PANTHERS’ hopes of a vital away point at Belle Vue on Monday, were extinguished when on-fire Kenneth Bjerre’s bike burst into flames.

PANTHERS’ hopes of a vital away point at Belle Vue on Monday, were extinguished when on-fire Kenneth Bjerre’s bike burst into flames.

The Panthers needed a share of the points from the last heat to keep the losing margin to six points that would have given them some reward for a battling display.

Bjerre, who won the Swedish Grand Prix on Saturday, had to switch to his spare machine after discovering a broken engine bolt while on his way to the line for the crucial heat 15.

He went out on his second bike and he and partner Troy Batchelor were on a 4-2 when the Dane suddenly stopped with his bike ablaze.

He said: “I can’t ever remeber that happening to me before. Because the engine was cold a backfire caused the carburretor to catch fire.”

The race was stopped while team mechanic Ray Blackwell doused the flames and in the re-run the unlucky Batchelor,who had been leading, was beaten by the Belle Vue pairing of number one Hans Andersen and James Wright who gave the home side a 51-41 win.

Lewis Bridger bounced back from a disappointing run of form to claim three paid-wins, but Peterborough’s weakness at reserve was again a determining factor, despite the best efforts of guest Craig Cook. The two-point return from the reserve partnership of Cook and Linus Eklof was out-scored heavily by the home pairing, who weighed in with 11 points.

Belle Vue 51 (Hans Andersen 15, James Wright 10:3, Leigh Lanham 6:3, Patrick Hougaard 8, Peter Karlsson 7, William Lawson 5, Tobias Kroner 0)

Peterborough 41 (Kenneth Bjerre 13:1, Troy Batchelor 9, Lewis Bridger 8:1, Ulrich Ostergaard 5:1, Joonas Kylmakorpi 4:1, Craig Cook 2, Linus Eklof 0)