By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our Premiership fixture with Peterborough.
WHEN & WHERE
The ‘Tru Plant’ Witches host the Peterborough Panthers at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday 2nd 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.
TEAMS
IPSWICH: 1. Danny King 7.46 © 2. Paul Starke 4.85 3. Jason Crump 5.54 4. R/R for Jake Allen 4.88 5. Craig Cook 7.23 6. Anders Rowe 4.84 7. Drew Kemp (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
PETERBOROUGH: 1. Thomas Jorgensen (g) 7.09 2. Erik Riss (g) 6.41 3. Michael Palm Toft 6.83 4. Scott Nicholls 6.37 © 5. Chris Harris 6.37 6. Leon Flint (g) (RS) 7. Hans Andersen 6.20. Team Manager: Rob Lyon
REFEREE: P. Carrington
PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Wolverhampton | 18 | 49 |
| Peterborough | 14 | 36 |
| Belle Vue | 17 | 31 |
| Sheffield | 14 | 25 |
| Ipswich | 18 | 18 |
| King’s Lynn | 15 | 10 |
TICKETS
Tickets are available to buy online (until 7pm on raceday) and on the gate and are priced at £19 for adults, £17 for concessions (65+), £5 for students (16-17). Children 15 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.
COVID-19 UPDATE & GUIDELINES
Following the government’s relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, we can confirm that the pits will be open as usual for fans to get autographs and photos with the riders. Turnstiles open at 6.40pm and the home straight Grandstand will be open on a first come, first served basis with limited numbers. Alcohol will be served at our beverage outlets. Regular touch-point cleaning will continue at key areas including the turnstiles and toilets. We also ask that you maintain social a sensible social distance where possible and recommend wearing a mask in crowded areas if you feel comfortable to do so. Please respect your fellow fans and staff by employing common sense and we can all enjoy the path back to normality. Thank you for your continued cooperation and support.
THE STORY
The Witches host the Peterborough Panthers in their final home fixture of the Premiership season at Foxhall on Thursday night. The 2021 season hasn’t gone to plan for the Witches who have nothing to race for but pride in their two remaining meetings. Although it is still not 100% confirmed mathematically, Ipswich’s play-off hopes were all but ended some weeks ago and defeat at Sheffield last time out all but guaranteed that the Tigers will claim the final fourth spot. With just pride to race for, Ritchie Hawkins is keen for his side to deliver a win for the supporters to end their season at home on a high.
Ipswich are hoping to welcome back Craig Cook to the side as he awaits SCB clearance to return to racing after he missed last week’s fixtures to concentrate on his mental health. The hosts will be without Jake Allen who is still feeling the effects of his Covid-19 jab and rider replacement will be used in his place. Danny King’s fine season continued last time out at Owlerton as he racked up 13 points and his form this sees him move to the number one spot with Jason Crump now at number three. Paul Starke is back in the main body of the side as Anders Rowe returns to the reserve position. The Witches were beaten last time the Panthers came to Foxhall and must deliver a much-improved performance against their high-flying opponents if they are to achieve a positive result.
HAWKINS PREVIEW
Ipswich ‘Tru Plant’ Witches team manager Richie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“It is our last home meeting of the year and we want to finish on a slight high. Peterborough are a very good team and proved what a good team they are at Foxhall last time. They beat us convincingly last time at our place and we are going to need to perform a lot better than we have done in recent weeks to avoid another defeat. We have said it before but hopefully Thursday night is the night we can all perform together and finish the season with a win. Everyone has stuck by us this year and we need to give our loyal supporters something to cheer about because they have seen far too many defeats.
“I’m very hopeful that we have our one to seven out and with a new riding order after Jason’s average changed. Danny goes to number one and I know he wanted to get back to that position, so he has been rewarded for being our best rider consistently this season. I’m sure he will enjoy wearing the Witches number one again.
“Anders drops back to reserve and hopefully that will give him a bit of a confidence boost in the last two meetings as he was exceptional there at the start of the season. Paul is back in the team and with the form he has been in that shouldn’t make a difference to him.”
THE OPPOSITION
Peterborough have been the surprise package for many in 2021 although it is not hard to see why they have performed so well this campaign. A side packed with experienced riders who have raced at the highest level was labelled ‘Dad’s Army’ at the start of the season and was not tipped for success by many. However, the Panthers have adopted their new nickname and shown that age is just a number with a string of impressive results that has seen them confirm their place in the play-offs already. Peterborough are yet to leave an away ground empty-handed this year and will be confident of keeping that run going at Foxhall on Thursday against a side low on confidence.
The Peterborough side was built with strength in depth in mind and having Hans Andersen at reserve just proves that point. Former Grand Prix star Chris Harris also had a spell piling up the points at reserve earlier this season whilst the likes of Scott Nicholls and Michael Palm Toft have been doing the business in the main body of the side. The Panthers are somewhat depleted coming to Suffolk and are without three of their regular riders. Thomas Jorgensen guests at number one for the injured Ulrich Ostergaard and Leon Flint guests for the injured Jordan Palin in the Rising Star position. They will also be without Bjarne Pedersen who is serving a mandatory seven-day suspension after being absent due to illness, with Erik Riss guesting in his place. Rob Lyon’s side have top of the table in their sights and will know that a win at Foxhall will give them a huge boost in their bid to reach the summit.
LOOK OUT FOR MR SPARKY
NGK Spark Plugs’ Mr Sparky will be at the stadium on Thursday collecting for charity. Please dig deep for the Down’s Syndrome Association. Thank you.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
We will have four ‘Blast from the Past’ races following the conclusion of Thursday’s fixture which include a Weslake, Godden, JAP and Jawa.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway