Ipswich Witches 2025

[Fromafar]

2 minutes ago, foreverblue said:

He is according to Oxford website.

Not according to Redcar site Danyon Hume and Sam Hagon are both riding for Oxford

[foreverblue]

2 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Not according to Redcar site Danyon Hume and Sam Hagon are both riding for Oxford

Jenkins is riding. Hume and Hagon are for Knudsen and Heeps.

[Fromafar]

2 minutes ago, foreverblue said:

Jenkins is riding. Hume and Hagon are for Knudsen and Heeps.

Apologies,didn’t realise Knudsen was missing

[foreverblue]

10 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Apologies,didn’t realise Knudsen was missing

Danish meeting apparently.

[Fromafar]

50 minutes ago, foreverblue said:

Danish meeting apparently.

Zielona Gora in Poland on Fri.

[Reddan]

What's the latest news on how long Dan Thompson will be out for?

[BluPanther]

On 6/2/2025 at 3:23 PM, Reddan said:

What's the latest news on how long Dan Thompson will be out for?

Could well be a few more weeks, but would be much sooner if he had it pinned. That's not normally recommended by doctors though in a younger person. He's a massive miss for the Witches...

[Aries]

1 hour ago, BluPanther said:

Could well be a few more weeks, but would be much sooner if he had it pinned. That's not normally recommended by doctors though in a younger person. He's a massive miss for the Witches...

Absolutely huge miss you’re right. Bigger than Doyley in fact. Any replacement is likely scoring around 5 points less than Dan and that’s being generous. That’s a 10 point swing in the overall score right there. We’ve currently lost the two most important riders at both ends of the team. Let’s hope they’re back soon but more importantly, when they’re ready and properly fit. 

[ShanoXtra]

Chris Louis suggesting its a matter of weeks and not months for both with an update coming end of this week / start of next week.

[MP78]

I can imagine JD will be desperate to get back to the GPs, as there are 3 in June and he'll probably be worried about staying in the series next year... It might be a stretch to wildcard him in for 2026.  Will he try to come back for the Sheffield match at foxhall next thursday or is that too soon? 

[JamesB]

3 minutes ago, MP78 said:

I can imagine JD will be desperate to get back to the GPs, as there are 3 in June and he'll probably be worried about staying in the series next year... It might be a stretch to wildcard him in for 2026.  Will he try to come back for the Sheffield match at foxhall next thursday or is that too soon? 

Hawkins mentioned on Monday evening that Doyle is targeting the next GP.

[Aries]

1 hour ago, MP78 said:

I can imagine JD will be desperate to get back to the GPs, as there are 3 in June and he'll probably be worried about staying in the series next year... It might be a stretch to wildcard him in for 2026.  Will he try to come back for the Sheffield match at foxhall next thursday or is that too soon? 

Dunno about that. Actually winning a world title and having that on your CV, is more deserving of a wild card than your place of birth. 
 

And before anyone pipes up with “give Hans Nielsen a wild card then”  then you can get back in your box with your strawman argument. Doyle is still a top rider.

[ShanoXtra]

14 minutes ago, Aries said:

Dunno about that. Actually winning a world title and having that on your CV, is more deserving of a wild card than your place of birth. 
 

And before anyone pipes up with “give Hans Nielsen a wild card then”  then you can get back in your box with your strawman argument. Doyle is still a top rider.

Doyle won't get a wildcard next year, he needs top 6 or a qualifier. Dudek and Madsen will be wild card potentials for next series.

They wont drop Kai, Kvech or  Lebedevs due to having home riders in countries the series travels to.

[tyler42]

9 minutes ago, ShanoXtra said:

They wont drop Kai, Kvech or  Lebedevs due to having home riders in countries the series travels to

and this is why the GPs are not a true world championship. Its a commercial venture/circus. Score 4pts from 4 rides and you still have a chance of getting into the final! as Kurtz nearly did and Kubera actually did after scoring 6 pts. Would it be too much logistically to have a one off world final like the old days and keep the GPs as they are. Be an interesting line up if everyone had to qualify. I suppose finding dates for qualifiers would be the main problem.  

[gazzac]

2 hours ago, MP78 said:

I can imagine JD will be desperate to get back to the GPs, as there are 3 in June and he'll probably be worried about staying in the series next year... It might be a stretch to wildcard him in for 2026.  Will he try to come back for the Sheffield match at foxhall next thursday or is that too soon? 

Is it nearly getting to a point, if JD doesn't qualify for the GP's next year and perhaps won't get a wild card it will be a blessing in disguise, prolong his career at the top at league level here and Poland for a few extra years without the wear and tear and injuries he's sustained in the GP's? 

[Bash]

1 hour ago, tyler42 said:

and this is why the GPs are not a true world championship. Its a commercial venture/circus. Score 4pts from 4 rides and you still have a chance of getting into the final! as Kurtz nearly did and Kubera actually did after scoring 6 pts. Would it be too much logistically to have a one off world final like the old days and keep the GPs as they are. Be an interesting line up if everyone had to qualify. I suppose finding dates for qualifiers would be the main problem.  

Gp's don't start until May could easily have qualifiers in April 

[MP78]

Just listened to a Radio Suffolk interview with Chris Louis from Tuesday morning.  

He said that Thompson is likely to have scans end of next week to see how he is doing and Doyle expected back in 2-3 weeks.  

[AceBelle]

1 hour ago, MP78 said:

Just listened to a Radio Suffolk interview with Chris Louis from Tuesday morning.  

He said that Thompson is likely to have scans end of next week to see how he is doing and Doyle expected back in 2-3 weeks.  

so Doyle missing the 2 GP'S at NSS next week then ? 

[ShanoXtra]

On 6/5/2025 at 3:34 PM, AceBelle said:

so Doyle missing the 2 GP'S at NSS next week then ? 

Back to Ipswich in 2-3 weeks, not back on the bike. He will ride in Manchester and probably Poland before Ipswich.  Chris Louis is relaxed about this type of thing, being a rider he understands the pressure of Poland and importance of SGP. The position witches are in is good so he would rather give Doyle and Thompson all the time they need I’m sure.

[ShanoXtra]

Ipswich prospering but are promotion missing a big opportunity?

With Ipswich town on a rebuild of the club and a solid future in front of it, albeit taking a step back now to hopefully take two steps forward. Ed Sheeran flying the flag internationally for the town and three sold out shows at Portman Rd. Fabio Wardley pulling in 20k+ last night with a show stopper punch and putting Ipswich on the map globally again. All this being said, are the Witches missing a chance for a major cash in opportunity and riding the towns wave? Witches do normally get a good size crowd in comparison to other teams but how the town has been propelled forward in the last few seasons got me thinking, why aren’t Ipswich witches trying to put any kind of promotion near Portman Rd to capitalise on the chance, after all, the football and speedway have always been close to one another, only last year town had a footballer attend the media day at foxhall. I could be wishing but I think this is a perfect chance to get involved with how the town is moving forward.