By Henry Chard
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches have signed Dan Thompson for the 2025 season.
Thompson arrived at Foxhall in the summer of 2023 and is loving his time at the club.
“It’s given me a bit of continuity going into next year, I joined halfway through 2023 so this will be almost my third season with the club. It is definitely a good club to be a part of and it was an easy decision.
“All the people around Ipswich, Chris (Louis) and Ritchie (Hawkins), the fans make it a great club. It is a difficult track but learning it every week has brought me on as a rider and individual and another year will only benefit me.”
The 20-year-old started last season as a ‘Rising Star’ but soon moved into the main body of the team after a string of impressive performances and next year will begin the season at number six.
“Last year was really good, my stint in the main body of the team controlled my average nicely so I come in on a handy average this year and I start at number six, so let’s see if I can push myself into the main body again.
“I was building momentum; I was enjoying my racing and was happy with the clubs I was at and that will be the same again this year. I will be looking for a positive start and, in my eyes, we should have had two or three trophies in the last two years that we have missed out on, and we will try to get them this year.”
The Nuneaton-born rider is determined to add more trophies to the Ipswich cabinet in 2025 after some narrow misses in recent seasons.
“I don’t think any of the riders in last year’s team deserve to go so if anyone has missed out, it is not really fair on them, but changes have to be made for averages and stuff so those of us staying are all grateful for that and we obviously don’t want to leave.
“I want to try and win some silverware with Ipswich; I missed out on the Knockout Cup trophy when we won that through injury. Ipswich had faith in me to join the club so it would be nice to reward them with a bit of silverware that we have come so close to.”
Thompson is hoping to progress further next season and is looking to gain a team spot in Poland to aid his development.
“I would like to be in the SGP2 permanently and would like to get into some form of Polish league at least to try and gain some experience out there. I have changed club in the Championship which I think will help me in the long-term, but I am happy to be back at Ipswich and am looking forward to it.”
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway