Ipswich Witches 2026

[Aries]

Thorssell is only 32! 😲 Genuinely thought he was in his early 40’s! 
 

Seems to have been around forever.

[HGould]

The other Yank who rode in that 81/82 team from memory, who I thought on his day was as good as Penhall was Ronnie Preston.

I was told years ago that he wasn't in the Costa Mesa Californian group which almost all of the others were, so was always a bit off the radar. Not sure how true that was but he always went underrated in my opinion.

 

[mikebv]

14 hours ago, IainB said:

Same again next year? 😉🤞

I think we can almost guarantee it...

In the Speedway Star, Matt Ford mentions how those previous generation of promoters basically left a very poor legacy, and when the going was good, they didn't invest money back into the sport, and today's promoters get all the blame and stick from fans for the current malaise...

Ford is someone I do have a lot of respect for but the previous promoters haven't watched over the last ten to fifteen years or so worth of unchecked decline have they?

They didn't make "DU'ing" so fundamentally important, nor run Guestfests after Guestfests, nor indeed just pick and choose what league to race in whenever the moment came along to suit themelves..

And. Instead of "going it alone" when the GP's and Poland took over, they instead pandered to others and let their own operating model become defined by these outside influences...

The result? Team Speedway in the UK simply isn't an authentic product to sell, which then hugely impacts its relevance, and therefore fan engagement. .

This winter's goings on is just a "new way" of making the sport look the way it does, no doubt there will be other ways to keep the same reputation in the future...

 

 

[Steve Irving]

On 2/13/2026 at 7:21 AM, PhilTheAce said:

4.5 is what i heard. 

How on earth have they come to that figure?

23 hours ago, BluPanther said:

You might want to revise that, because Scotty is in the team...

Ipswich have a new main team sponsor as well then?

[Gavan]

Brennan , Nicholls, King , Lawson Musielek , Thorsell and Edwards 

Team Manager Paul Hurry

[False dawn]

8 minutes ago, Gavan said:

Brennan , Nicholls, King , Lawson Musielek , Thorsell and Edwards 

Team Manager Paul Hurry

Respectful question:

Are we allowed to ask if this is insider information or just speculation.

[M.D]

3 hours ago, HGould said:

The other Yank who rode in that 81/82 team from memory, who I thought on his day was as good as Penhall was Ronnie Preston.

I was told years ago that he wasn't in the Costa Mesa Californian group which almost all of the others were, so was always a bit off the radar. Not sure how true that was but he always went underrated in my opinion.

 

He rode for Eastbourne in 1982 and was fantastic averaging well over 9, sadly his last season in Europe.

What a top three Eastbourne had that year, Ronnie, Kelly Moran and Gordon Kennett all averaging well over 9.

[Aries]

15 minutes ago, Gavan said:

Brennan , Nicholls, King , Lawson Musielek , Thorsell and Edwards 

Team Manager Paul Hurry

Would take that all day long. May lack heat winners and could take a few hidings at the likes of Sheffield and Belle Vue, but it’s solid and competitive and a decent effort considering how late they’ve come to the party. 
 

IF that is the side, obviously. Thought Lawson was at Northampton? 

[False dawn]

15 minutes ago, Aries said:

......Thought Lawson was at Northampton? 

There is something of a rather large assumption in that statement 

[Aries]

5 minutes ago, False dawn said:

There is something of a rather large assumption in that statement 

Not from me there isn’t. That came from the 360 podcast. 
 

The team Gavan named doesn’t fit anyway so he’s wrong. Brennan, Nicholls, King, Lawson, Musielak leaves 4.44 so even if Thorssell was reassessed down to 4.5, the team is over the limit. 

[TTT]

45 minutes ago, Gavan said:

Brennan , Nicholls, King , Lawson Musielek , Thorsell and Edwards 

Team Manager Paul Hurry

I hope so Gavan.

Don't even need a No.1 if Thorssell is coming in on a 4.50 as Ipswich will have a No.6 who will put up Double Digits on a regular basis all season imo no matter who rides at reserve.

That's the best Team Mayfield can possibly put together when it comes to Foxhall specialists.

[Aries]

https://britishspeedway.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/p25_issue_27.pdf
 

Every year there is a “Final” GSA declaration. The one for 2025 doesn’t have final written on them. Are these the final GSA’s or is there other fixtures still to be added to these totals?

[TTT]

9 minutes ago, Aries said:

Not from me there isn’t. That came from the 360 podcast. 
 

The team Gavan named doesn’t fit anyway so he’s wrong. Brennan, Nicholls, King, Lawson, Musielak leaves 4.44 so even if Thorssell was reassessed down to 4.5, the team is over the limit. 

We may have got the Nicholls Average wrong.

Problem is, None of us know the conversion rate due to a lack of communication from the higher ups.

[Steve Irving]

1 hour ago, Gavan said:

Brennan , Nicholls, King , Lawson Musielek , Thorsell and Edwards 

Team Manager Paul Hurry

That would go unbeaten at Ipswich. Some Foxhall specialists packed in there and Thorssell at reserve is ridiculous. 

44 minutes ago, Aries said:

IF that is the side, obviously. Thought Lawson was at Northampton? 

Perhaps he was, but didn’t want to wait any longer on Northampton so has taken a guaranteed ride at Ipswich to get his season sorted?

[YeOldPitGate]

10 minutes ago, TTT said:

We may have got the Nicholls Average wrong.

Problem is, None of us know the conversion rate due to a lack of communication from the higher ups.

maybe a stroke can be pulled similar to ablitt

[YeOldPitGate]

12 hours ago, M.D said:

Eastbourne had the best of him league wise in 1981 & 82 this was his return 6 years after that.

I wasn't going in the early 80's but did see him when he returned to link up with Shawn at Sheffield in the Maurice Ducker years. From videos I have watched I would agree you probably had the best version of him when he was very young and the bad living didn't have so much of an effect due to his youth, when he came back he was still brilliant but probably 10-15% down on what he could have been due to a poor lifestyle.

I was fortunate to see lots of brilliant riders but for me my top five natural talents in no particular order have to be Cowboy Cook, Kelly Moran, Mark Loram, Henka Gustaffson and Darcy Ward.

[Hamish McRaker]

21 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said:

I wasn't going in the early 80's but did see him when he returned to link up with Shawn at Sheffield in the Maurice Ducker years. From videos I have watched I would agree you probably had the best version of him when he was very young and the bad living didn't have so much of an effect due to his youth, when he came back he was still brilliant but probably 10-15% down on what he could have been due to a poor lifestyle.

I was fortunate to see lots of brilliant riders but for me my top five natural talents in no particular order have to be Cowboy Cook, Kelly Moran, Mark Loram, Henka Gustaffson and Darcy Ward.

Only saw him on tv but Ward was different gravy when he had all his ducks in a row. Had 360 vision and knew what was going to happen several seconds ahead of his opponents, and team riding ability par excellence. 

[Hamish McRaker]

17 hours ago, IainB said:

Same again next year? 😉🤞

Who needs the actual season? 😃

[FAST GATER]

10 minutes ago, Hamish McRaker said:

Only saw him on tv but Ward was different gravy when he had all his ducks in a row. Had 360 vision and knew what was going to happen several seconds ahead of his opponents, and team riding ability par excellence. 

As  a rider out of the top drawer !

[mikebv]

1 minute ago, Hamish McRaker said:

Who needs the actual season? 😃

Come the end of May, we will all be pining, and reminiscing, for "the good old days" of November 25 to March 26...