By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R2 fixture with Sheffield.
WHEN & WHERE
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to Sheffield to face the Tigers at Owlerton Stadium on Thursday 8th August in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R2 fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
SHEFFIELD: 1. Jack Holder 9.20 2. Kyle Howarth 5.17 © 3. Chris Holder 8.23 4. Josh Pickering 6.47 5. Chris Harris (G) 8.67 6. Jason Edwards 3.25 7. Dan Gilkes (RS). Team Manager: Simon Stead
IPSWICH: 1. R/R for Jason Doyle 9.36 2. Adam Ellis 5.63 3. Emil Sayfutdinov 9.04 4. Dan Thompson 5.02 (RS) 5. Danny King 6.98 © 6. Keynan Rew 4.77 7. Jordan Jenkins 3.66 8. Freddy Hodder. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: D. Watters
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Ipswich | 18 | 34 |
| Sheffield | 18 | 30 |
| Belle Vue | 19 | 29 |
| Leicester | 17 | 24 |
| Oxford | 20 | 23 |
| King’s Lynn* | 16 | 11 |
| Birmingham | 18 | 6 |
TICKETS
Tickets are available to purchase on the gate.
THE STORY
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to Sheffield on Thursday as they face the Tigers in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
It’s a top of the table clash at Owlerton with the Witches sitting top on 34 points and the Tigers second on 30 points with both sides having ridden the same number of fixtures and it could be a crucial meeting in the race to finish top of the table going into the play-offs.
The visitors revert back to the line-up that was successful at King’s Lynn a couple of weeks ago with rider replacement in operation for the injured Jason Doyle at number one again and a shuffling of the riding order amongst the top five.
The Suffolk side raced to a 46-44 victory in South Yorkshire earlier in the season and a repeat result would represent a huge step towards guaranteeing top spot.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“Sheffield away this week which we know is going to be another super tough test. We had a brilliant result there earlier on in the year which we can take confidence from, but we know it is going to be just as tough this time if not tougher this time without Jason. We need to do what we have on the last two occasions we have won at Sheffield and that is to be very solid throughout with everyone contributing. That has been our strong point this season, all six or seven riders have all played their part in our victories.
“We will be using R/R for Jason which puts more pressure on all the boys to perform because it will have to be a massive team effort to cover R/R. When we have had R/R this season we have done well with it and we will need to repeat that, that also goes into changing the line-up again which has proved to be successful when we have needed to use R/R at number one this year.
“It is a top of the table clash and I think realistically it is going to be one of these two teams that finish top at the end of the regular season before the play-offs. These two fixtures could have a big bearing on which way that goes. After the first set of fixtures, we are on top and we have got to try and keep on that in this second round of fixtures against Sheffield.”
THE TIGERS
Sheffield are the reigning champions and are determined to keep hold of their crown in 2024, sitting hot on the heels on Ipswich, second in the table. The hosts have only lost once at home, against the Witches but they were run close last time out, needing a super heat to beat Leicester at Owlerton.
The hosts are without injured three-time world champion Tai Woffinden with Chris Harris guesting in his place at number five.
AWAY DAYS
An adult ticket costs £23, concessions (over 65s & students) £21, kids (up to and including age 17) £1 whilst children under five go free. Official programmes cost £3. All the stadium is open except the back straight which remains closed for safety reasons. There is seating in the Panorama Room, which also boasts a restaurant and bar overlooking the track. There is a fast-food bar, and the Panorama Room Restaurant also offers a ‘Speedway Special’ carvery with a choice of meats. The Panorama Room Restaurant has large bar with ideal viewing facilities in addition to the carvery. Reserve your table now by calling Owlerton Stadium on 01142 343074. For travel information head here.
For more information about the club head to Sheffield’s official website.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway