British Speedway has confirmed that out of respect to the Royal Family, no fixtures will take place on Monday September 19, the day of the Queen’s state funeral.
This means our scheduled visit to Sheffield in the league has been postponed, with a new date to be confirmed soon.
The fifth round of the Premiership Pairs at Belle Vue due to be raced on Monday 12th September has been postponed due to heavy rain forecast across Manchester.
Subject to confirmation, the event has been rescheduled for Thursday 27th October.
All the details ahead of the fifth round of the Premiership Pairs.
WHEN & WHERE
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches pairing travels to Manchester for the fifth round of the Premiership Pairs at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday 12th September which starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
PETERBOROUGH: Chris Harris, Benjamin Basso, Jordan Jenkins (RS). Team Manager: Rob Lyon
SHEFFIELD: Adam Ellis, Jack Holder, Connor Mountain (RS). Team Manager: Simon Stead
WOLVES: Sam Masters, Ryan Douglas, Leon Flint (RS). Team Manager: Peter Adams
BELLE VUE: Max Fricke, Brady Kurtz, Tom Brennan (RS). Team Manager: Mark Lemon
IPSWICH: Jason Doyle, Rohan Tungate, Anders Rowe (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
KING’S LYNN: Nicolai Klindt, Josh Pickering, Jack Thomas (RS). Team Manager: Alex Brady
REFEREE: C. Ackroyd
PREMIERSHIP PAIRS TABLE
Team
Points
Ipswich
38
King’s Lynn
26
Sheffield
24
Belle Vue
22
Wolverhampton
10
Peterborough
8
TICKETS
Tickets are available to purchase here in advance or on the gate. The meeting will also be streamed online here. A BSN+ subscription is required to watch. Each round can be purchased individually, priced at £12.99. BSN’s web URL is watch.britishspeedway.co.uk. BSN also has an App which is now available on Amazon Fire TV and on all IOS (Apple) devices.
THE STORY
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches pairing heads to Belle Vue on Monday for the fifth round of the Premiership Pairs. This round in Manchester was due to be the sixth and final one of the tournament but with the round at Sheffield postponed and yet to be re-arranged, the National Speedway Stadium now hosts the penultimate fixture.
Ipswich lead the competition having won the last three rounds at Ipswich, King’s Lynn and Wolverhampton. The lead is a healthy one with second place King’s Lynn 12 points behind, but the Stars, Sheffield and Belle Vue can all still catch the Witches with a strong showing at Belle Vue as they look to close the gap at the top before the final round at Sheffield. Wolverhampton and Peterborough are both out of contention.
Team manager Ritchie Hawkins has elected to field Jason Doyle and Rohan Tungate for this round with Anders Rowe as the ‘Rising Star’. Doyle has been sublime everywhere he has gone in British speedway this season and has been ever-present in this competition racking up the points. Tungate joined the club in August and makes his first appearance in the competition, having impressed at Belle Vue earlier in the season. Rowe comes in for the injured Danyon Hume and is guaranteed at least one ride as part of the regulations.
HOW IT WORKS
The competition is a new addition to the calendar for 2022 with all six Premiership clubs staging a round throughout the season. Each club will have two riders and a ‘Rising Star’ at each round with scores accumulated over all six rounds before the overall aggregate winner is declared after the final round of the competition at Belle Vue in September. 12 points will be awarded to each round winner, eight points to second, six points to third, four points to fourth, two points to fifth and no points to sixth.
There will be 15 qualifying heats of action at each round with the top scoring team from the qualifying heats going directly to the final. The teams placed in second and third will compete in a semi-final with the winning side from that race progressing to the final to decide the round winners. Each team has five qualifying heats each and the ‘Rising Star’ must take at least one ride during the meeting. The points scoring system for the competition in each race will be 4-3-2-0.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“We are looking forward to Monday because we are in a great position in the competition. Rohan goes very well at Belle Vue and was very good there when we went there earlier this season, he was our best rider. Doyley picks himself and they are clearly our best two for this meeting.
“We have got the opportunity to seal it on Monday. I have no knowledge of when the round at Sheffield will be re-arranged for. Going into Belle Vue on Monday with that pairing, we feel confident of another great result and depending on other teams and how well they do, we have a chance to win the overall competition. We need to focus on the result for the night to start with.
“I’d expect it to be a great meeting, you’ve got all the top boys there on a brilliant race track that everyone will enjoy going to. You will see the best of British speedway going at it and hopefully there will be a good crowd in, and we have a very good team in it, so we will hope to go very well.”
THE LINE-UP
Hosts Belle Vue have Grand Prix rider Max Fricke in their side and captain Brady Kurtz joins him as they aim for glory on their home track. Sheffield go with Adam Ellis who recently returned from injury and he is partnered by another Grand Prix rider in Jack Holder. King’s Lynn field Nicolai Klindt and skipper Josh Pickering with the Stars sitting second in the table going into the penultimate round. Wolves have Australian duo Sam Masters and Ryan Douglas representing them whilst Peterborough have ever-present Chris Harris in their pair with Benjamin Basso in for his debut with the two sides currently cut adrift at the bottom of the table.
AWAY DAYS
Ticket prices can be found here and official programmes cost £3. For more information about your visit to the National Speedway Stadium, head here.
Scott Properties – Scott Properties is a family run, self-funded, and respected Strategic Land Promoter operating throughout East Anglia and the South East of England. Their principal activity is the identification, acquisition and promotion of land through the planning system. They work on a partnership basis with landowners and Local Authorities to realise maximum development potential from land assets.
PGM Carpentry – PGM Carpentry Contractors was founded in 2000 and has since grown to become a leading specialist in carpentry and window installation in London and the East of England. They are actively working on new-build residential developments for the majority of the UK’s largest developers and main contractors in the construction industry. PGM is proud of its family heritage, which has allowed the company to grow on strong foundations.
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches recorded a narrow victory over Peterborough on Thursday night in the Premiership at Foxhall.
The meeting went ahead following direction from the BSPL, with a two-minute silence held before tapes up for everyone to pay their respects to Her Majesty, The Queen who passed away earlier in the day, aged 96. Both teams wore black armbands, with flags flying at half-mast.
Ipswich were without the injured Paul Starke at reserve with Cameron Heeps guesting in his place, whilst it was an injury-hit Panthers side that arrived in Suffolk, missing three of their riders. Despite their problems and being bottom of the table, the visitors pushed the table-topping hosts all the way to a last-heat decider with the Witches doing just enough to pick up the three points. Jason Doyle top scored with 14 points.
The home team started with a 5-1 in heat one from Doyle and Aaron Summers before Peterborough responded with a maximum of their own in heat two. The maximums continued in heat three and it was the Ipswich duo of Danny King and Rohan Tungate who were first across the line on this occasion. Chris Harris got the better of Troy Batchelor on the opening lap of heat four as the points were shared, leaving Ipswich 14-10 in front.
Harris was back out in heat five and won again in a 3-3. Doyle and Scott Nicholls exchanged moves in heat six with the Witches number one coming out on top in another shared heat. Benjamin Basso won heat seven as Heeps split the away pairing to limit them to a 2-4. Nicholls won a shared heat eight which kept the visitors just two points behind at 25-23.
King and Tungate recorded another maximum in heat nine to extend Ipswich’s lead to six. Nicholls was excluded from heat 10 after missing the two-minute time allowance as Doyle took the chequered flag ahead of Basso with Summers third for a 4-2. The away team reduced the deficit in heat 11 with a 1-5. King got his third win of the night in heat 12 ahead of Nicholls and Anders Rowe passed Simon Lambert for a Witches 4-2 to make it 39-33.
Basso came in as a tactical substitute in heat 13 for Peterborough but he couldn’t stop Doyle who won as the heat was shared. The depleted visitors ensured it would go to a last-heat decider with a maximum from Nicholls and Basso in heat 14. Harris won the final race of the night, but Doyle and King were both in the points to ensure the hosts recorded victory.
REACTION FROM THE PROMOTER
Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches promoter Chris Louis reflects on Thursday’s win over Peterborough.
“It was devastating news to go into the meeting with. The BSPL protocol was for the meetings that night to go ahead, they won’t be going ahead tomorrow. It was a sombre note to go into the meeting with and personally I am a royalist and I have always taken great pride in representing my country and wearing the union jack. When we win, whether it is me, in speedway or in sport in general, listening to the national anthem on the podium has always meant a lot to me. It is a very very sad day, she has been such a solid part of this country and served it immaculately for so long, she will be greatly missed.
“I don’t know what will happen over the next period of time, I can only talk about speedway, and I know that all fixtures are cancelled on Friday. The respects paid tonight by our fans on the terraces were immaculate and there was a lot of contemplation around the stadium. I was very pleased to see the way the Queen was honoured tonight.
