BRADY Kurtz believes he is better equipped than ever to handle the responsibility of the number one position at Pirates.

The 21-year-old, one of speedway's most exciting talents, rode 11 SGB Premiership meetings in the spearhead role last season and finished seventh in the averages.

And Kurtz picked up where he had left off when he stormed to a 15-point maximum in Wednesday's curtain-raiser against Belle Vue, a gritty 50-40 win.

He said: "Last year was really good for me and, hopefully, this year I can push on.

"Being number one is hard. Heat one and heat 13 are easy races to get a zero in. It was tough last season but this year I think I can be a bit more up to it, especially at the away tracks.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what comes. I think it's going to be a big year for us."

Pirates trailed narrowly from an early stage against the Aces but took the lead after heat 10 and swiftly built an advantage which they did not relinquish.

Debutants Kacper Woryna and Linus Sundstrom improved notably as the meeting went on and there were solid contributions from other team members alongside Kurtz's bumper haul.

Team boss Neil Middleditch, who had landed in Britain hours earlier following a trip to California to visit ex-Poole star Scott Autrey, was buoyed by what he had seen.

Middleditch said: "I got in from Los Angeles this morning and came straight back. I'm a bit jet-lagged but the win made me feel a lot better.

"Early on, it was a bit like an away track but the boys got dialled in and I think it's a good sign of things to come.

"Everyone improved throughout the meeting. The team spirit was superb and it can only get better from here."