The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches host the Birmingham Brummies at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday 24th July in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R2 fixture. Parade: 7.30pm, first race: 7:45pm.
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LINE-UPS
IPSWICH: 1. Jason Doyle 9.07 2. Danny King © 6.65 3. Adam Ellis 5.57 4. Tom Brennan 7.09 5. Emil Sayfutdinov 8.87 6. Dan Thompson 5.09 7. Jason Edwards (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
BIRMINGHAM: 1. Tobiasz Musielak © 6.90 2. Paco Castagna 4.59 3. Jonas Jeppesen 4.85 4. Keynan Rew 5.38 5. Matej Zagar 6.53 6. Ben Barker 3.65 7. Sam Hagon (RS). Team Manager: Chris Adams
REFEREE: G. Allen
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Belle Vue | 17 | 29 |
| Ipswich | 16 | 28 |
| Sheffield | 15 | 26 |
| Leicester | 16 | 24 |
| King’s Lynn | 16 | 14 |
| Oxford | 18 | 11 |
| Birmingham | 16 | 6 |
TICKET NEWS
Tickets are available to purchase in advance here and on the gate and are priced at £24 for adults and £22 for concessions (65+) & students (21 & under). Tickets for children aged 6-16 are £1 whilst children 5 & under go free. Official programmes are priced at £3.50 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 PREVIEW
The Witches are back in ROWE Motor Oil Premiership action on Thursday at Foxhall Stadium as they host the Birmingham Brummies.
Ipswich exited the Knockout Cup last week in disappointing fashion with the full focus now on the league programme. Eight meetings remain in the regular campaign with Ritchie Hawkins’ side looking to finish top going into the play-offs. Having guested in the past two meetings, Jason Edwards makes his first appearance as a ‘full-time’ Witch having signed as a 28-day injury replacement for Jordan Jenkins last week.
The home team hold an eight-point lead for the aggregate bonus points having beaten the Brummies at Perry Barr back in May and it will be Birmingham’s last visit to Foxhall after the news that they will close at the end of 2025.
MANAGER’S NOTES
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“It will be their last ever visit and we wish them all the best in finding a new track and hopefully one day we will see them back at Ipswich. It has been another tough season for them, but we need to focus on ourselves and being a lot better than last week. We need to perform as we should do and show our fans what we are all about and put in a performance for them.
“We are now focused on the play-offs, and this is the run-in to them. We have six weeks or so to get ourselves in a good run of form because we have faltered since we picked up a few injuries and haven’t performed as well as we were earlier in the year. We know we can do a lot better and now is the time to build into that for the massive meetings at the end of the year.
“They have a team with ex Ipswich riders in and I’m looking forward to seeing Keynan and catching up with him and seeing how he is coming on this season in a year away from us. They also feature Ben who hopefully is back from his recent illness. He is always exciting and provides a lot of entertainment as we have seen over the years. He is one of my favourite riders we have had in the side, and I have managed. It’s been a long time since Paco was with us in the Championship and it is great to see the progress he has made over the years and see him in the Premiership. He has been doing well and scoring points and will relish coming back to Ipswich a lot more experienced and a better rider than he was then.
“Tobi at number one goes very well at Foxhall and is one of the top riders in the league so it will be a very tough test if we don’t perform better than we did last week. Birmingham have run us close the last couple of years and have beaten us. They probably have a better record against us than any other team in the league in the last two years so we can’t take anything lightly and need to perform and put right the wrongs from last week.”
BIRMINGHAM BRUMMIES
The Brummies are bottom of the table with nothing to race for but pride until the end of the season. They have just three wins to their name in 2025 although their only win on the road this season was a shock one, away at Leicester. They were well beaten on their last visit to Suffolk going down by 30 points back in April.
The visitors are at full strength for the fixture with former Witches amongst their ranks. Keynan Rew rides at four with Ben Barker at reserve. Paco Castagna and Jonas Jeppesen also had spells at Foxhall and will be keen to show what they can do.
LAST TIME WE MET IN SUFFOLK
Ipswich last welcomed Birmingham back in April of this year. The hosts earned another dominant home victory, winning 60-30 at Foxhall in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership. Ipswich came into the meeting at full strength while Birmingham were without Matej Zagar due to visa issues, former Witch Danyon Hume guested in his place at number three. The Witches also picked up the aggregate bonus point following a 47-43 victory at Perry Barr earlier that month. Jason Doyle top scored with 11+1.
SECOND HALF
A six-heat second half between Ipswich Academy and Mildenhall Academy will follow the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership fixture.
Ipswich Academy: 1. Connor King 2. Dylan Huthwaite 3. Austin Riches 4. Charlie Wood. Team Manager: John Carpenter
Mildenhall Academy: 1. Ryan Ingram 2. Calum Mitchell 3. Harrison Rogers 4. Max Broadhurst. Team Manager: Kieran Phillips
Press Officer at Ipswich Speedway