By Rob Binns
MEETING SPONSORS
Tru7 Group – Tru7 Group is a diversified supplier to the construction, demolition and agriculture industries. Their premium fleet has state-of-the-art safety technology, and they make sure you have the right vehicle or operator for the job, saving time, fuel and emissions. With service and sustainability core to their business, their fast-growing portfolio offers van, truck and plant rental and sales, demolition and remediation, earthworks, asbestos removal, concrete and aggregates.
RN Euston – RN Euston Limited has supplied steel framed buildings in East Anglia for over 40 years. Established by Ray Euston the business has grown steadily over the years and now Ray works in partnership with his son Mark. The company is based in Suffolk and work all over East Anglia where they have gained a reliable reputation.
SCORECARD
IPSWICH 56: Jason Doyle 12+1, Danny King © 13+2 (Paid Maximum), Adam Ellis 3+1 (Withdrawn), Tom Brennan 9+1, Emil Sayfutdinov 8+2, Dan Thompson 11+3, Vinnie Foord (G) (RS) 0. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
BELLE VUE 34: Brady Kurtz © 10+1, Norick Blödorn R/R, Jaimon Lidsey 7, Zach Cook 3+1, Dan Bewley 8, Tate Zischke 1+1, Jake Mulford (RS) 5+1. Team Manager: Mark Lemon
REFEREE: S. Perkin
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Ipswich | 15 | 28 |
| Sheffield | 13 | 24 |
| Belle Vue | 15 | 24 |
| Leicester | 14 | 21 |
| King’s Lynn | 15 | 12 |
| Oxford | 15 | 8 |
| Birmingham | 15 | 6 |
THE REPORT
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches stormed to a 56-34 victory over the Belle Vue Aces in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership at Foxhall on Thursday night, overcoming a 14-point deficit to secure the aggregate bonus point in the process.
Jordan Jenkins damaged the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in the reverse fixture and is yet to return. Vinnie Foord guested at number seven for Ipswich in his place while Belle Vue were operating rider replacement at number two to cover Norick Blödorn who is also suffering from a knee injury. The visitors won 52-38 at the National Speedway Stadium last week but the Witches looked determined to close the aggregate deficit and held a 10-point lead after seven heats. The hosts kicked on further in the second half of the meeting and extended their advantage on the night to 22 points to claim all three points. Danny King top scored with a paid maximum of 13+2.
Ipswich made the perfect start in heat one with King making the gate while Jason Doyle fought his way past Brady Kurtz on the back straight in the second lap to join his skipper for a maximum. Dan Thompson cruised to victory in a shared heat two. Jaimon Lidsey earned the first race win of the evening for the visitors in heat three, but the two Witches split the Aces pair for another 3-3. Dan Bewley set the pace in heat four, but reserve substitute Thompson and Emil Sayfutdinov left Jake Mulford at the back to earn a third consecutive shared heat and make it 14-10 to the hosts.
Heat five was initially stopped by referee Seth Perkin who handed out a warning to Kurtz for not remaining stationary at the start. The current world number two recovered to win the re-run but had to settle for a 3-3 with Tate Zischke sliding off while at the back before quickly remounting. King flew round the outside from the gate to take the chequered flag in heat six, but Bewley was able to hold off Doyle to limit the damage to a home 4-2. Sayfutdinov and Thompson gated on a maximum in heat seven and faced minimal challenge as the Witches reserve held off Lidsey while Zach Cook fell away at the back after early bike trouble. The 5-1 took the scoreline to 26-16.
Foord skidded off on the second bend in heat eight which saw him excluded. King produced one of rides of the night in the re-run, dodging Cook’s efforts to hold him off round the first bend before passing him on the back straight and then Jake Mulford on the fourth bend in the same move to earn a share of the points. Adam Ellis flew into the air fence at speed in heat nine and was excluded from the re-run, but Tom Brennan made the gate and kept Bewley at bay for the victory in a 3-3. Doyle and King raced to their second maximum of the meeting in heat 10 with the Ipswich number one taking the victory. Kurtz set the pace as heat 11 was shared to make it 40-26.
Mark Lemon brought in Kurtz as a tactical substitute for Zischke in heat 12 while Thompson replaced Ellis after his earlier crash. The Aces raced to a maximum as Foord pulled up with bike issues on the back straight. Ipswich bounced straight back in heat 13 with a 5-1 from Doyle and Sayfutdinov to make sure of the win on the night. Brennan flew round the outside to set the pace in heat 14 while Thompson was locked in a tight battle for second with the Witches reserve defending every effort from Cook superbly to ensure a maximum. Ritchie Hawkins selected Doyle and King for heat 15 who finished the meeting as they started it and secured their third maximum of the night as a pair. Doyle again took the chequered flag while King rounded Kurtz on the fourth bend to secure his paid maximum and make the final score 56-34 on the night as Ipswich secured the aggregate bonus point by a scoreline of 94-86.
RITCHIE HAWKINS REACTION
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins reflects on Thursday’s win over Belle Vue…
“It was a great all-round team performance! Awesome to see Danny get a max and Doyley and Emil looking back to their best, their performance was great. Everyone contributed, I thought it was probably the best Tom has ridden the dirt, and Dan Thompson was back to his best as well so I think there is so much progress tonight with the boys, so we’re obviously really delighted. Adam was a little bit unlucky in his third ride with the crash, he got put in a position he didn’t want to be in, so we just rested him for the last race. To get the bonus point as well against the reigning champions is a superb effort!
“Straight after the interval we knew they were going for a tactical substitute against both reserves. They’ve got such a strong heat leading trio, Jaimon [Lidsey] is having a superb season and is going under the radar a bit with how good Dan [Bewley] and Brady [Kurtz] are doing in the GPs. Their top three are flying so it was obviously going to be a tough heat, but I felt heat 14 was going to be a good one for us and heats 13 and 15 were certainly as good as we could’ve hoped.
“I think Danny is having a brilliant season, he’s settled in great to the number two position. It suits him with the dirt on the track and tonight there was plenty of dirt out there for him. He revels in it when there are deep conditions. Other riders were struggling but for Danny it’s his forte and you can see now he’s fit again. Last season he would’ve struggled with them conditions but while his fitness levels are far from perfect, his hand is certainly strong enough to handle it, and you can see how good he is.
“We’ve got the league meeting away at King’s Lynn on Monday where we’re in a great position so in that sense it’s nowhere near as vital as Thursday night, but we’ll obviously have a lot of travelling supporters like we always do so we want to go there and win. It’s our last chance to go there this year so we want to get a win there this season as they’re always really sweet and then a massive meeting next Thursday. I hope everyone is out to support us because we need it and we need to get into the cup final.”
TRU7 GROUP & RN EUSTON RIDERS OF THE NIGHT
Captain King was RN Euston’s choice after he went the night unbeaten by an opponent.
Tru7 Group went for Thompson who racked up 11+3 from reserve.
WHAT IT MEANS
Ipswich extend their lead at the top of the table to four points while Belle Vue remain in third.
NEXT FIXTURE
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to King’s Lynn to take on the Stars on Monday 14th July in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership fixture. Tickets can be purchased on the gate.