The Ipswich Witches fell to a narrow 46-44 defeat at home to Belle Vue in the Premiership last night.
The league leaders started well and took a two-point lead after five races before the rain arrived in Suffolk and caused a delay to the meeting.
When the racing did resume it was the hosts who initially took to track conditions better, but the Aces got to grips with conditions soon after as the two sides traded maximums to set up a last-heat decider with the visitors two up.
It was the Manchester side who came out top in the final race of the night to extend their lead at the top and leave Ipswich’s play-off hopes hanging by a thread. Jason Doyle top scored with 14.
Emil Sayfutdinov won a shared heat one from the gate before the Aces went in front with a 2-4 in heat two as Tom Brennan got the better of Danyon Hume on the opening lap.
Danny King won heat three, but Erik Riss couldn’t find a way past Charles Wright at the back.
Doyle stormed under Brady Kurtz going into the third turn of the opening lap to win but despite his best-efforts Danyon Hume couldn’t get amongst the points meaning another 3-3 which left the visitors 11-13 up.
Dan Bewley made the start in heat five but lost control and fell midway through the first and second turns and was subsequently excluded.
However, the hosts couldn’t capitalise as Norick Blödorn held off King to win the re-run.
There was then a delay to proceedings as a rain shower hit Foxhall and track work was carried out to enable the racing to continue.
When the action did resume Sayfutdinov won heat six and he was joined at the front by Keynan Rew who rounded Kurtz for a 5-1 that put the Witches ahead.
Doyle won a shared heat seven by a country mile and then Ipswich extended their lead in heat eight as Rew won and Dan Thompson did excellently to pass Blödorn to join his teammate at the front for a maximum that gave the hosts a 27-21 lead.
The visitors hit back in heat nine with a maximum of their own as Sayfutdinov won a shared heat 10.
Doyle raced to another victory in heat 11 in a 3-3 but then the away side went in front with a 1-5 to make it 35-37 going into the final stages.
The Witches quickly regained the lead in heat 13 as the dependable duo of Doyle and Sayfutdinov hit a 5-1.
However, the lead changed again in heat 14 as the Aces recorded another maximum to give them the lead heading into the final race of the night.
Kurtz secured victory for his side in heat 15 as he took the chequered flag, a result that leaves the Witches with a mountain to climb in their bid for the top four.
Witches promoter Chris Louis said: "First things first I want to thank the fans for being patient on the terraces whilst we did our best to rectify the damage from the rain, so I appreciate that.
"It was very unfortunate that we couldn’t get the result they deserved because they are sticking by us, and I am very thankful for that.
"It is obvious we have got holes in the team which we have been aware of for weeks, but it is very difficult to find solutions right now out there, there is a lack of options.
"Emil and Jason have done everything for the team all year, they are completely faultless and have been all year.
"It is a shame because they have kind of been a bit let down by the team we have got, but we have got to continue to bang in the points.
"We understand now that we need someone to slip-up really badly which is unlikely to happen, but we can’t throw the towel in, and we need to keep looking for results."
He added: "As a unit, we are not good enough, we know that, but our options have been extremely limited.
"It is easy to say, ‘this rider is no good, that rider is no good, you’ve got to change him’ but you have got to come up with those solutions and we can’t find them at the moment."
IPSWICH 44: Emil Sayfutdinov 12+2, Keynan Rew 5+1, Danny King (c) 6, Erik Riss 1+1, Jason Doyle 14, Danyon Hume 3, Dan Thompson (RS) 3+1. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
BELLE VUE 46: Dan Bewley 4, Norick Blödorn 6+2, Jaimon Lidsey 6+3, Charles Wright 8+1, Brady Kurtz (c) 9, Tom Brennan 11+2, Connor Bailey (RS) 2+1. Team Manager: Mark Lemon
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