By Rob Binns
SCORECARD
BELLE VUE 52: Dan Bewley 13+1, Norick Blödorn R/R, Jaimon Lidsey 10+1, Zach Cook 7, Brady Kurtz © 14+1 (Paid Maximum), Tate Zischke 4+1, Jake Mulford (RS) 4+2. Team Manager: Mark Lemon
IPSWICH 38: Emil Sayfutdinov 12, Danny King © 6+2, Adam Ellis 7+1, Tom Brennan 6+1, Jason Doyle 4, Dan Thompson 1+1, Jordan Jenkins (RS) 1+1 (Withdrawn). Team Manager: Chris Louis
REFEREE: C. Durno
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Ipswich | 13 | 23 |
| Sheffield | 12 | 22 |
| Belle Vue | 13 | 21 |
| Leicester | 12 | 16 |
| King’s Lynn | 14 | 12 |
| Oxford | 13 | 8 |
| Birmingham | 13 | 6 |
THE REPORT
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches suffered a 52-38 defeat on the road against the Belle Vue Aces on Monday night in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
Ipswich started the fixture with a full 1-7 but later lost Jordan Jenkins to a knee injury. The visitors were also without team manager Ritchie Hawkins as promoter Chris Louis stepped in. Belle Vue were forced into a late change with rider replacement being operated at two in place of Norick Blödorn who picked up a knee injury. The Aces started strong and held a six-point lead after seven heats. The Witches fought hard to get back into the meeting but a string of 3-3s allowed the Aces to maintain their advantage before a late flurry of points sees them bring a 14-point lead to Foxhall next week in the battle for the aggregate bonus point. Emil Sayfutdinov top scored with 12.
The Witches took the lead in heat one with Sayfutdinov flying out of the gate and defending the challenge of Dan Bewley for the win with Danny King in third for a 2-4. The Aces responded with a maximum in heat two courtesy of Tate Zischke and Jake Mulford. Jaimon Lidsey took the chequered flag in heat three, but Adam Ellis superbly kept Zach Cook at bay to limit the damage to a heat advantage. Brady Kurtz set the pace in heat four with the two Ipswich riders splitting the Aces for a 3-3 making it 14-10 to the hosts.
Cook jumped the start in heat five, which saw him excluded for touching the tapes. Zischke came in as a reserve substitute in the re-run for his third ride of the meeting, but he finished at the back as Lidsey rode to victory for a shared heat. Jason Doyle split the Aces in heat six for a home 4-2. Kurtz cruised to victory in heat seven but Ellis and Tom Brennan both passed Zischke on the second bend for a 3-3 to take the score to 24-18.
Jordan Jenkins slid off in heat eight which saw him withdraw from the remainder of the meeting. The re-run initially saw King given a warning for not remaining stationary at the start, but he then exchanged passes with Cook in the opening two laps with the Witches skipper coming out on top to earn a 3-3. Stand-in team manager Louis brought in Sayfutdinov as a tactical substitute in heat nine who took the victory, but Lidsey passed Doyle on the final lap to earn a 3-3. Bewley won heat 10 with Ellis winning a tight battle at the back with Zischke to ensure the heat was shared. Sayfutdinov and Kurtz fought tightly at the front in heat 11 but it was the Aces skipper who took the chequered flag in a 3-3 to make his side’s lead 36-30.
Heat 12 was shared again as Ellis and Dan Thompson split the Aces. Kurtz and Bewley hit a maximum in heat 13 to secure the victory for Belle Vue. Reserve substitute Thompson was forced to retire from heat 14 with bike issues but Brennan produced a fantastic ride to take the victory and earn a share of the points. Bewley and Kurtz capped the meeting with another maximum in heat 15 to grow the Aces lead to 14 points in a 52-38 victory.
CHRIS LOUIS REACTION
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches promoter Chris Louis reflects on Monday’s defeat at Belle Vue.
“A 14-point deficit, in my opinion, didn’t really tell the story of the meeting; there was a lot of effort from the lads. We had too many problems from reserve, Dan Thompson had clutch issues all night and when he sorted things out, his seat broke and came off in his last ride. He just had one of those nights and Jordan obviously struggled in his first ride then made a few changes and looked a lot more competitive in his second one but then crashed in his third one which made life difficult for us.
“Issues at reserve certainly played a part in the size of the deficit but it wasn’t the difference between losing and winning. All in all, disappointing to lose by 14 but I believe if you look at previous history, we can still go into the home leg for the bonus point knowing that we can do it for sure. They’ve had some disastrous results away from home, so we need to capitalise on that and make sure we get the bonus point out of it.
“Jordan was withdrawn with a knee ligament injury by the looks of things. Hopefully it’s not too bad, he was able to walk on it when he got up to get back. He said it was uncomfortable and painful but it’s too early to say what the damage is.
“It was generally disappointing. It was a tough night for Jason as well. Again, there were a few miscalculations and bike issues. He’s coming back from that injury so he’s a little bit disjointed at the moment. I just feel it was one of those meetings where if you’re not 100% on the top of your game it’s always going to be tough at Belle Vue, so we look forward to the next one.”
RIDER OF THE NIGHT
Fans online voted for top scorer Sayfutdinov who contributed 12 points including two race wins.
WHAT IT MEANS
Ipswich remain top of the table but the wait for a first league victory at the National Speedway Stadium goes on. Belle Vue stay third but cut the gap to the Sheffield Tigers down to a single point.
NEXT FIXTURE
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to Oxford to take on the Spires on Monday 7th July in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership. Tickets can be purchased on the gate and in advance here.