By Henry Chard
The ‘Tru Plant’ Witches captain Danny King will once again lead the side in 2020 after his return to the club was confirmed.
King has been with the club for the past five seasons and next season will be his twelfth in total at Foxhall. The skipper has made no secret of his love for the club in recent years.
“It is where I want to be, I don’t want to be anywhere else,” said King. “I am pleased they wanted me back and I’m looking forward to wearing the Witch on my chest once again.
“It is a club close to my heart. I started my career here and I firmly believe they are the reason I have reached the level I have got to in my career because they gave me that chance when I was younger. It feels like home and I always want to ride for Ipswich and happily I am.”
“Don’t get me wrong it can be good to have some time away, Cam (Heeps) and I both did it and we both came back better riders. That is nothing against any club, but loyalty is very rare, and I think you can see that in myself and Cam.”
The skipper will start 2020 with a 6.66 average and says he does not mind what number he rides at in the team.
“I just like winning, I look at myself as a heat leader and I am always pushing myself to that. Last season I was pushing to get to number one and if we hadn’t signed Niels (Kristian Iversen) I would have gone to number one. Although I didn’t feel like I had a great year, it was certainly a successful one after having a year off. I want to keep pushing myself in 2020.”
The 33-year-old will also race for Poole in the Championship after the Dorset club made the drop down a division and it is a challenge that King is relishing.
“It is a very historic club who have had a lot of success and maybe there will be a bit more pressure at a club like that. I love challenges and I am going to tackle this one with both hands and enjoy my time there.”
The 2016 British champion joins Cameron Heeps, Jake Allen and Nicolai Klindt in the team and believes the 2020 side has what it takes to go one better next season and become Premiership champions.
“Chris (Louis) and Ritchie (Hawkins) have been working really hard to put a competitive team together and I think we can compete like we did last year at the top end of the table.
“Swindon were the better team in last season’s play-off final, they made the changes at the right time and pushed hard. It was like they had an extra man at the end of the year, they were well over the team average limit and we were under and it was so tough against such a strong outfit. It didn’t finish how we wanted but I certainly believe we can do it next year.”
There is only one thing on King’s mind for the new season as he targets trophies for himself and his teams.
“I want silverware. In last year’s British Final, I won the meeting but came second in the final, which was hard. I want to go one better there and that is the same at Ipswich. We made the final last year, so the play-offs are the first target. We want to bring some silverware back to Foxhall, that is a huge goal of mine. It’s the same with Poole, I just want to win trophies.”
The Witches rider will head on holiday after Christmas before attentions turn to the new campaign.
“We will have a family holiday which will be nice. Other than that, is it business as usual, getting fit and building bikes. I like to get my bikes done pretty early and I will be looking to get on a bike at the end of February weather permitting.”
2020 Season Tickets are now available to purchase, all the details can be found here. Supporters wishing to buy their ticket in person can do so on Saturday 21st December between 10am-1pm at Foxhall Stadium with hot drinks and mince pies on offer.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway