SHEFFIELD SPEEDWAY MATCH REPORTS 2024
SHEFFIELD 'Tigers' v BELLE VUE 'Aces'											Premiership 2			26th August 2024
Ref: Michael Breckon		01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	S/h	Tot+Bp
1. Jack Holder	9.20	2'					3	3			3			2				12+2
2. Kyle Howarth ©	5.17	3			3		1		3		1					tps		11
3. Chris Holder	8.23			3		3				1		2	3			3		15
4. Josh Pickering	6.47			2'		2'				0				2	3			9+2
5. Tai Woffinden r/r	8.67				-			-				-		-				(10)
6. Jason Edwards	3.25		3		1			-				1'			2'	0		7+2
7. Joe Thompson (g) RS	(3.41)		1		-			0	1				0					2
Simon Stead		5	4	5	4	5	4	3	4	1	4	3	3	3	5	3
SHEFFIELD 'Tigers'		5	9	14	18	23	27	30	34	35	39	42	45	48	53	56		98
BELLE VUE 'Aces'		1	3	4	6	7	9	12	14	19	21	24	27	30	31	34		82
Mark Lemon		1	2	1	2	1	2	3	2	5	2	3	3	3	1	3
1. Dan Bewley	8.96	0				r	2			3		3		3		2		13
2. Norick Blodorn	5.23	1			2	1			0			-						4
3. Jaimon Lidsey	7.63			0				1'			fx		1'	0				2+2
4. Ben Cook	6.58			1				2		2'	2				1	1'		9+2
5. Brady Kurtz r/r	8.65				-		-			-				-				(6+1)
6. Antti Vuolas	4.55		2				0			-			2		0			4
7. Jake Mulford RS	3.00		+0		0				2			0			-			2
Track record: 58.92 Jack Holder, 30 May 2024		01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	S/h
		62.31	62.28	61.63	62.54	61.92	61.00	60.39	61.09	62.67	61.26	61.50	61.43	61.86	62.40	61.72

The 3rd 'War of the Roses' 2024 on bank holiday Monday. The Aces with Brady Kurtz held on to a slender lead to set up a last heat decider in Manchester at lunch time, but without Brady they found Owlerton too much to handle. Kyle won the toss and said the team wanted gates 1&3.

Kyle flew from the gate in heat 1 and Jack joined him in a perfect example of team riding thwarting Norick at every turn. Jake hit the tapes and earned himself a 15m handicap in heat 2. Antti Vuolas led the restart but Jason kept pushing and passed him down the back straight on the last lap. Jaimon Lidsey was warned for making a perfect start in heat 3 but couldn't repeat it in the restart as Chris and Josh took another 5-1. Kyle and Norick were both back out as r/r in heat 4 and Kyle flew into a big lead. Norick kept the pressure on and dived past Jason on turn 2 on the last lap. Chris led the way in heat 5 with Josh passing Norick on the pits bend into 3rd place and then inheriting 2nd when Dan Bewley's bike packed in. Tigers lead by 16 points.

The Cardiff GP winner is out again in heat 6 on his second bike but Jack has his measure once again. Kyle challenges for second place on the inside line but Jack and Dan both ride high and wide and pull clear. Jack is out again in heat 7 as r/r but the Aces share the heat ahead of Joe Thompson. Jake makes a decent gate and lead heat 8 briefly but Kyle swoops around the outside into the lead on the back straight. Norick has every move blocked by young Joe and Kyle rides high and wide to become the first winner from gate 4. Ben Cook is r/r in heat 9 and Dan joins him as tac-sub. The Aces trap and take the wide line and the visitors get their first winner and first heat advantage. Jack is off gate 4 in heat 10 but follows Kyle's lead in heat 8 and swoops around the field. The others are three abreast into turn 3 with Jaimon Lidsey on the outside and he loses control in the deep stuff and gets thrown over the handlebars. Nasty looking crash but he's soon back on his feet. Jack makes the same outside swoop out of turn 2 to take the lead and wins by a country mile. Tigers lead by 18 points.

Chris is r/r in heat 11 and Jake Mulford comes in for Norick. Dan and Chris trade places in the lead before Dan fires his way ahead while Jason rides a nice line for a shared heat. Chris is back out in heat 12 and makes a sweet start from the inside gate before moving wide to pull clear of Antti, while Jaimon passes Joe for third place on the second lap. Josh is r/r in heat 13 joining Jack, and Jaimon is back out again, also as r/r. Dan has the inside gate and takes Jack's line into turn 2. Josh runs high and wide but is behind Jack and Jaimon entering turn 3. Jack pins Jaimon to the white line allowing Josh through into second place for another shared heat. Josh is back out in heat 14 and Antti replaces Jake. Jason traps from gate 1 and Josh goes out into the dirt to power into the lead exiting turn 2. Jason then comes under pressure from Ben but manages to stymie every attempt for another glorious 5-1. Kyle and Chris are Simon's nominations while Mark goes with Dan and Ben. Kyle on gate 4 and Dan gate 3 both hit the tapes but Kyle's exclusion light is shown immediately. Jason takes his place in the rerun and it's Chris who gets the jump and goes straight for the outside line. Dan passes Jason down the back straight and rounds Ben on the pits turn but by then Chris is well clear and riding the dirt line. Tigers complete the demolition job over the 'old enemy' winning by 22 points. It must have been a miserable drive over the Snake Pass on the way back to Lancashire.

Analysis of starting gate positions:
Gate 1 - 31(+4)pts 5 wins. Gate 2 - 24(+1)pts 5 wins. Gate 3 - 19(+3)pts 3 wins. Gate 4 - 16(+2)pts 2 wins.