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| | BIRMINGHAM’s late fightback against Belle Vue was in vain as they missed out in a last heat decider for the second week running.
Despite being ten points down with four races to go, the Curtis Sport Brummies managed to take things down to the wire before being on the wrong end of the 46-44 scoreline.
It was just the second time this season that the Aces have won away from the National Speedway Stadium as the Brummies were made to pay for a severely sluggish start.
After Belle Vue No.1 Brady Kurtz had twice been the victim of the domino effect, the Aces skipper picked himself up to take a 5-1 alongside Norick Blodorn at the third time of asking.
The visitors then doubled their lead as their new reserve pairing of Antti Vuolas and Jake Mulford struck another maximum over Piotr Pawlicki and Leon Flint in Heat Two.
Wiktor Lampart and Zach Cook stopped the early rot as they sealed the minor placings behind Blodorn in Heat Three who made it two wins out of two.
Heat Four not only saw Tom Brennan deliver the Brummies their first race win of the contest but also their first heat advantage with Flint this time getting the better of Mulford.
A hat-trick of 3-3s then followed, with away riders taking the flag on each occasion. The fifth again saw Lampart and Cook take second and third and with the gap at six points, team manager Sam Ermolenko decided to use Brennan as a Tactical Substitute alongside Lindgren in Heat Six.
But Belle Vue’s Jaimon Lidsey made the best getaway and the Brummies’ duo couldn’t find a way through.
Brennan and Pawlicki did both work their way by Lidsey however in Heat Seven to deny the visitors a 5-1, but they did re-establish their eight point lead with a 4-2 in Heat Eight with Michael Palm Toft able to split Blodorn and Mulford.
Zach Cook made a brilliant gate to help him to the win in Heat Nine before Kurtz and Ben Cook extended the Aces’ lead to ten points with ten gone. Kurtz continued his unbeaten night in Heat 11 but with Brennan and Pawlicki finishing ahead of Blodorn, the Brummies knew they had to come out fighting following the interval.
They did just that as Polish duo Pawlicki and Lampart teamed up for a 5-1 in Heat 12 before Lindgren picked up his first win of the night in Heat 13 as Kurtz was beaten for the first time in a 4-2 to Birmingham.
Ben Cook finished ahead of brother Zach and Pawlicki in Heat 14 and with four points still separating the sides, it meant Birmingham needed a 5-1 to force the Super Heat.
Lindgren again made a great start off gate two and whilst Brennan looked for a run around the outside, his move was blocked and Kurtz was able to keep the duo apart to seal the win for the visitors.
The Brummies now face a busy August which sees them start the month with three successive away trips - the first of which sees them head to Oxford this Thursday (August 1, 7.30pm).
BIRMINGHAM 44: Fredrik Lindgren 10+1, Tom Brennan 10+1, Piotr Pawlicki 9+1, Zach Cook 6+3, Wiktor Lampart 6+1, Michael Palm Toft 2, Leon Flint 1. BELLE VUE 46: Brady Kurtz 15+1, Norick Blodorn 9, Jaimon Lidsey 7, Ben Cook 7, Antti Vuolas 5+1, Jake Mulford 3+1,Dan Bewley r/r.
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