Ipswich Witches Speedway

The historically treasured Witches date back to the 1950s. Their Suffolk home of Speedway and Stockcars oozes the rich history the race track has witnessed.

Date Visited
Thursday 5th May 2022
Fixture
Ipswich Witches v Belle Vue Aces

My blogs up to now have regularly started with me describing the vast distances I've covered or hotels I'm occupying to visit each venue. No such explanation is required this time. The poultry 76-mile trip to the Witches' home felt like a trip to get the milk in comparison. I could still have dinner at home before leaving! The short trip up the A12 didn't take too long, although the rush hour trip wasn't an enjoyable ride. It's safe to say if I travelled via car, I would have struggled to make Foxhall for Heat 1.

Foxhall is right on the edge of Ipswich, not too far away from the A12. It feels like you are outside the suburban parts of Ipswich when you pull into the Stadium, but it's an illusion. Just behind the tree's on the North and West side of the woods are the largely built-up streets of Ipswich residential areas.

You pull off the main road onto a trail which leads through the woods into a clearing, unveiling the Stadium and car park. You'll never have a problem parking at Foxhall, and it's free, which is a credit to the Stadium's management. Once you've parked up, there's a single entrance which leads you into the Stadium on bend 1. The programme seller, shop and 50-50 all greet you as you enter, plus the re-run videos hut with the latest DVD's for sale.

You can walk down the back of the main stand to the pits and see little bit, it's not a great view but you see plenty of riders walking around and chatting. You can also get a good view of the pits from the stand, but there's only space for about 3 people to see anything, so don't bank on it! The main stand offers a limited view, but it's pretty low. Fans can find the stronger vantage points on bends 1, 2 and the backstraight.

The Witches facility reminds me of my local track Lakeside, with the big stock car track between the speedway circuit and the riders. It's a shame because you can't get very close. Ipswich's track is 273 metres long round the inside curb, making it the 8th smallest. It's 3 metres smaller than Scunthorpe but 7 metres longer than Redcar. The space on the turns is massive, at 15.6 metres; only Leicester and Belle Vue's turns are bigger. The straights are much smaller, only 10.4 metres wide, similar to King's Lynn (10.3) and Mildenhall (10.5). The turns are pretty tight. The riders have to power into the corners early and turn hard to make the turn, but the extra space makes them more manageable for riders. The track's shape is like Wolverhampton but with longer straights. The recently defunct Lakeside was also similar, although you had to turn very hard to get around Purfleet!

There's a large amount of gradual terracing on bends 1 and 2, with various catering outlets to choose from at the back. The main food outlet is by bend 1, but there are a further two options on bend two and an ice cream fan. They were all busy throughout my visit, so they must be worth a try! The grandstand is relatively new, and if you haven't visited Ipswich in a few years, you might not know it's there! It offers a terrific view from the backstraight, it gives you height and keeps you reasonably close. The stand also has a good capacity. The only downside is it's not covered, so you'll get wet if it rains. One thing I always remember about Ipswich is it's not the best place to be when the weather is rubbish. There are not many places to hide. I've ruined a few programmes trying to fill them in during an outburst of rain! There are viewing facilities on bend 3 but they are always closed for speedway, you also can't get access to the far end of the backstraight and bends 3 or 4.

This evening there was no danger of rain. If anything, the weather was a bit warm for speedway. The track looked good, considering the heat. Ipswich were looking for their first win of the Premiership season in their opener, having been beaten twice home and away already. The Witches couldn't have picked a worse time to host the Aces, who just added Slovenian star Matej Zager to their lineup. No offence to Jake Allen, but that is some 'swap'.

Ipswich opened the scoring with a 4-2 heat advantage. Jye Etheridge made Doyle work hard for it, but the former World Champion eased Etheridge out the way on the second lap, and Max Fricke tailed off at the back. Stark and Rowe extended the lead in Heat 2. Then the teams exchanged shared heats in 3 and 4. Ipswich extended the lead in Heat 5 with a 4-2, and again in Heat 6 after a terrific race between Brady Kurtz and Eric Riss for second. Zager won Heat 3 by some distance but couldn't stop Troy Batchelor in Heat 7, after a re-run due to Paul Stark falling. Another shared race in Heat 8 maintained the Witches 8 point lead. Belle Vue needed to do something as Ipswich were gradually pulling away.

