Lots of uncertainty going into this one - will Kurtz ride? Is Bewley fit enough to ride? Will Kvech be ok to take his place at reserve? Will we see the return of B Cook as promised by Rob Lyon? If the aces are down a man and Lynn are at full strength, then I can see the Stars nicking a win. However, Brady has no excuse to not ride on Monday now, so should be a comfortable win for the Aces. 52-38. Aces 1. Bewley - 14 (5) 2. Blodorn - 5 (4) 3. Lidsey - 10 (5) 4. Z Cook - 7 (4) 5. Kurtz - 11 (4) 6. Zischke - 3 (4) 7. Mulford - 2 (4) Total - 52 Stars  1. Lawson - 5 (4) 2. Klindt - 6 (4) 3. Iversen - 3 (3) 4. B Cook - 6 (4) 5. Harris - 7 (5) 6. Kvech - 10 (7) 7. Scott / Harrison - 1 (3) Total - 38

Well the rain unfortunately came about 90 minutes before tapes up and at one time was pretty heavy. All the weather updates gave it to pass over by about 2-45 pm and so it proved.The rain actually helped the track condition and the forecasted timing will have been in Steve Lawsons thinking when he was carrying out his pre meeting track watering regimen.  Must admit I was a bit surprised when we got dust around heat 7.  It was great to see the Comets finally get their league campaign underway on what must be some kind of record late start date in recent seasons. It was a good solid performance from all the Comets which was encouraging. Special thanks should go to Jonatan Grahn who changed his flight to Poland in order to guest for us in the absence of Fraser, he pulled off a couple of eye catching wins in his tally of 8 points. It was rewarding to see Tate win his first race at the GT Tyres Arena in 2025 !  almost unbelievable when you consider the form he produced there in the early part of last season prior to him crashing at Belle Vue. Hope we see his full confidence return now and he can start thrilling us all again like he did last season, go Tate . Also really pleased for Jacob Hook who achieved his best score to date in British Speedway, he gave his best in every race and deserved his reward. With the possible exception of Lasse Fredriksen the Gladiators were very much a one man team yesterday. Nicolai Klindt was different class . I think that has to be the most dominant display with the possible exception of Dan Bewley in last seasons Ben Fund meeting that I have witnessed at the GT Tyres Arena. Not many riders have ridden turns 3 and 4 so wide with so much speed and control !. He was obviously enjoying himself on a track where he could display his supreme motorcycle skills in complete confidence.  UTC!    

A good meeting yesterday I thought. Decent amount of passing but god the comets need to do something with the starts they just can’t seem to get out of them! Grahn was a superb guest and scored more points than bowes would have. It shows that hook is the one who’s been putting the laps in down at northside between meetings. Decent crowd more than I expected. Strange refereeing decision in heat 2 because Cluff can’t seem to count!! Didn’t jeopardise the result thankfully, onwards and upwards!

I’ve never been concerned about Jan’s commitment to Lynn. He got injured when Tungate forced him in the fence away at Oxford and still continued with the meeting, participated in both Manchester GP’s and lined up for Lynn on Monday against Ipswich. If he rides today for Torun, he’ll ride tomorrow at Belle Vue. 

Hopefully Danny isn’t too badly hurt and takes his place in this meeting. He’s been riding consistently well this year so it’ll be a big shame if he’s sidelined.    IF he misses the meeting, R/R should cover him ok with Brennan, Ellis and the reserves taking an extra ride. 

Fingers crossed we hear good news on Danny today and no serious damage has been done. Just hope it isn’t the same hand/wrist injury that caused him so many problems last year! Was also concerned for Doyle after his first couple of rides last night. Looked way off it and struggling, but then switched bikes and looked very competitive for the rest of the meeting. He was absolutely flying past Kvech until he lost control slightly and unfortunately collected Jan. Hopefully Jan isnt feeling too second hand and rides today and tomorrow for Lynn. He’s been in terrific form.