By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our Premiership fixture with Belle Vue.
WHEN & WHERE
The ‘Tru Plant’ Witches travel to Manchester to face the Belle Vue Aces at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday 7th June in a Premiership fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
BELLE VUE: 1. Brady Kurtz 7.75 2. Richie Worrall 5.06 3. Steve Worrall 5.67 © 4. Charles Wright 6.60 5. Dan Bewley 6.59 6. Tom Brennan (RS) 7. Jye Etheridge 4.55. Team Manager: Mark Lemon
IPSWICH: 1. Craig Cook (g) 8.00 2. R/R for Jordan Stewart 4.00 3. Aaron Summers (g) 6.17 4. Jake Allen 5.70 5. Danny King 6.85 © 6. Anders Rowe 3.00 7. Drew Kemp (RS). Team Manager: Chris Louis
REFEREE: M. Breckon
PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Belle Vue | 4 | 10 |
| Wolverhampton | 3 | 7 |
| Ipswich | 5 | 7 |
| Sheffield | 3 | 4 |
| King’s Lynn | 3 | 3 |
| Peterborough | 2 | 2 |
TICKETS
All tickets will be sold online only and can be purchased here. Details on covid regulations at the stadium can be found here.
THE STORY
The Witches continue their busy schedule with a trip north on Monday to face the high-flying Belle Vue Aces. Ipswich had a week to forget last week, falling to a heavy defeat at Wolverhampton last Monday before suffering their first home defeat of the season to King’s Lynn on Thursday, whilst also picking up three injuries.
The away side will be without number one Jason Crump again after he broke eight ribs following a big crash in the defeat to Wolves and he will be out for an estimated three weeks. On Wednesday Jordan Stewart suffered multiple injuries in a crash at Birmingham whilst racing for Championship club Redcar. The new signing underwent successful surgery to have a screw put in his shoulder last Friday after he suffered two broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a broken collarbone and it is estimated that he will be out of action for six weeks. Cameron Heeps then joined the injury list with a crash in heat 15 of Thursday’s defeat to King’s Lynn and has suffered a shoulder separation that will see him miss an estimated three weeks of action. It has left the club severely depleted after a promising start to the campaign.
Craig Cook has been booked as a guest for the injured Crump and it is a track he knows well having represented the Aces consistently in recent years. It’s also a track captain Danny King has happy memories of having won the British title there back in 2016. Rider replacement will be used for the injured Jordan Stewart and Aaron Summers has been booked a guest for the injured Heeps. The two sides faced each other at Foxhall last month and could not be separated as it ended in a 45-45 draw and the Suffolk side ran the Aces close on both occasions at the National Speedway Stadium in the 2019 season losing 41-49 and 43-47. Chris Louis will take charge of the side for one night only with Ritchie Hawkins absent for family reasons.
HAWKINS PREVIEW
Ipswich ‘Tru Plant’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives his pre-match thoughts…
“We are pleased to have Craig in as a guest booking, there is no pressure of expectation on him, he can go and race and have fun at a place I know he knows well. Cookie will come in and do a good job, he’s a rider that needs laps to get back into racing after a long break missing last season but I’m sure he will do well.
“As a team we need to really pull together with the guys that we have left and put on and show and perform. It’s a track that everyone enjoys racing.
“I will be missing Belle Vue for family reasons, I don’t like to miss them, but Chris will be taking charge and he will be in for a busy night with rider replacement.”
THE OPPOSITION
Belle Vue have started the season strongly and currently sit top of early table having not tasted defeat after four meetings. Following their draw at Ipswich last month, the Aces had a double-header against Peterborough on bank holiday Monday and it was a profitable day for Mark Lemon’s side who perhaps surprisingly drew at home to the Panthers earlier in the day before a big four-point win followed later that evening at the East of England Arena & Events Centre.
Dan Bewley is a man on form for the home team having only dropped one point from the two meetings on bank holiday Monday and he also recently booked his place in the Speedway Euro Championship series, he will be a hard man to beat on his home track.
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.
For more information about the club head to Belle Vue’s official website.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway