Elite League
Belle Vue Speedway: Aces 'Generation Game.'
By Admin
Jul 8, 2008, 19:08

Belle Vue will stage their own version of the Generation Game next week.

The Greggs North West Junior championship at Kirkmanshulme Lane next Wednesday (7 30) will bring top youngsters from all corners of the speedway world for what has become an entertaining meeting.

They will include Yorkshire lad Scott Richardson and Scot Adam McKinna whose fathers, Derek and Kenny respectively, rode for the Aces.

Yorkshire's Ben Taylor has two top pre-war internationals in his camp in grandfather Jack Hughes and uncle, Arthur Wright.

And Stockport youngster Jack Roberts, who rides for Birmingham, has followed his father into bike racing.

Roberts will carry the local hopes along with Cadishead boys Ben Hopwood and Gareth Isherwood.

Hopwood, 17, has just figured in a transfer saga in which he signed for Redcar for a day before moving on to Scunthorpe.

He said: "There was a problem at Redcar because they wanted me to cover up the name of my personal sponsor so I joined Scunthorpe instead."

Riders will be chasing more than £1,000 in prize money from sponsors ATP, the Advanced Travel partner, and the new Allan Morrey Trophy in memory of the club's late Clerk of the Course who gave the Aces 61 years' service.

Hopwood added: "The Belle Vue track doesn't suit me but I've been getting better round there every year.

"I started at Sheffield which is a big track and Belle Vue is the complete opposite with its tight bends.

"But I'll be doing my best to win it. I've worked hard to get my set-up right and to learn how to ride Belle Vue. It will definitely help me if I sort out how to ride the tracks I don't like. I'm certainly out to win the meeting and get among the prize money."

Commonwealth riders in the field include Aaron Summers (Australia), Jade Mudgeway (New Zealand) and Byron Bekker (South Africa).

Danish rider Peter Juul Larsen, 17, will be the first non-Commonwealth competitor thanks to the Aces' tie-up with his Polish league club, Tarnow.

Admission has been halved to Adults £8, Concessions £5, Children aged 12-15 £3, Children under 12 free.

Line-up: Ben Hopwood, Ben Taylor, Scott Richardson, Adam Wrathall, Gareth Isherwood, Peter Juul Larsen, Greg Blair, Jack Roberts, Adam McKinna, Daniel Greenwood, Jade Mudgeway, Aaron Summers, Byron Bekker, John Branney, Gary Irving, Daniel Halsey.

Belle Vue's next home match is against Peterborough on Monday, July 21 when Joe Screen is aiming to return to action after treatment on a neck injury.

Screen was sidelined with concussion after a heavy fall at Coventry but suffered the injury at the same time and it has failed to clear up.

Two meetings in two nights at Peterborough and Lakeside last week left him in great discomfort and he had to pull out of a guest booking at Eastbourne on Saturday.

He said: "The problem is in the back of my neck but it goes down into my shoulder. I am having physio and, fortunately, we haven't many matches at the moment because of the World Cup."

Lukasz Jankowski and Steve Boxall won't ride again this season because of their shoulder injuries.

The chances of either rider coming back this year were growing slimmer and both have taken the decisions to go ahead with operations in order to be ready for the start of the 2009 season.

Aces' chief David Gordon said: "It is disappointing for Lukasz, Steve and us as a club but it seems the right thing to do so they can get their careers back on track next season.

"We will continue to trawl the transfer market to see what develops in terms of bringing in replacements."

Eastbourne's Lewis Bridger and new Danish signing, Patrick Hougaard, will replace them in the field for the Peter Craven Memorial Trophy at the 80th Anniversary meeting on July 28.