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BARKER BACK AT IPSWICH

Posted on

3 May, 2022

By Henry Chard

The Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches have signed Ben Barker to replace Cameron Heeps in their line-up, subject to BSPL approval.

It has been a difficult start to the year at Foxhall with the club losing all four meetings in a disappointing League Cup campaign and with the new Premiership season starting this week against Belle Vue at Foxhall on Thursday, the management have decided to act quickly and make the change.

Club asset Cameron Heeps departs, after struggling to find his best form so far in 2022 and having also endured a difficult 2021 that was hampered by injury.

Barker is no stranger to Foxhall and is back in Suffolk for a third spell having been at the club in 2013 and 2016. The Cornishman has had an encouraging start to the season individually and will make his first appearance for his ‘new’ club on Thursday against the Aces.

Promoter Chris Louis explained why the club have had to make the difficult decision to replace the Australian at such an early stage of the season.

“This happened last year under difficult circumstances with his injury on top of the other two injuries all within a week of each other,” said Louis. “The last thing I wanted to do was to have the same thing this year, but he hasn’t hit the ground running and we are struggling as a team. We haven’t had a victory yet in our four League Cup fixtures. We are not that bad a team by any means, but we are a team that requires a reasonable input from all seven on most occasions.

“We built a team knowing that the nucleus of it in Erik (Riss), Cam and Troy (Batchelor) are coming off of bad seasons, that’s why were able to build this team really. We had no right to expect them to be back to their top form just because they put on a Witches suit, so we knew we would have to give them time. Unfortunately, with the way the way the Premiership works with just six teams, it’s a short season and it has a transfer window, that opens after 25% and closes at 75%, so you are forced into making moves quickly if you need them, so it hasn’t enabled us any time with Cam.”

The former skipper says he can’t quite put his finger on what has gone wrong for Heeps in recent times but would welcome the club asset back into the side in the future.

“It’s not really for me to answer because I don’t know and I’m not going to make excuses for him, but the pandemic period has been tough on him being stuck in the UK and not being able to see his family back home and different things like that. I think that has had an effect on him and his preparations.

“If you were pushing me for an answer, I would say maybe he is just not quite prepared enough and at the beginning of the season that is when it shows. I hope and pray, because he is someone I am close to and have a friendship with, that he can ride himself through it. If the situation presents itself and he is scoring points, I would see no problem at all with putting him back in the team if the situation arose. It’s really tough on him.”

Louis believes Barker will be a popular signing amongst the Foxhall faithful having already represented the club in the past.

“It is no secret that with the doubling-up, other than dipping into the international transfer market, which in fairness we tried, there was one option that the club simply could not afford and when we looked at what was available here, Ben was the obvious choice really. He knows Ipswich, he knows the club, he knows the track because he has been with us a couple of times before.

“You know you are going to get 100%, he doesn’t know any other way and he feels like the right fit. We need to fill that one position; we need consistent points from that position that we weren’t getting, and he is probably the right man to do that. He is popular on the terraces, Ben is a racer, he will only ever give 100%. I know all fans demand 100% effort but particularly our fans need to see 100% effort from all of the riders.”

We thank Cameron for all of his efforts this season and wish him the best for the rest of the campaign.

Henry Chard

Press Officer at Ipswich Speedway

Recent Post

  • EDWARDS STAYS WITH THE WITCHES
  • RACEDAY GUIDE | SHEFFIELD (A)
  • 2026 WITCHES CALENDAR
  • RACEDAY REPORT | IPSWICH 51–39 KING’S LYNN
  • RACEDAY GUIDE | KING’S LYNN (H)

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BARKER BACK AT IPSWICH

Posted on

3 May, 2022

By Henry Chard

The Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches have signed Ben Barker to replace Cameron Heeps in their line-up, subject to BSPL approval.

It has been a difficult start to the year at Foxhall with the club losing all four meetings in a disappointing League Cup campaign and with the new Premiership season starting this week against Belle Vue at Foxhall on Thursday, the management have decided to act quickly and make the change.

Club asset Cameron Heeps departs, after struggling to find his best form so far in 2022 and having also endured a difficult 2021 that was hampered by injury.

Barker is no stranger to Foxhall and is back in Suffolk for a third spell having been at the club in 2013 and 2016. The Cornishman has had an encouraging start to the season individually and will make his first appearance for his ‘new’ club on Thursday against the Aces.

Promoter Chris Louis explained why the club have had to make the difficult decision to replace the Australian at such an early stage of the season.

“This happened last year under difficult circumstances with his injury on top of the other two injuries all within a week of each other,” said Louis. “The last thing I wanted to do was to have the same thing this year, but he hasn’t hit the ground running and we are struggling as a team. We haven’t had a victory yet in our four League Cup fixtures. We are not that bad a team by any means, but we are a team that requires a reasonable input from all seven on most occasions.

“We built a team knowing that the nucleus of it in Erik (Riss), Cam and Troy (Batchelor) are coming off of bad seasons, that’s why were able to build this team really. We had no right to expect them to be back to their top form just because they put on a Witches suit, so we knew we would have to give them time. Unfortunately, with the way the way the Premiership works with just six teams, it’s a short season and it has a transfer window, that opens after 25% and closes at 75%, so you are forced into making moves quickly if you need them, so it hasn’t enabled us any time with Cam.”

The former skipper says he can’t quite put his finger on what has gone wrong for Heeps in recent times but would welcome the club asset back into the side in the future.

“It’s not really for me to answer because I don’t know and I’m not going to make excuses for him, but the pandemic period has been tough on him being stuck in the UK and not being able to see his family back home and different things like that. I think that has had an effect on him and his preparations.

“If you were pushing me for an answer, I would say maybe he is just not quite prepared enough and at the beginning of the season that is when it shows. I hope and pray, because he is someone I am close to and have a friendship with, that he can ride himself through it. If the situation presents itself and he is scoring points, I would see no problem at all with putting him back in the team if the situation arose. It’s really tough on him.”

Louis believes Barker will be a popular signing amongst the Foxhall faithful having already represented the club in the past.

“It is no secret that with the doubling-up, other than dipping into the international transfer market, which in fairness we tried, there was one option that the club simply could not afford and when we looked at what was available here, Ben was the obvious choice really. He knows Ipswich, he knows the club, he knows the track because he has been with us a couple of times before.

“You know you are going to get 100%, he doesn’t know any other way and he feels like the right fit. We need to fill that one position; we need consistent points from that position that we weren’t getting, and he is probably the right man to do that. He is popular on the terraces, Ben is a racer, he will only ever give 100%. I know all fans demand 100% effort but particularly our fans need to see 100% effort from all of the riders.”

We thank Cameron for all of his efforts this season and wish him the best for the rest of the campaign.

Henry Chard

Press Officer at Ipswich Speedway

Recent Post

  • EDWARDS STAYS WITH THE WITCHES
  • RACEDAY GUIDE | SHEFFIELD (A)
  • 2026 WITCHES CALENDAR
  • RACEDAY REPORT | IPSWICH 51–39 KING’S LYNN
  • RACEDAY GUIDE | KING’S LYNN (H)

Search Categories

  • 2016 & 2017 Previews
  • 2016 & 2017 Reports
  • 2016 News
  • 2017 News
  • 2018 News
  • 2018 Previews
  • 2018 Reports
  • 2019 News
  • 2019 Previews
  • 2019 Reports
  • 2020 British Final
  • 2020 News
  • 2021 News
  • 2021 Previews
  • 2021 Reports
  • 2022 News
  • 2022 Previews
  • 2022 Reports
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  • 2023 Previews
  • 2023 Reports
  • 2024 News
  • 2024 Previews
  • 2024 Reports
  • 2025 News
  • 2025 Previews
  • 2025 Reports
  • Aaron Summers
  • Adam Ellis
  • Anders Rowe
  • Ben Barker
  • Cameron Heeps
  • Chris Harris
  • Chris Louis
  • Competitions
  • Connor Mountain
  • Coty Garcia
  • Craig Cook
  • Dan Thompson
  • Danny Ayres
  • Danny King
  • Danyon Hume
  • David Bellego
  • David Wallinger
  • Drew Kemp
  • Edward Kennett
  • Emil Sayfutdinov
  • Erik Riss
  • Ipswich Town Football Club
  • Jack Thomas
  • Jake Allen
  • James Sarjeant
  • Jason Crump
  • Jason Doyle
  • Jason Edwards
  • Joe Jacobs
  • Joe Thompson
  • Jonas Jeppesen
  • Jordan Jenkins
  • Jordan Stewart
  • Justin Sedgmen
  • Keynan Rew
  • Krystian Pieszczek
  • Kyle Newman
  • Mark Riss
  • Michael Härtel
  • Morten Risager
  • Nathan Greaves
  • Nico Covatti
  • Nicolai Klindt
  • Niels-Kristian Iversen
  • Oliver Greenwood
  • Paul Starke
  • ReRun Productions
  • Richard Lawson
  • Ritchie Hawkins
  • Rohan Tungate
  • Rory Schlein
  • Supporters Club
  • Tai Woffinden
  • Tom Brennan
  • Track Shop
  • Troy Batchelor
  • Tru Mix
  • Tru Plant
  • Tru7 Group

Find Previous Articles

Find Us

Address
Ipswich Speedway
Foxhall Stadium
Foxhall Road
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP4 5TL

Contact
Email: enquiries@ipswichwitches.co
Phone: 07859 802828

Pages

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Find Us

Address
Ipswich Speedway
Foxhall Stadium
Foxhall Road
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP4 5TL

Contact
Email: enquiries@ipswichwitches.co
Phone: 07859 802828

Pages

  • Home
  • News
  • Tickets
  • Fixtures/Results
  • Team
  • Admission
  • Media
  • Club
  • Contact
  • Raceday Shout-outs
  • Sponsors

Other Pages

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • TikTok
  • X
  • YouTube

Find Us

Address
Ipswich Speedway
Foxhall Stadium
Foxhall Road
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP4 5TL

Contact
Email: enquiries@ipswichwitches.co
Phone: 07859 802828

Pages

  • Home
  • News
  • Tickets
  • Fixtures/Results
  • Team
  • Admission
  • Media
  • Club
  • Contact
  • Raceday Shout-outs
  • Sponsors

Other Pages

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • TikTok
  • X
  • YouTube

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