belle vue ACES
speedway
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“That’s something that we, and
they, have been working towards
with Mark over the last few
months and I think the manner of
their response is reflected very well
in our current situation.”
Of the super septet that appeared
together for the first time on March
30th only one has not made it
through to the end of the season; as
a result of his terrible accident early
doors at Rye House.
Simon Stead’s brief tenure in
Belle Vue colours came to an
end far too soon but it wasn’t
long before a very familiar face
made a very triumphant return to
Kirkmanshulme Lane.
Having relinquished his place
with Poole to Davey Watt, Josh
Grajczonek was the man deemed
worthy to fill the void at No.5
and it wasn’t long before he reestablished himself as a club
favourite. “What we’ve had this
year is a team of riders who want
to ride for Belle Vue and who are
willing to work with us, and that’s
exactly the attitude we wanted
when we signed them,” said
Morton.
“We’ve always been vocal about
our dislike for too many changes
from one season to another and
that’s because we value not just
consistency, but the relationships
we have with our riders. That is
very important to us. If you start
the season with athletes whom
you’ve never used before, it takes
time to develop a rapport so that
you can work towards getting the
best out of them. At least half of
these riders are individuals we’ve
been working with for quite some
time. There’s only really Steve
[Worrall] and Max [Fricke] who
were the newbies amongst the
boys.
“We wanted to be very
selective, and very careful,
of precisely who we’ve put
into this team. We wanted a
healthy mix of experience and
raw talent, and over time we’ve
really seen the benefits.
“With the Elite League especially,
it’s all about timing and that’s why I
think we’ve done better this year than
previous seasons; because we’ve got this
team performing at their best at the right
time. I’m not saying it’s mission accomplished
just yet, as there’s still a lot of work to do yet, but we are
looking much better now than at the start of the year, which is
exactly where we need to be.”
I can’t speak for the rest of the fans but I know I’m feeling a
little bit smug that all those people who wrote the Belle Vue boys
off as title contenders have been forced to choke on their words.
12 Issue 10
But the war is not won just yet, and as
we prepare once again to do battle with
the Swindon Robins all other results of
the last five months become irrelevant;
after all, it’s all about the here and now.
Said Morton: “By finishing fourth, we
were never going to be in control of who we
were up against, but honestly we would’ve
met any of these three teams with the same
level of confidence.
“This Belle Vue team is strong enough to win the
league but it’s about application, desire and focus, and in
keeping our direction towards the final it’s an opportunity we
must make the most of.
“Whether Swindon, Poole or Coventry, it doesn’t make any
difference to us. The best of four is who becomes the League
Champions. To be the best you have to beat the best, as they
say.”