ‘Rentruck’ Aces Matej Zagar; Scott Nicholls © R/R; Danny King (G); Steve Worrall; Craig Cook; Richie Worrall; Joe Jacobs Leicester ‘Paul Chapman & Sons’ Lions Patrick Hougaard; Aaron Summers; Nicolai Klindt ©; Paul Starke; Szymon Wozniak; Ludvig Lindgren; Josh Auty

Klindt is at Belle Vue with Leicester, hope his "form" from tonight continues there.

I saw this on Twitter a short time ago: BBC WM Sport 95.6 ‏@sportbbcwm 16m16 minutes ago #speedway @WolvesSpeedway manager Peter Adams said Tai Woffinden hurt his thumb, but pain was going away with ice on it. Audio here later.

Huge 5-1 heat 15, tie changer for me. Make ZG slight favs now. Drama assured next week in this one i think.

On this showing he can leave em there - he's due in Manchester next week! Massive heat 15 coming up - 14 pts+ is a tough ask next week, even for this ZG team.

Great performance this from Holder tonight, not far off his 2012 form on this showing.