By Henry Chard
The Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches welcome back young Australian Keynan Rew to the club for the 2024 season.
The Queenslander made his debut in British racing last season with Ipswich and admits it was a big learning curve for him.
“It was always the plan to be back at Ipswich next season,” said Rew. “I really enjoyed my first year there and couldn’t have started at a better place in England. Chris (Louis) and Ritchie (Hawkins) were awesome to work with in my first year and very helpful so I’m very grateful to be back next season.
“It was definitely a learning curve for me. There were ups and downs as there always are, it was my first season here so there was a lot to learn, and I think I learned a lot. Hopefully I can take that forward and from a team perspective it was awesome to win the Knockout Cup, we just missed out on the league which was a bummer but there is always next year.”
The 20-year-old enjoyed the team atmosphere built at Foxhall and is hoping to push for the Sports Insure Premiership title next season having lifted the Knockout Cup in 2023.
“It was an awesome feeling to win the Knockout Cup at home in Ipswich in the second leg. I feel like it was a present for Chris and for all of the hard work the boys put in this season. We all got along great, and it was a great bunch of guys and there was a good atmosphere. Of course, it was a bummer to lose out in the play-off final, but it is what it is.
“Everyone sets themselves goals for their season and I have many that I would like to achieve. I would like to come back and finish what we started; it would be cool to push for that league title.”
The 2022 Australian Under-21 champion finished fourth in the 2023 SGP2 series and is hoping to be part of it again next season as he targets a gold medal at that level.
“It was my first year in the SGP2, so it was good to qualify for that. I came up a little bit short in the end with the goals I would have liked to achieve. It made me strive for bigger things next year so hopefully I can push on next year. I’ve got to do the qualifiers again to qualify but hopefully I can get through that, and the goal is to be an Under-21 champion, that is the main goal. I will work my hardest and hopefully we can get there.”
Rew has headed back to his homeland for the winter where he will remain busy on the bike before returning to Europe ahead of the new season.
“I’m back in Australia now which is nice and warm, and it is nice to be back home in the summer. I have got some racing to do which takes up some time and I will be in the gym a little bit working hard on my fitness to be ready for next season. I will be keeping busy on the bike and when I get back to Europe, I will get the rest of the small things organised and then I’ll be ready to go.”
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway