By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R1 fixture with Belle Vue.
WHEN & WHERE
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to Manchester to face the Belle Vue Aces at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday 22nd April in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R1 fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
BELLE VUE: 1. Brady Kurtz 8.58 © 2. Norick Blödorn 5.88 3. Jaimon Lidsey 7.86 4. Ben Cook 5.94 5. Dan Bewley 8.13 6. Connor Mountain 4.42 7. Connor Bailey (RS). Team Manager: Mark Lemon
IPSWICH: 1. Emil Sayfutdinov 10.22 © 2. Jordan Jenkins 4.37 3. Adam Ellis 5.67 4. Ryan Douglas (G) 7.28 5. Charles Wright (G) 9.12 6. Keynan Rew 4.00 7. Dan Thompson (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: S. Perkin
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Ipswich | 4 | 9 |
| Oxford | 5 | 7 |
| Sheffield | 4 | 6 |
| Leicester | 5 | 6 |
| Belle Vue | 4 | 5 |
| Birmingham | 5 | 1 |
| King’s Lynn | 3 | 0 |
TICKETS
Tickets are available to purchase online in advance here and on the gate.
THE STORY
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches are on the road on Monday night as they travel to face the Belle Vue Aces in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
The Witches were in action on Thursday night at Foxhall as they went top of the table after beating Oxford and claimed the bonus point in the process on a wet night in Suffolk. Team manager Ritchie Hawkins has made a change to the riding order ahead of the trip north with Adam Ellis moving to number three and Danny King is missing from the side after a crash at the weekend. The skipper suffered bruising to his lower back and hopes to be back in action for Thursday’s home fixture against Sheffield with a few days of rest and physio. Ryan Douglas guests at number four.
Sadly, there is another late change to the Ipswich line-up with Charles Wright guesting for Jason Doyle. Doyle boarded his flight back to the UK on Monday but due to issues with the plane, all passengers were told to disembark. The Australian looked for alternative flights but could not find one to get back in time. That results in a ‘no facility guest’ which allows a rider up to 75% of Doyle’s average to take his place which at 6.20, Wright fits.
There is no getting away from the fact that it is a track that the Suffolk side have struggled at, losing all 10 of their fixtures raced at the National Speedway Stadium. However, the minimum Ipswich will be looking to take away from Manchester is the bonus point, having beaten the Aces 51-39 at Foxhall last month.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“After another solid win on Thursday we are looking forward to our trip to Belle Vue and a busy week next week with two meetings for us. When you are in the sort of form, we are in you want that, you want to carry on that run. Everything is going smoothly in the camp at the moment.
“The riding order has changed slightly for Monday with Adam moving to number three. I am just experimenting at this stage of the season. We are in a good position, and I think it is a good opportunity to look at something.
“We have not been great at Belle Vue in previous years, we have had good spells where we have been in meetings like in the first half before dropping off. We have been there as a side enough times now and we need to be learning our lessons and improving and with the form we are in, we couldn’t go into it in a better position. It is early in the season, and we have got points on the board so there is no massive pressure on us, but we want to go there and carry on the run. We have the bonus point to go for as well as the meeting, but the focus is on the meeting and the bonus point will take care of itself.”
THE ACES
Having won the title in 2022 and finished top of the table in 2023, Belle Vue will have been disappointed with how last season ended after they exited in the play-off semi-final to Ipswich. The Manchester club have been in the top four the last three seasons, but it has been a mixed start to 2024 with two wins and two defeats to their name so far, although just one of those fixtures has been on home shale.
There are just two changes to the Aces side in 2024 with Connor Mountain and Ben Cook replacing the outgoing Charles Wright and Tom Brennan last winter. Brady Kurtz captains the hosts with Grand Prix rider and British champion Dan Bewley at number five.
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.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway