RACEDAY GUIDE | OXFORD (H)

The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches host the Oxford Spires at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday 10th April in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R1 fixture. Parade: 7.30pm, first race: 7:45pm.

MEETING SPONSOR – The Thursday Night Club

LINE-UPS

IPSWICH: 1. Jason Doyle 9.36 2. Danny King © 6.14 3. Adam Ellis 5.47 4. Tom Brennan 6.52 5. Emil Sayfutdinov 9.12 6. Dan Thompson 3.11 7. Jordan Jenkins (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins

OXFORD: 1. Rohan Tungate 7.71 2. Justin Sedgmen (G) 5.55 3. Charles Wright 6.32 4. R/R for Peter Kildemand 6.00 5. Maciej Janowski © 7.02 6. Francis Gusts 4.50 7. Luke Killeen (RS). Team Manager: Peter Schroeck

REFEREE: S.H. Kennett

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE

TeamMeetingsPoints
Belle Vue25
Ipswich24
Sheffield12
Leicester00
Oxford10
King’s Lynn20
Birmingham20

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 return to Foxhall on Thursday night as they welcome the Oxford Spires in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.

It’s been an excellent start to 2025 for Ipswich as they head into the fixture with four wins from four outings so far. The home and away Knockout Cup wins against Belle Vue have been followed up by two hard-fought away wins at Oxford and Birmingham in the league, giving the Suffolk side a perfect start to the campaign.

Ritchie Hawkins sticks with the same riding order again and it is the first opportunity for his side to pick up an aggregate bonus point. Having won 48-42 at Oxford last week, the Witches know that any kind of win at home will see them pick up the extra point and would continue their fine start to the season.

MANAGER’S NOTES

Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…

“Everyone will be looking forward to getting back to Ipswich, the track was superb in our last home meeting. We have had a couple of tricky away meetings, on slick, tough tracks. The way Ipswich is now, the boys will be looking forward to racing on that now.

“We were superb last week; Oxford have a lot of riders that are going to come and enjoy Foxhall this year and know the track well. They can certainly cause an upset if we are not on our game.

“This team is superb to watch, we had a great crowd against Belle Vue, and I hope everyone comes out and backs us again. The weather is lovely at the moment, and we look forward to seeing you all.”

OXFORD SPIRES

It’s been a tough start to the season for the Spires who are yet to have that winning feeling in 2025. An early Knockout Cup exit was followed up by that home defeat to Ipswich last time out and they know they have it all to do at Foxhall where they meet an in-form Witches side.

They will also have to do it without star performer Erik Riss who is injured. Riss scored a whopping 20 points in that defeat against Ipswich but suffered a crash last weekend during which he picked up a shoulder injury. Justin Sedgmen guests in his place at number two. Peter Kildemand was due to return to the side after suffering a concussion but is a late withdrawal and rider replacement will be in operation at four.

LAST TIME WE MET IN SUFFOLK

Ipswich last welcomed Oxford to Foxhall in June of 2024 and the hosts raced to a comfortable 53-37 victory. The home team built a 12-point lead after seven races and lost Adam Ellis to injury mid-meeting before the Spires fought back to just four points behind. However, the Witches stepped up a gear and cruised to victory with Emil Sayfutdinov scoring a 12-point maximum.