“It was a very unconvincing win tonight. Track conditions were not what we have had most of the year, it was quite heavy after last night’s rain. But at the end of the day, we are heading towards winter and October and that is how tracks get. We need to be better than we were but once again we did enough to grab all three points. We will have to better than that come the 29th September whoever the opposition is. You have only got to look at the league table and all four teams are very evenly matched, so it won’t be an easy meeting whoever you meet, so we will need to improve for sure.”
SCOTT PROPERTIES & PGM CARPENTRY RIDERS OF THE NIGHT
Captain King was the choice of Scott Properties after he scored 11+2 whilst PGM Carpentry chose Doyle who top scored with 14.
WHAT IT MEANS
Ipswich add three points to their tally at the top of the table and have just one league meeting to race before the play-offs begin. Peterborough pick up a consolation point but remain bottom and cut adrift from the rest of the league.
UP NEXT
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches pairing travels to Manchester for Round 5 of the Premiership Pairs at Belle Vue on Monday 12th September. Tickets can be purchased here or on the gate.
Buckingham Palace has announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II, aged 96.
Rest in peace, Your Majesty.
Tonight’s fixture on 8th September
Following direction from the BSPL, tonight’s Premiership fixture against Peterborough will take place as planned at Foxhall.
A two minute silence will be held before tapes up for everyone to pay their respects to Her Majesty, The Queen. Both teams will wear black armbands & the flags will fly at half-mast as a mark of respect.
All the details ahead of our Premiership fixture with Peterborough.
WHEN & WHERE
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches host the Peterborough Panthers at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday 8th September in a Premiership fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
MEETING SPONSORS
Scott Properties – Scott Properties is a family run, self-funded, and respected Strategic Land Promoter operating throughout East Anglia and the South East of England. Their principal activity is the identification, acquisition and promotion of land through the planning system. They work on a partnership basis with landowners and Local Authorities to realise maximum development potential from land assets.
PGM Carpentry – PGM Carpentry Contractors was founded in 2000 and has since grown to become a leading specialist in carpentry and window installation in London and the East of England. They are actively working on new-build residential developments for the majority of the UK’s largest developers and main contractors in the construction industry. PGM is proud of its family heritage, which has allowed the company to grow on strong foundations.
Tickets are available to buy online (until 7pm on raceday) and on the gate and are priced at £20 for adults and £18 for concessions (65+). Children 16 and under go free. Official programmes are priced at £3 and are available at the stadium. Car parking is free for all supporters. Debit and credit card payments are accepted. Turnstiles open at 6.40pm.
THE STORY
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches race their final home fixture of the regular league season at Foxhall on Thursday evening as they take on the Peterborough Panthers in the Premiership. Ipswich visited the East of England Arena on Monday and claimed another memorable victory this season after an epic Super Heat win consolidated their position at the top of the table. Despite their league position, the Panthers pose a threat in Suffolk having already won on their visit in the League Cup and they took the Witches to a Super Heat in their league fixture at Foxhall in June before missing out on the win in the final race shootout.
Reserve Paul Starke is not fit for Thursday’s fixture after he took a heavy fall at the East of England Arena on Monday night. Starke hit the deck after being caught by teammate Anders Rowe at high speed and is nursing a sore shoulder. A familiar face replaces him as Cameron Heeps guests in his absence. Captain Danny King has switched back to number three in the riding order for this fixture with Troy Batchelor back at number five.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“I’m expecting another really tough meeting on Thursday. We have managed to beat them in the Super Heat in our last two fixtures and they are certainly going to want to put that right. Any team coming to Ipswich with Scott Nicholls at reserve is going to be a threat and they will fancy their chances. I think it will be another really close meeting.
“We know Anders can ride Foxhall very well, we have seen it. It is another meeting this week for him to keep on the bike. We have seen what he is capable of, and he has another opportunity to show us what he can do. I know he is capable; it is just about doing it out on the track.
“It’s our last league meeting at home and it will be another cracker. We want to finish with a win at home and Thursday could be telling when it comes to who will finish top of the table with Sheffield riding at King’s Lynn as well, it is an important meeting.”
THE PANTHERS
Peterborough sit rock bottom of the table have endured a pretty disastrous campaign as defending champions. Not much has gone right for the Panthers in 2022 and they have suffered several heavy defeats along the way. They have collected just two points on the road with one of them being that consolation point they picked up at Foxhall after the Super Heat defeat and they will hope to give their fans something to cheer in Suffolk.
As was the case on Monday, it is another depleted Panthers side that takes on Ipswich. Ulrich Ostergaard, Hans Andersen and Michael Palm Toft are ruled out of this fixture. Ipswich asset Drew Kemp guests at number two and Simon Lambert guests again for the Panthers at number three this time. Rider replacement will be in operation for Palm Toft at number five.
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches claimed another dramatic Super Heat victory over the Peterborough Panthers on Monday night in the Premiership.
The Panthers went into the fixture bottom of the table and hit by injuries with the Witches sitting top of the table and their play-off place already confirmed. There was little to separate the two sides in the opening seven heats with the hosts holding a two-point lead before they extended that lead to eight with just three races remaining.
However, once again this season Ipswich never gave up and clawed the eight points back to take it to the Super Heat where Jason Doyle and Rohan Tungate produced the goods in stunning style to take the three points. Doyle top scored with 17.
Doyle won a shared heat one from the gate before Peterborough reserve Scott Nicholls did the same in heat two. The points were shared again in heat three as Benjamin Basso held off Tungate to win and Troy Batchelor kept Simon Lambert behind him for a point. Danny King went through the tapes in heat four and was replaced by Paul Starke for the re-run. However, the restart was stopped on the opening lap as Anders Rowe lifted coming out of turn two and pushed his teammate Starke into the fence on the back straight causing a heavy fall at high speed. Rowe was excluded and the Panthers took advantage hitting a 5-1 in the re-run to go 14-10 up.
The Witches hit back in heat five though as Doyle and Aaron Summers raced to a maximum to level the score. The hosts went back in front in heat six as Panthers guest Lambert produced a fine ride to beat King with Chris Harris third for a 4-2. Tungate won heat seven by a distance, but his partner Batchelor was relegated to the back by home guest Josh Pickering which resulted in a 3-3. Lambert was proving to be an excellent guest for the hosts, and he won again in heat eight as Summers rode well to pass Jordan Jenkins but a 4-2 to Peterborough gave them a 26-22 lead.
Nicholls made the start in heat nine ahead of King, but Basso first swooped round the Ipswich captain before going around his teammate for a 5-1 that extended their lead to eight points. The away side responded in heat 10 as Tungate won again and Batchelor held off Harris for a maximum. Pickering won heat 11 and was joined by Nicholls early on before Doyle flew past the Panthers reserve into second and then Summers cut back on the final turn of the race to snatch a point for a shared heat. Jenkins won heat 12 and Basso passed Batchelor for a 5-1 that put the hosts eight points in front with just three races to go.
Harris packed up on the start line in heat 13 as Doyle and King raced ahead but Pickering managed to split the Ipswich pair which meant a 2-4 to the Suffolk side to reduce Peterborough’s lead to six. Team manager Ritchie Hawkins put Doyle in as a tactical substitute in heat 14 and the number one duly took the chequered flag ahead of Basso and Tungate worked hard to pass Nicholls for third, meaning another heat advantage took it to a last-heat decider with the Witches needing a maximum to take it to a Super Heat. Remarkably, Doyle and Tungate produced the goods and eased to a maximum in heat 15 to take it to a Super Heat against the Panthers for the second time this season.
It was Doyle and Tungate who were sent out again for the Super Heat against Pickering and Basso. Guest Pickering made the start, but the sublime Doyle roared round the Panthers man at the end of the opening lap to lead. Tungate was relegated to the back on the back straight of the second lap, meaning that the home side would take the win with the 4-3-2-0 scoring system. However, Tungate produced a sensational final lap to first get past an out of shape Basso and then he blasted around Pickering on the final turn to join his teammate for a 7-2 to hand Ipswich a stunning victory on the road.
REACTION FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins reflects on Monday’s win at Peterborough.
“I’m obviously delighted to get the win in the Super Heat and I’m very happy with our fight, belief and will to win. However, overall, it wasn’t a great performance as a one to seven but in saying that we keep walking away with wins at the end of the night
“It has happened so regularly to us, and we have come out on the right end of the result more often than not and that helps being in that position so often this year. There is no panic and we seem to have an extra gear or so to step up to. Being led by Jason Doyle is a massive advantage because when it comes down to those heat 15s and Super Heats, you back him every time. We have got enough riders in the team who are extremely good riders on their day, who maybe just are not as consistent as Doyley but on their night with at least one or two of them going well, it gives us a very strong pairing in those big races.
