ACES LATE CHARGE STINGS THE BEES

    

Coventry BEES  45 - 45  Belle Vue ACES

Belle Vue snatched a draw in a Last Heat decider Friday night at Brandon Stadium as they denied Coventry victory in a meeting that that should have been sewn up well before. Belle Vue were at a point 12 points behind after heat 8 when Coventry lead 30 -18 and were dominating the match as the hosts gating from the tapes was the difference in the first half of the meeting. As the track wasn`t helping the racers as the track was very slick and freezing cold which didn`t produce a good meeting till nearer the end of the match.

Belle Vue Aces plans had been thrown a bit as Craig Cook was refused to be used by his parent club Edinburgh Monarchs in the Premier league as they were riding the same evening in a challenge match up in Scotland, So the Aces were forced into Rider replacement for the missing Cumbrian star.  Coventry were also missing a rider as Adam Roynon had suffered a horrifying crash the previous week at Brandon against the Birmingham Brummies so Coventry had Ludvig Lindgren the younger brother of Wolverhampton rider Freddie. 

Both sides were looking for their first wins of the season as Coventry lost both opening meetings of the season to Birmingham and Belle Vue were in the same boat having lost their opening meetings too against Wolverhampton home and away, so both had the chance to get some big points and get their respective seasons kicked started. 

Coventry had their gating boots on as in the first Heat Aaron Summers got a good gate and was never in any trouble at all as Matej Zagar chased Summers and Ales Dryml passed Krzysztof Kasprzak on the opening bend as the teams would share a 3-3, However Dryml fell on lap 2 on second bend and so Coventry had a 4-2 advantage and with a 5-1 by Ludvig Lindgren and Michal Szczepaniak in Heat 2 as they started to pull away as the Aces pair were far ,far behind them. 

Heat 3 finally saw something for the away side to cheer about as the Aces new signing Kevin Wolbert made the gate alongside Magnus Zetterstrom as they got out on a 5-1 but Zorro lifted and Grzegorz Zengota came by as the Swedish rider lifted so the pole passed Zetterstrom and so the lead was cut to 4 points now.  Heat 4 saw Coventry open up an 8 points lead as Bees Captain Scott Nicholls and Michal Szczepaniak got the drop on the Belle Vue boys and rode together in formation as the Bees were 16-8 up. 

Brandon Stadium

GP rider Matej Zagar and rider replacement Kevin Wolbert put in a 4-2 heat win for the Manchester side as Zagar came under Zengota on 3rd & 4th bend to puch him wide and take control of the race, That was followed up by Polish heat leader Artur Mroczka getting out and holding off the advancing Coventry pair of Kasprzak and Summers. Coventry stopped the mini Aces Revival as they banged in a 4-2 & big 5-1 in heats 7 and 8 as the lead rose to 12 as we got to the half way stage, The Bees were practically "buzzing" with delight as the score was 30-18 to the hosts and Belle Vue desperately needed to pull their respective fingers out if they wanted to get back into this meeting.

The Aces responded with a 5-1 in the next race as Ales Dryml finally came to the party along with Mroczka as they team rode for maximum points and just before the interval Wolbert flew round Kasprzak as the pole made a little error and the German who was having a great meeting passed him and along with Zorro got a 4-2 race advantage to reduce the lead to 6 now.

After the interval and track grading came Heat 11 with the Aces only 6 behind the Bees and the home fans were panicking that they could see their side lose this meeting as the Aces had found some momentum and they kept the pressure up as Matej Zagar and Ales Dryml got a 5-1 as Zagar and Nicholls had a great battle for 2nd place as Zagar was trying to hold off Nicholls and Sheppard Dryml round which he did magnificently it has to be said and so the lead dwindled away to just a 2 point advantage of the Visitors.

Heat 12 saw the Aces riders of Zetterstrom and Dryml again gate on a 5-1 maximum as Zengota tried to chase them down only for Michal Szczepaniak to fall of his own accord on the first bend all on his own and stayed down as the Aces were starting lap 2.

Experienced referee Tony Steele put the red lights on for the race to stop and surprisingly put all 4 riders back in the Re-Run which was a very poor decision but the referee due the Bees rider nowhere in the mix and was quite a distance away from the 3 riders in front, Anyhow are run it was and typically it Coventry who got gained the advantage as Grzegorz Zengota made no mistake from the tapes this time round and blasted from the gate with the Belle Vue pair unable to gain any ground on the Polish rider.

The big Heat 13 came as the pair of Kasprzak and Nicholls against the Belle Vue pair of Zagar and Mroczka faced off and looked like whoever made the gate would win the race, So as the tapes went up the Coventry pair shot out and gated on a 5-1 for the Bees and looked to have put them in the driving seat of the contest. However Zagar had other ideas as coming into the 2nd bend on lap 2 Zagar blasted round Kasprzak and came under Nicholls on the 3rd & 4th bend to take the lead and make it a 3 all race, But Mroczka was gaining lap by lap on his fellow Countryman and coming to the last bend Mroczka and Kasprzak raced for the line and the Aces Polish star had pinched 3rd placed as the Bees rider locked up a bit on the last bend allowing Mroczka to get the drive and 3rd place which dramatically changed the meeting. Mroczka as he came back to the pits let out a massive shout of joy as headed back as it meant a lot to the young Polish rider.

The scores were now level at 39 apiece and with 2 races to go it was any ones to win, On paper the Aces had the better pairing entering the penultimate race as Wolbert & Dryml were in form and Lindgren & Michal Szczepaniak were off the boil a bit now, but as their waited for the tapes to go up when they did  the Bees gated and got a great start pushing Wolbert wide as they team rode brilliantly to get a 5-1 even though the German tried everything he could do to try and split the Bees he just couldn`t manage it and so heading to the last heat decider the score showed 44-40 to the home side. Belle Vue Aces team manager Jason Attwood knew he need a 5-1 to draw the match and get a point out of the meeting and so he put his strongest pair of Matej Zagar and Man of the Match for the Aces Kevin Wolbert in, While Gary Havelock the ex World Champion and newly installed Coventry Bees team manager put Scott Nicholls and Grzegorz Zengota in to finish the job off.

The home side took gates 1 & 3 and the anticipation was building starting marshal moved away and the Aces duo both got out and took the Bees pairing wide to the outside as Zagar left a cloud of dust for the Bees to eat as him and Wolbert rode a steady 5-1 race advantage and earned the ACES a deserved draw as they dominated the second half of the meeting as Coventry had the first half. The riders came round and high fived the travelling Belle Vue supporters that had made the journey and the shouts of celebration at a stunned Brandon told you everything. As the Bees fans were not very impressed by their own sides second half or inability to close out the meeting.    

HEAT 5  - BEES v ACES

RIDERS SCORES:

Coventry Bees: 45

1. Krzysztof Kasprzak 1 1* 2 0 =4+1 
2. Aaron Summers 3 2 3 0 =8 
3. Grzegorz Zengota 2 2 1 3 =8 
4. Mateusz Szczepaniak 0 0 0 =0 
5. Scott Nicholls 2* 1 1 2 
6. Ludvig Lindgren (G) 2* 3 0 2* =7+2 
7. Michal Szczepaniak 3 3 2* 0 3 =11+1 


Belle Vue Aces: 45

1. Matej Zagar: 2 3 2* 3 3 =13+1 
2. Craig Cook: R/R (AD 0 KW 1 AM 1 AD 3)
3. Magnus Zetterstrom: 1 0 1 2 =4
4. Kevin Wolbert: 3 1 2 3 1 2 =12
5. Artur Mroczka: 0 3 1 2* 1 =7+1
6. Ales Dryml: 0 0 0 3 3 1* 0 =7+1
7. Kauko Niemenen: 1 1 0 =2