Belle Vue jump at the chance to sign up Tungate
BELLE Vue have capitalised on new Green Sheet averages to snap up Australian ace Rohan Tungate who makes his debut for the Rentruck Aces in their home meeting against Rye House tonight.
His arrival is coupled with the departure of outgoing No.4 Justin Sedgmen, which director of speedway Mark Lemon admits was not an easy decision but was done in the best interests of the club.
He said: “I thought long and hard about the situation. I was hoping to see Justin step it up with Belle Vue but sadly this is a performancebased sport and he’s been struggling to find the form he’s capable of.
“The opportunity to bring in Rohan [Tungate] was too good to be true. There were other clubs chasing after him but his fondness for our track was a vital factor behind my decision to bring him to Belle Vue.”
There’s a grudge match brewing ahead of Rye House’s visit to the National Speedway Stadium tonight, where they hope to settle the score with Belle Vue after their recent clash down south.
The Rentruck Aces had struggled to gain a foothold for most of the evening and victory looked almost certain for the BMR Rockets - who had only to hang on for a 3-3 in Heat 15 for the win.
But the visitors had other ideas and British Champion Craig Cook and guest rider Brady Kurtz teamed up for a Belle Vue 5-1 that stole the triumph from right under the home team’s devastated noses.
This time, the home team are without Kenneth Bjerre owing to the Danish GP tomorrow and have brought in Troy Batchelor as their guest, while Ben Barker stands in for Rockets double-upper Ricky Wells.
Now, two weeks after their home draw to Poole, Craig Cook insists his side have rekindled the fiery form that engulfed their early season success, and says they’re ready for a big home win.
He said: “Confidence is one of the key elements to a successful team. We’ve had a good run of form these last few weeks and I want to see that transferred into our performance against Rye House.
“The Rockets are a solid team and from what I’ve seen so far there’s no out-and-out big hitter so much as all their riders regularly scoring consistently, so I’m sure they’ll be tough customers.
“But everybody knows how good we can be at home. Myself and Steve [Worrall] are coming home right off the back of the British final and we’ve got Rohan Tungate making his debut as well.
“I think he will settle in well. He’s confident around our track and coming in at No.4 will be a more suitable fit for him; We of course thank Justin Sedgmen for all his hard work and I wish him well.
“We have to focus on re-building our momentum at home. Our away form is spot on but we need to start piling in the points in Manchester if we want to make good on our promise to win the league.”