Mark Lemon brought Zager in as a tactical in Heat 9, and he delivered the goods with Brady Kurtz. The pair gated and kept the effervescent Danny King and Ben Barker behind them. The match continued with another two shared heats between the sides. Jason Doyle run an uncharacteristic last in Heat 10 but Eric Riss saved the day, and then Paul Starke worked hard to pass Etheridge in Heat 11 only to pack up, very unlucky! Heat 12 saw Ipswich deliver a killing blow. Danny King and Paul Starke teamed up to take a 5-1 over Tom Brennan and Matej Zager. Starke did superbly, passing Brennan on the first lap. Doyle got back to winning ways in Heat 13 but Kurtz and Fricke packed the positions to share the race. Charles Wright popped up with a win in Heat 14, but the Witches' pair secured a shared heat to win the match.

Belle Vue salvaged a point for their troubles with a 1-5 in the last race. The killing instinct wasn't entirely there for Ispwich, opting for Batchelor and King instead of Doyle. Brady Kurtz moved Troy Batchelor off the racing line, allowing Matej Zager through. Once ahead, the Aces pair pulled away, Batchelor in pursuit but never threatened a pass.

Ipswich rode well throughout the meeting. The points spread evenly through the seven riders. Good performances from Erik Riss and PauL Starke swayed the moment towards the Witches. Equally, the underperformance of Max Fricke left the Aces blunt at the top end. I wouldn't be too surprised if Belle Vue go back there and win later in the season, but Ipswich have shown they are capable of beating good teams.

The result never felt like a foregone conclusion. The Aces had the riders but couldn't muster heat advantages together. I was kept engaged as the result was in doubt until Heat 14. Ipswich is relatively hard to pass on, but we were treated to some good races, especially the tussle between Eric Riss and Brady Kurtz. My man of the match was Witches Eric Riss. He kept chipping away, scoring points and won the all-important Heat 10 when Doyle fluffed his lines, maintaining the Witches' lead and momentum.

I set off content with my evening's speedway and was in a good mood to tackle the A12 returning home. It's potluck if the road is open these days, I usually get treated to a tour of the countryside going back home, but tonight I was lucky! I got home with the usual bug collection on my bike's windbreaker, then filled my wife in on the evening's events, irrespective of her wanting to know! One last thing, it was great to see Tommy Nicholls still in the pits at Ipswich. Tommy used to tune my brother and me's engines back when I raced second halves and amateur meetings.  

My next trip would be another long one, back up to the North East to Middlesborough. I was looking forward to this one. The last time I went to Redcar Speedway, Gary Havelock was number one! The Bears would face a tough test with Havelock's very own Pirates in town. It should be a cracker!

Parking
Plenty of parking and no charge either, very good.

Admission
£20 for Adults, £18 for Concessions, Children under 16 go Free.  .

Programme
£3 for the programme. NIcely presented and a good racecard, a good effort from the Witches promotion.

Viewing Facilities
The grand stand is sitauted on the backstraight. There's a small stand on the home straight, or plently of open terracing round the first and second bends. I recommend the front of the grandstand for optimal view.

Catering
There's a walk in cafe with seating on the first bend, and a few over the counter outlets on the second bend. Plenty to choose from, although the queues can get quite long so watch for that.

Escaping!
It's a bit slow as all the traffic has to use the single file track out of the woods. If you want to get out quickly I suggest you bolt after heat 15, otherwise you'll spend a bit of time getting out of the car park. 

Fancy an evening at Ipswich Speedway?
 
Check out the Witches website for the latest fixture and news, Ipswich's regular race night is Monday or Thursdays.

https://ipswichwitches.co/

2022 UK TOUR STATS

NEXT UP
Redcar Bears on Friday 13th May 2022