By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R1 fixture with Leicester.
WHEN & WHERE
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to Leicester to face the Lions at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena on Thursday 2nd May in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R1 fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
LEICESTER: 1. Max Fricke 8.51 © 2. Richard Lawson 6.56 3. Sam Masters 6.91 4. Luke Becker 6.45 5. Ryan Douglas 7.31 6. Drew Kemp 4.54 7. Joe Thompson (RS). Team Manager: Stewart Dickson
IPSWICH: 1. Emil Sayfutdinov 9.65 2. R/R for Danny King 7.50 3. Jason Doyle 9.18 © 4. Dan Thompson 4.46 (RS) 5. Adam Ellis 5.74 6. Keynan Rew 4.00 7. Jordan Jenkins 3.83. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: P. Griffin
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Leicester | 6 | 9 |
| Ipswich | 5 | 9 |
| Oxford | 6 | 9 |
| Belle Vue | 6 | 8 |
| Sheffield | 4 | 6 |
| Birmingham | 7 | 3 |
| King’s Lynn | 4 | 0 |
TICKETS
Tickets are available to purchase online in advance here and on the gate.
THE STORY
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches return to action on Thursday night with a trip to Leicester in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
A Witches team missing Danny King and Jason Doyle went down to a heavy defeat at Belle Vue last time out, their first loss of the season. The Suffolk side will have to do without their captain for a period of time after he fractured his hand in two places during a crash last week. King is seeing a specialist this week to determine the recovery process. Rider replacement will be in operation at number two on Thursday.
It’s a much-changed riding order for Ipswich with Rising Star Dan Thompson moving up into the main body of the team following his fine start to the campaign and he rides at number four. Jason Doyle is captain in King’s absence and will partner Thompson, riding at number three. That means Adam Ellis is now at number five and Jordan Jenkins drops back to reserve at number seven.
The Witches have of course already tasted victory at Leicester in 2024 with a 48-42 win in the Knockout Cup and a repeat result would be the perfect way to bounce back from the disappointing showing in Manchester.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“We head to Leicester missing our skipper which is a big blow. We have started the season well, so we don’t want to be losing any riders and we await further news on recovery time with him and we hope it is not long-term.
“There is a slight change in the riding order to compensate for using R/R and also Dan has moved up into the team now. That is great reward for him and shows the progress he has been making and if he carries on the way he is riding it won’t be too big a job for him.
“Our recent history at Leicester is really good and it is a place we have enjoyed going to over the last few years. All the boys go there with confidence knowing they can have good meetings around there. Danny normally goes well at Leicester, and we are missing him, but R/R shouldn’t be a disaster looking at the capabilities of the riders that can take those rides.
THE LIONS
Leicester currently sit top of the table having won their last three meetings. However, the Lions have shown they are beatable on home shale with the Witches and Sheffield having raced to wins already in 2024 at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena. The hosts will hope they are more dialled in on their home track now as they look to make it a tough place to go to for visiting teams over the course of the season.
It’s the same line-up for Leicester as when the Witches visited on April 1. Sam Masters hit a paid five-ride maximum in their home victory against Birmingham whilst Max Fricke has proven he can be unbeatable on his day, hitting a full 15-point maximum in their big win over Belle Vue at home.
AWAY DAYS
An adult ticket costs £22, concessions £20, children (6-17) £1 and children aged 5 and under go free. There will be 235 free car park spaces available at the stadium with further free car parking facilities on the Beaumont Shopping Complex (maximum time of 4 hours). Three Coach/Mini Bus spaces, 15 Disabled spaces available, 15 Motorcycle spaces, Taxi drop-off point. For travel information head here.
For more information about the club head to Leicester’s official website.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway