By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off semi-final second leg fixture with Leicester.
WHEN & WHERE
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to Leicester to face the Lions at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena on Thursday 12th September in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off semi-final second leg fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
LEICESTER: 1. Max Fricke 8.70 © 2. Richard Lawson 7.21 3. Sam Masters 7.17 4. Luke Becker 6.17 5. R/R for Ryan Douglas 7.59 6. Lewi Kerr (G) 5.03 7. Sam Hagon (RS). Team Manager: Stewart Dickson
IPSWICH: 1. Jan Kvěch (G) 9.36 2. Danny King 6.48 © 3. Keynan Rew 5.43 4. Tom Brennan (G) 9.12 5. Adam Ellis 5.61 6. Ashton Boughen (G) 3.74 7. Dan Thompson (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: TBC
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Sheffield | 24 | 42 |
| Leicester | 24 | 40 |
| Belle Vue | 24 | 37 |
| Ipswich | 24 | 34 |
| Oxford | 24 | 26 |
| King’s Lynn* | 24 | 22 |
| Birmingham | 24 | 11 |
PLAY-OFFS
SEMI-FINALS:
1st Leg: Ipswich 49-41 Leicester, 2nd Leg: Leicester vs Ipswich
1st Leg: Belle Vue vs Sheffield, 2nd Leg: Sheffield vs Belle Vue
TICKETS
Tickets are available to purchase online in advance here and on the gate.
THE STORY
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches head to Leicester on Thursday for the second leg of their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off semi-final tie.
The two sides met at Foxhall on Monday in the first leg with the Witches perhaps surprising a few onlookers as they ended their eight-match winless run with a 49-41 victory over the in-form Lions. The lead was 16 points at one stage and Leicester will have been pleased to leave Suffolk just eight points down, having not performed at their best.
The visitors continue to be without three of the team due to injuries. Jan Kvěch deputises for long-term absentee Jason Doyle at number one whilst Ashton Boughen is in again for the injured Jordan Jenkins at reserve who has suspected ligament damage in his thumb and a chipped bone. Despite racing in Poland last weekend, Emil Sayfutdinov is not yet fit to return to a full schedule of racing and Tom Brennan guests in his place. Team manager Ritchie Hawkins has moved captain Danny King to number two for this fixture with Adam Ellis going to number five.
Ipswich have enjoyed plenty of success at Leicester in recent years and have beaten the Lions twice this season at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena. The last fixture there in July ended in a 53-37 defeat and the Witches must avoid losing by more than seven points if they are to progress to the play-off final for the second year in a row.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“We have the same team out on Thursday and have swapped Danny and Adam around for the night. Truth be told, I had a premonition that was going to be the best way to go to help us win the meeting, so there you go.
“We start from scratch on Thursday will look to win the meeting. We have had a lot of success there in the past and have riders that can win races there and perform well there. Everyone in the team is up for getting themselves another two meetings by getting to that Grand Final.
“The underdog mentality is not something we have spoken about; you can see a great difference in the last two meetings compared to the last few league meetings which had little significance. These two meetings at home, everyone has stepped it back up a gear and I think we can take a lot of confidence into Thursday, and everyone seems to be fully focused again when we probably weren’t over the last month.
“People will have seen that Emil rode in Poland on Sunday night but did not ride for us on Monday. He is not fit enough yet to take on a full schedule. There is a big difference in racing one meeting at your home club and then having four or five days recovery when you are injured. That is a big difference to racing one day, taking a flight and travelling to another meeting in a different country and then doing the same again and not having any days off or rest. The facts are that he is not fit enough to race for us at the moment. I know he would love to and maybe if we were in the second semi-final he would be back with us but that is not the case.”
THE LIONS
Leicester entered the play-offs as many people’s favourites after their end of season form but couldn’t find their top level in Suffolk on Monday. An eight-point defeat could have been worse at Foxhall, but they will feel confident of turning the tie around on home shale. The hosts have lost three meetings at home in 2024, two against Ipswich and one to Sheffield.
The Lions remain without Ryan Douglas and Craig Cook for this fixture and as was the case on Monday, rider replacement will be in operation for Douglas whilst Lewi Kerr deputises for Cook.
AWAY DAYS
An adult ticket costs £22, concessions £20, children (6-17) £1 and children aged 5 and under go free. There will be 235 free car park spaces available at the stadium with further free car parking facilities on the Beaumont Shopping Complex (maximum time of 4 hours). Three Coach/Mini Bus spaces, 15 Disabled spaces available, 15 Motorcycle spaces, Taxi drop-off point. For travel information head here.
For more information about the club head to Leicester’s official website.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway