By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our Premiership fixture with Peterborough.
WHEN & WHERE
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches travel to Peterborough to face the Panthers at the East of England Arena & Events Centre on Monday 20th June in a Premiership fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
PETERBOROUGH: 1. Michael Palm Toft 7.12 2. Ulrich Ostergaard 6.62 3. Hans Andersen 6.49 4. Scott Nicholls 6.23 © 5. Chris Harris 6.90 6. Benjamin Basso 4.85 7. Jordan Palin (RS). Team Manager: Rob Lyon
IPSWICH: 1. Jason Doyle 9.84 2. Paul Starke or R/R 4.95 3. Danny King 8.00 © 4. Erik Riss 4.62 5. Troy Batchelor 5.44 6. Ben Barker 4.44 7. Danyon Hume (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: S.H. Kennett
PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Belle Vue | 8 | 17 |
| Ipswich | 7 | 16 |
| Sheffield | 6 | 13 |
| Wolverhampton | 7 | 12 |
| King’s Lynn | 6 | 8 |
| Peterborough | 6 | 3 |
TICKETS
Tickets can be purchased online here and are available on the gate.
THE STORY
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches are back in Premiership action on Monday as they travel to take on the Peterborough Panthers. Ipswich are in terrific form and find themselves sat nicely in second position in the table having picked up points in all four of their last league meetings since defeat to Sheffield. That run included an away win at East Anglian rivals King’s Lynn last time out and they will be hoping to pick up more points on the road against the bottom side. The two sides met at the East of England Arena in the League Cup earlier this season with the hosts running out 53-37 winners.
Team manager Ritchie Hawkins is hoping to welcome back Paul Starke to the side following injury and will make a late decision on his fitness. Should Starke be unfit to ride then rider replacement will be used in his absence. Jason Doyle and Troy Batchelor will be in buoyant mood and looking to continue their good form after clinching victory for Ipswich in the second round of the Premiership Pairs at Foxhall last Thursday. Danyon Hume keeps his place at number seven in the Rising Star position.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“We have started the season very well so far away from home and we go to Peterborough which is a place we enjoy going to. As much as we can talk about them not being in great form in the league this season, they got a win last week over Sheffield which is no easy task, they are still the league champions, and they still possess a team full of very good speedway riders who can no doubt hit form at any point. We are going to have to be at the top of our game, as we have been in the other three away meetings, to get the better of Peterborough over two meetings next week.
“We are very hopeful of Paul being back on Monday. It is hard to run rider replacement for a sustained period of time so if he is back on Monday that will be great, but we will give him as long as he needs to see if he is fit. He has been a massive part of our team for a little while and has done a great job when he has ridden for us. He has suffered from illness and injury this season but when he has been with us, he has been very good and hopefully he can find that form when he comes back. The Showground is a place he should go well at so hopefully he will be back.”
THE PANTHERS
Peterborough are the reigning Premiership champions after a fantastic campaign in 2021 but it is fair to say that 2022 is not going to plan so far. The Panthers lost their opening five league fixtures before picking up their first points of the season last time out having got the better of Sheffield in the very first Super Heat, with the scores level after 15 heats of racing. Team manager Rob Lyon will be hoping that result gives his side confidence to start a run of positive results as they look to bring themselves back into contention for the play-off spots.
Chris Harris has been in decent form for Peterborough so far this season with the highlight being an 18-point maximum on home shale in their defeat to Wolverhampton. Reserve Benjamin Basso has also been a positive with some good scores from reserve including 12+2 in their League Cup win over the Witches at the start of the season. Jordan Palin gets the nod at number seven in the Rising Star position.
AWAY DAYS
An adult ticket costs £20, concessions (over 65), disabled and students £18, children (5-16) £5 and children under the age of 5 go free. Official programmes cost £3 with car parking priced at £1. Facilities include a 2200 capacity grandstand, grass banking on the back straight, fast food outlets on the grandstand side of the track and a licensed bar. For travel information head here.
For more information about the club head to Peterborough’s official website.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway