Lions v Aces Thursday 10th April

[IainB]

Edited Thursday at 08:59 PM by IainB

[40-38]

20 minutes ago, IainB said:

Track prep was poor again tonight, far too dry, not enough moisture in the track. With a track like ours it needs to be prepared perfectly as it can't rely on it's shape alone.

Bends 3/4 were like a sandstorm towards the end, so bad I couldn't fill my program out!

[IainB]

1 hour ago, Rob B said:

Just had heat 11 and racing is awful. Only 2 ‘passes’ because the riders in front went far too wide and gifted it.

More dirt on M1 then inside half of track, anyone who goes looking for bit of dirt on outside goes backwards. 

You can't keep blaming tracks for your teams generally abysmal record away from the NSS, hope you get out of the car park quicker than you did at King's Lynn 😂 and think of all the cars you'll be passing on the way home with all that dirt on the M1 👍🏻

[Teromaafan]

9 minutes ago, 40-38 said:

Bends 3/4 were like a sandstorm towards the end, so bad I couldn't fill my program out!

Me too and I was watching the stream at home! Track conditions aside, the meeting was close which in itself keeps it interesting. The Aces were fortunate to take it to the last heat in my opinion. Masters retiring was unlucky for the Lions but then there were two borderline refereeing decisions that went against them in my opinion. Each time, the decision went in favour of the rider going down, with the outcome of the re-runs favouring the Aces, Becker excluded when Blodorn went down and ‘first bend bunching’ when Kurtz went down when behind everyone else. All four back after any first bend incident is a cop out and clever riders can manipulate this. Anyway, well done Lions for holding out and hats off to Fricke for his muscle in heat 15.

[IainB]

2 minutes ago, Teromaafan said:

Me too and I was watching the stream at home! Track conditions aside, the meeting was close which in itself keeps it interesting. The Aces were fortunate to take it to the last heat in my opinion. Masters retiring was unlucky for the Lions but then there were two borderline refereeing decisions that went against them in my opinion. Each time, the decision went in favour of the rider going down, with the outcome of the re-runs favouring the Aces, Becker excluded when Blodorn went down and ‘first bend bunching’ when Kurtz went down when behind everyone else. All four back after any first bend incident is a cop out and clever riders can manipulate this. Anyway, well done Lions for holding out and hats off to Fricke for his muscle in heat 15.

Who was the ref, Babs? Dougy dropped a chain as well didn't he?

Edited Thursday at 09:08 PM by IainB

[LisaColette]

7 minutes ago, IainB said:

Who was the ref, Babs? Dougy dropped a chain as well didn't he?

Close. Christina according to updates. 

[40-38]

7 minutes ago, IainB said:

Who was the ref, Babs? Dougy dropped a chain as well didn't he?

Christina Turnbull.

I think the Becker one was 50/50 maybe. Kurtz dropping it on his own bend 1 and all 4 back, and then the inordinate amount of time for the 2 mins to go on, was ridiculous.

[IainB]

6 minutes ago, LisaColette said:

Close. Christina according to updates. 

Are we sure they're not the same person? 😂

Who was the ref in the POF last year?

[40-38]

2 minutes ago, IainB said:

Are we sure they're not the same person? 😂

Who was the ref in the POF last year?

The very same Ms Turnbull! Perhaps she was trying to redress the balance 😉

[Col]

I am at a bit of a loss as to how to assess this meeting TBH, after 4 heat I was wondering if the aggregate bonus would even be salvageable for the Aces, Bewley aside they were so sluggish to start with.  The 5-1 following the Becker exclusion gave them hope, I couldn't see (due to dust/angle) the coming together with Blodorn from the exit of turn two where I was stood.  Becker had certainly passed Blodorn entering the straight but Blodorn was going quicker having taken a wider line.  The 1-5's from TS Kurtz/Bewley & the Kurtz/Blodorn meant I thought it would depend on Lidsey winning heat 13 after the interval.  Lidsey produced the first lap of the night to swing wide and pass both Kemp & Douglas to win heat 12.  Bewley & Kurtz hit the front in both heats 13 & 15, but Bewley made a mistake to allow both Lions through in heat 13 & Fricke did enough to force Kurtz off the inside line which also allowed Becker through in heat 15.  I thought heat 15 would be null & void TBH, was expecting a 5-1 from Kemp & Howarth in heat 14 but Cook finally decided he'd come to the party & won it setting up the last heat decider.

I suspect this result will be put into context when the Witches visit next week.   Fricke & Becker could be the strongest pairing in this league if they're kept together but one suspects Becker will end up at 3 or 4 soon enough, suspect the switch may come when Kemp overhauls Howarth in the averages.  I am certainly beginning to wonder why Lemon wanted Zischke over Vuolas I'm not seeing anything from Zischke to suggest he can be a force at this level.  I also think it's time to switch Blodorn, Cook & maybe Lidsey around.

Until the interval the track was poor racing wise, the only passes (Kurtz on Douglas, Fricke on Bewley & Becker on Blodorn) were because the leader drifted too wide on turns 1 & 2.  I think Kemp must have passed Cook, but at the time I had so much dust in my eyes standing on the back straight I was blinking constantly to remove it.

[Col]

On 4/9/2025 at 5:57 PM, Rob B said:

What been done to track this time?

He said he'd increased the camber on bed 1, 2 & 3 but needs another two weeks to finish the job on bend 4 in the on track interview, pre-meeting

1 hour ago, IainB said:

You can't keep blaming tracks for your teams generally abysmal record away from the NSS

Away race points... 90 for 90 against in the league for the Aces so far.  They haven't visited the ripe hunting grounds of Perry Barr or Cowley yet.

1 hour ago, Teromaafan said:

Masters retiring was unlucky for the Lions.

I had forgotten that.  When Douglas retired it was because he & Howarth clashed exiting turn 2.

1 hour ago, 40-38 said:

Kurtz dropping it on his own bend 1 and all 4 back

Kurtz had missed the jump but Howarth was not giving Kurtz an inch, he certainly took his front wheel away.

Edited Thursday at 10:32 PM by Col

[szkocjasid]

1 hour ago, Col said:

I am at a bit of a loss as to how to assess this meeting TBH, after 4 heat I was wondering if the aggregate bonus would even be salvageable for the Aces, Bewley aside they were so sluggish to start with.  The 5-1 following the Becker exclusion gave them hope, I couldn't see (due to dust/angle) the coming together with Blodorn from the exit of turn two where I was stood.  Becker had certainly passed Blodorn entering the straight but Blodorn was going quicker having taken a wider line.  The 1-5's from TS Kurtz/Bewley & the Kurtz/Blodorn meant I thought it would depend on Lidsey winning heat 13 after the interval.  Lidsey produced the first lap of the night to swing wide and pass both Kemp & Douglas to win heat 12.  Bewley & Kurtz hit the front in both heats 13 & 15, but Bewley made a mistake to allow both Lions through in heat 13 & Fricke did enough to force Kurtz off the inside line which also allowed Becker through in heat 15.  I thought heat 15 would be null & void TBH, was expecting a 5-1 from Kemp & Howarth in heat 14 but Cook finally decided he'd come to the party & won it setting up the last heat decider.

I suspect this result will be put into context when the Witches visit next week.   Fricke & Becker could be the strongest pairing in this league if they're kept together but one suspects Becker will end up at 3 or 4 soon enough, suspect the switch may come when Kemp overhauls Howarth in the averages.  I am certainly beginning to wonder why Lemon wanted Zischke over Vuolas I'm not seeing anything from Zischke to suggest he can be a force at this level.  I also think it's time to switch Blodorn, Cook & maybe Lidsey around.

Until the interval the track was poor racing wise, the only passes (Kurtz on Douglas, Fricke on Bewley & Becker on Blodorn) were because the leader drifted too wide on turns 1 & 2.  I think Kemp must have passed Cook, but at the time I had so much dust in my eyes standing on the back straight I was blinking constantly to remove it.

Tbh, I'd be very surprised if Kemp moves up into the top 5. He's made a great start to the season, but don't see him overtaking Howarth.

I may look at swapping around the number 5 rider Masters, Becker & Douglas taking turns maybe?

[ouch]

10 hours ago, IainB said:

You can't keep blaming tracks for your teams generally abysmal record away from the NSS, hope you get out of the car park quicker than you did at King's Lynn 😂 and think of all the cars you'll be passing on the way home with all that dirt on the M1 👍🏻

Abysmal, that’s weird. Last season and 2022, only two teams had a better away record and 2023 we were the best away team. Even in this years qualifiers we’ve won one and had this narrow loss. The majority of the league could only dream of being so abysmal.  

Great effort last night and I’ve no problem with hard riding in heat 15. We’ve seen Brady do the same many times, during one of our championship wins being particularly memorable. All The Aces chipping in and not being as reliant on our GP stars as most expected. Good to see Max, Kyle & Sam from the old boys club have a good night.

[Pinny]

Certain BV fans have a very short memory it seems, it wasn't too long ago they served up dross week after week at Kirky Lane with a poor team to boot most years.

[ouch]

7 minutes ago, Pinny said:

Certain BV fans have a very short memory it seems, it wasn't too long ago they served up dross week after week at Kirky Lane with a poor team to boot most years.

Yes, we had to endure Jason Crump week on week. 
You're correct about the racing at times, it was awful and we made our feelings known in no uncertain terms. We ended up with the NSS so my advice to those at gate ‘n’ go tracks is keep on at your management and get them to  produce a race track instead. You’ll love it.  

[GeneralMelchett]

40 minutes ago, ouch said:

Yes, we had to endure Jason Crump week on week. 
You're correct about the racing at times, it was awful and we made our feelings known in no uncertain terms. We ended up with the NSS so my advice to those at gate ‘n’ go tracks is keep on at your management and get them to  produce a race track instead. You’ll love it.  

To be fair it was Kirky lane or nothing, bhut the NSS is the template on which all future tracks / stadia need to aspire to if they can, its a great set up. Given their opening spanking at Foxhall I would say the Aces will be fine - certainly playoff bound!

[IainB]

1 hour ago, ouch said:

Abysmal, that’s weird. Last season and 2022, only two teams had a better away record and 2023 we were the best away team.

I think you may have got me there!

[AceBelle]

Last night was a great effort from the champions certainly get the bonus point come the return meeting Leicester are never going to get a aggregate win over Aces /Witches/Tigers the rest maybe ? and will probably finish 4th in the league and they will probably end up with Ipswich in play/offs 🙈 and with 2 small home wins so far not very inspiring at all and to win any trophy these days it's over 2 legs which Leicester are simply not strong enough 🙈

Edited Friday at 12:51 PM by AceBelle

[SUPERACE]

12 hours ago, IainB said:

You can't keep blaming tracks for your teams generally abysmal record away from the NSS, hope you get out of the car park quicker than you did at King's Lynn 😂 and think of all the cars you'll be passing on the way home with all that dirt on the M1 👍🏻

Really?  We have already won 1 this year, lost narrowly yesterday and should of won it after getting out in front in heat 15, and lost 1 to the team that will most probably win every home meeting.  We had the 3rd best away record 22, the best away record 23 and 3rd best again last year when putting in 2 superb away performances in the play offs (you may remember 1 of them)😎

[SUPERACE]

2 hours ago, Pinny said:

Certain BV fans have a very short memory it seems, it wasn't too long ago they served up dross week after week at Kirky Lane with a poor team to boot most years.

No Belle Vue fans have short memory's, the track at times was shocking and it was voiced regularly by the home fans.  I think track prep in this country at a lot of tracks is shocking, and its going to drive people away, we should all be pushing for tracks to get better. I know we are lucky at Belle Vue, but Leicester also had a blueprint to create what ever they wanted in terms of the track and are still trying to get it right.