“Overall, the meeting wasn’t filled with great racing but that Super Heat was an epic race and was certainly the best race of the night and it was great to see. Rohan was terrific again and he is certainly enjoying his time back at Ipswich and looked very good.
“Paul is an injury doubt again now, he has had a few knocks this year and is struggling with his shoulder. Hopefully with a couple of days rest he will be good to go. Certainly, early on in the meeting Anders wasn’t far off the pace. He needs more meetings and to be racing regularly back in the UK and another one on Thursday will certainly help him.”
RIDER OF THE NIGHT
Not for the first or last time it was former world champion Doyle who racked up the points, scoring 17 on this occasion before winning the Super Heat with a special mention to Tungate who was instrumental in securing victory.
WHAT IT MEANS
Ipswich pick up three points and hold a five-point lead at the top of the Premiership whilst Peterborough pick up a point for their efforts and stay bottom of the table.
UP NEXT
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches host the Peterborough Panthers at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday 8th September in a Premiership fixture. Tickets can be purchased on the gate and in advance here.
All the details ahead of our Premiership fixture with Peterborough.
WHEN & WHERE
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches travel to Peterborough to face the Panthers at the East of England Arena & Events Centre on Monday 5th September in a Premiership fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
Tickets can be purchased online here and are available on the gate.
THE STORY
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches head to Peterborough on Monday to face the Panthers in the Premiership. Ipswich sit top of the Premiership with their play-off place already confirmed ahead of the fixture against the league’s bottom side. The Suffolk side beat a depleted Wolves last time out at Foxhall and will be looking to take a big step towards finishing top of the table with victory at the East of England Arena. Despite Peterborough’s position, the Panthers have recorded two victories against the Witches this season at home in the league and cup.
The away side will be without Danyon Hume for the upcoming period after the reserve broke his collarbone whilst riding in France, but Hume is hopeful of being back in time for the play-offs. Hume’s absence means that Anders Rowe comes back into the side at number seven. Paul Starke drops to reserve this month with Aaron Summers now riding at number two. Team manager Ritchie Hawkins has also made a switch to the riding order with Troy Batchelor moving to number three and captain Danny King at number five for this fixture.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“We go to Peterborough on Monday; they have had a poor year but still have a very capable side with many members of their league winning team. They have been hit by a lot of injuries and problems this year but on the night, they can certainly be a good team. Our previous meetings with them this year show that. We will go into the meeting looking for another away win which are always special, but we know we need to be at our best to get that.
“Danyon is injured so we have Anders coming back into the team and I know he will be delighted to be back in the side. There is no pressure on him or anyone as we know we are in the play-offs, but he will certainly want to impress and win his place back in the side which he had all last year and at the start of this year. I’m sure he is looking to perform very well, and he is more than capable of doing that.
“We have said as a team we would like to finish top of the league. It has been a little goal we have had over the last few months and if we are to achieve that we will need to win at Peterborough. It would be great to finish top before the play-offs.”
THE PANTHERS
Peterborough have had a year to forget with the defending champions cut well adrift at the bottom of the table with three fixtures to race. The Panthers started the season with five consecutive defeats which set the tone for the year ahead and they have been unable to recover despite making minimal changes in the winter to the line-up that lifted the trophy in 2021. Peterborough have lost seven on the bounce coming into this fixture and have been beaten five times already at the East of England Arena.
The hosts will be without the injured Michael Palm Toft with King’s Lynn captain Josh Pickering guesting in his absence at number five. The Panthers will also be missing Hans Andersen with rider replacement in operation in his place and Simon Lambert guests for Ulrich Ostergaard.
AWAY DAYS
An adult ticket costs £20, concessions (over 65), disabled and students £18, children (5-16) £5 and children under the age of 5 go free. Official programmes cost £3 with car parking priced at £1. Facilities include a 2200 capacity grandstand, grass banking on the back straight, fast food outlets on the grandstand side of the track and a licensed bar. For travel information head here.
Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches rider Danyon Hume has suffered a broken collarbone whilst riding in France. He is awaiting news on whether an operation is needed or not but is hopeful of returning for the play-offs. Everyone at the club wishes Danyon a speedy recovery.