belle vue ACES
speedway
Warren Highton of club sponsor
Weson Motorcycles recently took
the time to tell us more about
his company and their positive
association with Belle Vue Rentruck
Aces Speedway Team. He told us,
“We are a family run business with
four staff and have been trading for
24yrs now. We deal in sales, service,
repair, accessories, mot’s and tyres
with brands including Honda,
Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Aprilia
and Ducati.
“We have been associated with Belle
Vue for seven years now as a heat
sponsor. I first attended a meeting
in 2008 after being invited by one
of my customers and now go to all
their home matches (season ticket)
and some away fixtures when time
permits. I really hope that speedway
can get back to its glory days as it’s
a thrilling sport to watch live in a
stadium and would like to take this
opportunity to wish Belle Vue the
best of luck for the future.”
we’ve developed a very healthy, very positive relationship
with them.
“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 re-
established 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.
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.”
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