KING’S Lynn slipped to a disappointing home defeat on Monday as Belle Vue ran out 49-41 winners at the Adrian Flux Arena.
It was a night when none of the PSH Environmental Stars were at their best, and although they still had a chance heading into the closing stages it was the Aces who deserved their win.
The power of Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley is well known and was expected, but they were given more than strong back-up from an impressive Zach Cook who dropped just one point from five rides.
For Lynn, Max Fricke won three races but missed out in his late battles with the Belle Vue top order, and there was another all-action show from youngster Cooper Rushen, but it was largely a below par display all-round.
An opening race win from Kurtz over Fricke set got the Aces off to a good start with a 4-2, although the Stars reserves hit back nicely with a convincing 5-1 maximum in Heat 2 as guest Jake Mulford combined well with Rushen.
But Lynn were trailing again shortly after with Cook and guest Kye Thomson making fast starts in Heat 3 to go clear of skipper Chris Harris and Ben Cook.
Jan Kvech put a win on the board for the Stars in Heat 4 but there was no way of breaking the two-point deficit as the Aces put on a solid display, and in fact there were five successive shared races as the visitors remained two points ahead.
Kurtz notched his second win of the night in Heat 5 with Harris rounding Norick Blodorn on turn four for third place, and whilst Fricke took a convincing win in Heat 6, early mechanical issues for Paco Castagna meant he was a retirement.
Rushen then took centre stage, first by snatching third place on the line from Thomson in Heat 7, and then by surpassing that effort in a stunning Heat 8 which saw him pass Blodorn mid-race and then chase after Will Cairns, grabbing the win on the line by just 0.003s.
However, the Aces notched a 4-2 in Heat 9 with Bewley defeating Harris whilst Ben Cook was kept at the back by Tate Zischke, and there was no way back in Heat 10 despite a Fricke win, as Thomson and Zach Cook packed in ahead of Castagna.
Heat 11 threatened a major upset with Blodorn leading from Rushen, whilst the international stars of Kvech and Kurtz contested third place, but Rushen came to grief on the last bend when challenging for the lead, which meant the race ended in a 4-2 to Belle Vue.
That did open up a tactical option for Lynn as they were six points down, and Fricke duly came into Heat 12 to partner Harris to a 5-1 to cut the gap back to two.
But that was as good as it got as in a hugely competitive first lap of Heat 13 Fricke found himself shuffled into third place by Kurtz and Bewley, and eventually dropped to the back after a dramatic bid to make it around the outside on turn four.
That left Lynn needing two 5-1s to salvage victory, but Zach Cook ended those hopes with a win over his brother in Heat 14, and Cook went on to win the last race as well, with Bewley in third place and the Aces riders being split by Kvech.
Harris said: “It’s a disappointing result. We knew it was going to be tough, Belle Vue are a solid side and we just didn’t have our gating gloves on tonight.
“There are no excuses, the better team won on the night. They were sharper, they seemed hungrier for it, and we have to regroup and come back next time.”
Lynn have little time to dwell on the defeat as they look to put things right on the road on Thursday when they visit Leicester.
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1 KING’S LYNN 41: Max Fricke 11, Jan Kvech 10, Cooper Rushen 7+3, Chris Harris 6+1, Ben Cook 4, Jake Mulford 3, Paco Castagna 0. BELLE VUE 49: Zach Cook 13+1, Brady Kurtz 10, Dan Bewley 9+2, Norick Blodorn 5+1, Tate Zischke 5, Kye Thomson 4+1, Will Cairns 3+1.
