By Henry Chard
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THE SCORES
IPSWICH 57: Scott Nicholls (G) 7+1, Dan Thompson (RS) 4+1, Danny King © 10, Adam Ellis 9+4, Emil Sayfutdinov 12 (Maximum), Keynan Rew 9+1, Jordan Jenkins 6+1. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
KING’S LYNN 33: Simon Lambert (G) 3, Niels Kristian Iversen © 10+2, Jan Kvěch 11, Lewis Kerr (G) 0, Benjamin Basso R/R, Patryk Wojdylo 2+1, Anders Rowe (RS) 7. Team Manager: Rob Lyon
REFEREE: B. Horley
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Ipswich | 18 | 34 |
| Sheffield | 18 | 30 |
| Belle Vue | 18 | 26 |
| Oxford | 20 | 23 |
| Leicester | 16 | 21 |
| King’s Lynn* | 15 | 11 |
| Birmingham | 17 | 6 |
THE STORY
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches hammered King’s Lynn in the East Anglian derby on Thursday night at Foxhall in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
The hosts had regular guest Scott Nicholls in at number one for the injured Jason Doyle whilst the Stars had Lewis Kerr and Simon Lambert in for the injured Nicolai Klindt and Tobiasz Musielak who has left the club. The visitors were also using rider replacement for the injured Benjamin Basso. The Norfolk strugglers took a shock early lead and were level after six heats, but it was one way traffic from there as Ipswich eased to yet another win against their local rivals, picking up the aggregate bonus point in the process. Emil Sayfutdinov top scored with a faultless 12-point maximum.
Nicholls was excluded from heat one after pulling up with mechanical issues as Lambert put the bike down to avoid him and the visitors took advantage in the re-run hitting a maximum. Keynan Rew won a shared heat two and the points were shared again in heat three. Ipswich registered their first heat advantage of the night in heat four as Sayfutdinov won comfortably and Jordan Jenkins picked up a point making it 11-13 to the away side after the opening heats.
The Suffolk side hit the front in heat five as Danny King and Adam Ellis raced to a 5-1. It was level after heat six as Jan Kvěch managed to hold off Nicholls for the three points with Patryk Wojdylo third for the 2-4. The table-toppers went back ahead in heat seven as Sayfutdinov was followed home by Rew for the maximum. The lead was extended in heat eight as Jenkins and Dan Thompson teamed up for a 5-1 to put the home team 28-20 in front.
Heat nine ended in a 3-3 before Nicholls took the chequered flag in heat 10 in a Witches 4-2. Sayfutdinov kept up his perfect record with another victory in heat 11 in what was another heat advantage to the hosts. Niels Kristian Iversen was brought in as a tactical substitute in heat 12 but it was all over for King’s Lynn come the end of the race as King and Jenkins fired in a 5-1 to put Ipswich out of sight at 44-28.
Sayfutdinov and Nicholls added further gloss to the scoreline with a maximum in heat 13 and they kept on coming as Rew won heat 14 and Ellis blasted his way through to second for a third 5-1 in a row. Ellis ended his night in style winning a shared heat 15 as Foxhall celebrated a twelfth win a row against the Norfolk outfit.
REACTION FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins reflects on Thursday’s win against King’s Lynn.
“We got the result in the end, the first third of the meeting was really close and I thought we looked a bit sluggish and rusty in the first bit of the meeting. The boys then got dialled in and we dominated after that. King’s Lynn put up a good showing to start with and maybe it wasn’t quite as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.
“We have all needed to contribute to cover Jason and other injuries this season and we certainly did tonight. On a personal night I was delighted with Jordan’s last two rides, two of the best he has had with us and hopefully that is a big confidence boost for him. Certainly, off gate four in his last ride, that was the best job anyone did off gate four all night and it was a brilliant start and first bend from him, so I was delighted to see him end the night with a win and a paid win.
“With Adam and Danny riding together, they are probably going to pick up a lot of bonus points. Adam hasn’t ridden badly over the last couple of weeks but maybe hasn’t been making great starts and has needed to fight hard for his points. Tonight, he had to again and that is why I put him in heat 15, he changed things with his clutch, and I really wanted to see him make a start and get some fresh air which is what he did, so that went to plan. I think Adam’s scores have not reflected his racing over the last few meetings but if he can get his trapping gloves back on, he will be flying.
“We have been dominating the derby for the last few years and this year with their injury problems in the last two meetings it has meant we should be winning when a team is so hampered with missing riders. I guess that takes a bit of gloss off it but I’m sure next season they will want to come back and get on top of us which hasn’t happened for a long time.
“We have passed our cut off date now to sign anyone so even if someone becomes available to sign, we are forced into using guests and R/R for the rest of the season. The rule seems absurd, but it is what it is, and we have been making plans and preparing so we will go with that. The aim is to finish top at the end of the season and then go into the play-offs and cup final with confidence.”
TRU7 GROUP & PIKE AIR RIDERS OF THE NIGHT
Tru7 Group picked Sayfutdinov after he raced to 12 points with four wins from four.
Pike Air went for Rew who scored 9+1 from reserve.
WHAT IT MEANS
Ipswich add three points to their name after picking up the aggregate bonus point too after last week’s win at the Adrian Flux Arena as they consolidate top spot. King’s Lynn remain sixth needing a major turnaround to make the top four.
BEN FUND COLLECTION
During the interval we raised £2334.51 for the Speedway Riders’ Benevolent Fund, thank you for your generous donations.
UP NEXT
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to Sheffield to take on the Tigers on Thursday 8th August in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership. Tickets can be purchased on the gate.
Press Officer at Ipswich Speedway