The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to Manchester to face the Belle Vue Aces at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday 4th August in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R2 fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
LINE-UPS
BELLE VUE: 1. Brady Kurtz © 9.44 2. Norick Blödorn 5.20 3. R/R for Jaimon Lidsey 7.61 4. Zach Cook 6.11 5. Dan Bewley 8.96 6. Tate Zischke 3.00 7. Jake Mulford (RS). Team Manager: Mark Lemon
IPSWICH: 1. Jason Doyle 8.42 2. Danny King © 6.64 3. Adam Ellis 5.88 4. Tom Brennan 7.09 5. Emil Sayfutdinov 8.38 6. Dan Thompson 5.42 7. Jason Edwards (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: C. Gay
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Ipswich | 17 | 31 |
| Belle Vue | 18 | 31 |
| Leicester | 17 | 27 |
| Sheffield | 16 | 26 |
| King’s Lynn | 16 | 14 |
| Oxford | 18 | 11 |
| Birmingham | 18 | 6 |
TICKET NEWS
Tickets are available to purchase online in advance here and on the gate.
LIVE COVERAGE
You can watch the meeting live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
THE PREVIEW
The Witches head to the National Speedway Stadium on Monday to face the Belle Vue Aces in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
Ipswich returned to the top of the table after a convincing win over struggling Birmingham last time out but head to a place where success has been hard to come by. The Suffolk side are still looking for their first ever league win at the National Speedway Stadium, but they did pick up a first ever win there in the Knockout Cup earlier this season.
The two sides both sit on 31 points going into the fixture and the Witches will be at least looking to keep things close for the aggregate bonus point ahead of the return fixture at Foxhall later in August.
MANAGER’S NOTES
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“It’s a top of the table clash and I’m sure it will be a great meeting with some great racing. We have had mixed results there this season with the win in the cup early doors and defeat in the league meeting which was one of our more typical Belle Vue performances! We will go there looking to get another win and we keep saying it, but we know if we all perform well, we are capable of winning anywhere. They are the league champions and are very strong on their home track with two of the top riders in the world.
“We know we need to get back to where at the start of the season with everyone contributing, not running last places and being solid one to seven with everyone scoring. That is the way we know we can win at places like Belle Vue and Sheffield and that is what we will look to do on Monday. Yes, we would like to finish top of the league and yes, this meeting can have a bearing on that with Belle Vue still to come to us and a bonus point at play. We want to beat them over two legs again and keep that psychological advantage going into the play-offs.
“It doesn’t make any difference to the play-offs where we finish in the top four because you have no pick, you gain no advantage from it and all four teams are capable of beating each other on their day. It’s unfortunate how the rules are set up that you gain no advantage from finishing top which is completely wrong but that is the way it is. For us it is about building momentum and confidence and going into the play-offs with that and getting back to where we were in April where we were extremely high on confidence.”
BELLE VUE ACES
The Aces sit second in the table, level on points with Ipswich at the top, as they look to steal a march in the fight to finish first heading into the play-offs. They boast a 100% record at home with nine wins from nine in the league and come into the fixture off the back of an away win at Birmingham.
Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley form a formidable partnership for the Aces at one and five, particularly at the National Speedway Stadium, and Kurtz raced to a paid maximum against the Witches last time out on home shale with Bewley dropping just one point in the same fixture. Rider replacement will be in operation at number three as Jaimon Lidsey misses out with a shoulder injury.
LAST TIME OUT AT THE NATIONAL SPEEDWAY STADIUM
The Witches last travelled to Manchester back in June in the league. Ipswich started the fixture with a full 1-7 but later lost Jordan Jenkins to a knee injury. The visitors were also without team manager Ritchie Hawkins as promoter Chris Louis stepped in. Belle Vue were forced into a late change with rider replacement being operated at two in place of Norick Blödorn who picked up a knee injury. The Aces started strong and held a six-point lead after seven heats. The Witches fought hard to get back into the meeting but a string of 3-3s allowed the Aces to maintain their advantage before a late flurry of points saw them race to a 14-point win. Emil Sayfutdinov top scored with 12.
AWAY DAYS
Ticket prices can be found here and official programmes cost £3.50. 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.
Press Officer at Ipswich Speedway