Ipswich Witches 2026

[TTT]

43 minutes ago, Steve Irving said:

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?

As long as Ipswich were interested in Richard, It made no sense for him to line-up for Northampton imo.

Just like any British Rider, You'd want to maximise earnings.

Option A - Ride a track that you know you can score big points on.

Option B - Ride a track that you've never ridden before and may not like it.

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

1 hour ago, Gavan said:

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

Team Manager Paul Hurry

 

1 hour ago, False dawn said:

Respectful question:

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

I've heard this too via a source I would trust but the source of my source could be throwing out bait to see who blabs!!

It has been a very tight lipped ship this year

1 hour ago, Aries said:

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. 

 

52 minutes ago, Aries said:

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?

I understand that the meetings raced after the cut off will not be included in the rolling averages for team building purposes

This is in direct contradtion to the regulations as written 

So anything could happen depends on who it suits and if their face fits.....

[TTT]

46 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said:

maybe a stroke can be pulled similar to ablitt

We defo need more clarification on the conversion rates for PREM and CHAMP.

[TTT]

A spearhead of Brennan, Lawson and Musielak is very good in a weakend League imo.

 

Musielak although coming off a bad season, Is still a much better rider than his GSA imo. Riding for Birmingham must have been a nightmare considering Perry Barr's dust bowl.

Lawson will score points almost everywhere and is a Track specialist around KL & LEI as well as Ipswich.

Brennan although not a No.1 (Yet) is only going to get better year on year.

[mikebv]

50 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said:

maybe a stroke can be pulled similar to ablitt

Supplementary Reg 31. (as of Feb 01/26)....

Any Swedish rider, who hasnt ridden in either of fhe UK two top leagues for a "few" years, (let's keep it ambiguous), and whose surname has two lots of consecutive consonants in it, comes in at an average of 4.50... 

[Witches1998]

I make that team fit totalling 36.90

1) Brennan 7.05

2) Nicholls 5.39 (CHAMP 8.08 /1.50)

3) King 6.50

4) Musielak 6.63 

5) Lawson 6.83

6) Thorsell 4.50

7) Edwards R/S

[Tapewrecker]

Think Jaimon Lidsey is worth a shot

[YeOldPitGate]

2 hours 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. 

Agreed would have been one of the few who could have made things difficult for Bartoz

[gazzac]

6 hours ago, M.D said:

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.

That was the era I really started watching, great times, I have a memory of a fantastic race between Kelly and Kenny Carter one lovely Sunday afternoon. 

[Roger Jacobs]

4 hours ago, mikebv said:

Supplementary Reg 31. (as of Feb 01/26)....

Any Swedish rider, who hasnt ridden in either of fhe UK two top leagues for a "few" years, (let's keep it ambiguous), and whose surname has two lots of consecutive consonants in it, comes in at an average of 4.50... 

... for team building purposes only.

[mikebv]

39 minutes ago, Roger Jacobs said:

... for team building purposes only.

Supplemtary Reg 32...

After the first set of offical averages are published, any Polish rider who hasnt rode in either of the top two leagues "for a few years", (keep that ambiguity), and has two Z's in his surname name, can come in on a 4.50 average...

Edited Saturday at 05:23 PM by mikebv

[Phannan]

1 hour ago, gazzac said:

That was the era I really started watching, great times, I have a memory of a fantastic race between Kelly and Kenny Carter one lovely Sunday afternoon. 

Those were the days eh . Proper racers. They were pals too apparently. 

[Steve Irving]

On 2/13/2026 at 4:35 PM, hasta la vista said:

Not saying he wouldn't do well but Thorsell had a lower average than Blodorn in Poland last season.

Anders Thomson, Freddy Lindgren, Robert Lambert, Dan Bewley all had a lower average in Poland last year than Jason Doyle, and yet Doyle had a poor year here in the UK.

Poland is and has always been, a terrible indicator of what happens in this Country average wise.

Thorssell has shown a liking to tracks over here in the past and even if he’s regressed as a rider since then, that is negated by the fact the league he would be returning to has been watered down.

Thorssell is more than capable of a 6.5 average in this league, so anyone that grabs him on a 4.5 is getting a two point average jumper right off the bat.

[Steve Irving]

On 2/14/2026 at 11:56 AM, TTT said:

Musielak although coming off a bad season, Is still a much better rider than his GSA imo. 

He definitely is, but Ipswich will have to find a way of getting him motivated and back to his best which was only a couple of seasons ago. 
 

In Sheffields title winning season, he topped their averages over the season above Woffinden posting a season average of 9.35 with bonuses. 
 

That comfortably outstrips anything Doyle or Emil posted in Ipswich’ title triumph last year.

Things then started to go downhill which began with the farcical situation at Kings Lynn where he looked uninterested, then picked up an injury, and then completely disappeared. 
 

Then last year he rarely hit the heights, but then again it was a bit of a car crash situation at Birmingham where they all struggled as a team, and they all knew it was the clubs last season. 
 

Maybe it’s just a case of two wrong moves and clubs for him. He’ll now be at a well run club (or WERE, remains to be seen if that’s still the case under new owners), and riding in front of a good crowd every home meeting which absolutely does make a difference to riders. 
 

Let’s see if that gets him going again because there’s no doubt about it, Musielak is a fine rider capable of much more than his current average. He’s good to watch as well when he’s in the mood and on song. Has ridden Ipswich well in the past too. 

[YeOldPitGate]

15 minutes ago, Steve Irving said:

He definitely is, but Ipswich will have to find a way of getting him motivated and back to his best which was only a couple of seasons ago. 
 

In Sheffields title winning season, he topped their averages over the season above Woffinden posting a season average of 9.35 with bonuses. 
 

That comfortably outstrips anything Doyle or Emil posted in Ipswich’ title triumph last year.

Things then started to go downhill which began with the farcical situation at Kings Lynn where he looked uninterested, then picked up an injury, and then completely disappeared. 
 

Then last year he rarely hit the heights, but then again it was a bit of a car crash situation at Birmingham where they all struggled as a team, and they all knew it was the clubs last season. 
 

Maybe it’s just a case of two wrong moves and clubs for him. He’ll now be at a well run club (or WERE, remains to be seen if that’s still the case under new owners), and riding in front of a good crowd every home meeting which absolutely does make a difference to riders. 
 

Let’s see if that gets him going again because there’s no doubt about it, Musielak is a fine rider capable of much more than his current average. He’s good to watch as well when he’s in the mood and on song. Has ridden Ipswich well in the past too. 

Spot on he is the key if someone can get him motivated again, he does seem to go better when he's not number one, it looks a solid side and if the rumours are true of the Swede coming back on a buttons average they should have the best reserve in the league all season long. The only thing I personally think is there might have been a better choice than King on his average I understand he's been a great servant but he will do well to maintain his average this coming season.

[Steve Irving]

20 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said:

Spot on he is the key if someone can get him motivated again, he does seem to go better when he's not number one, it looks a solid side and if the rumours are true of the Swede coming back on a buttons average they should have the best reserve in the league all season long. The only thing I personally think is there might have been a better choice than King on his average I understand he's been a great servant but he will do well to maintain his average this coming season.

I’d fully expect Thorssell and Nicholls to swap positions after the first set of Green Sheets. 
 

RE King, agree with you there although to be fair to him, he’s still very good around Ipswich and after a sea of change, they may have wanted a semblance of continuity. A better signing for Ipswich than he would have been for anyone else. 

[YeOldPitGate]

2 hours ago, Steve Irving said:

I’d fully expect Thorssell and Nicholls to swap positions after the first set of Green Sheets. 
 

RE King, agree with you there although to be fair to him, he’s still very good around Ipswich and after a sea of change, they may have wanted a semblance of continuity. A better signing for Ipswich than he would have been for anyone else. 

Fair point re King and a weaker league this coming season, who ever swaps in and out of number six over the season Ippo should have the strongest rider in that position all season long assuming Northampton haven't gone for a similar strength in depth line up and have managed to get Anders Thompson reduced down to four points.

[89buttons]

4 hours ago, YeOldPitGate said:

Spot on he is the key if someone can get him motivated again, he does seem to go better when he's not number one, it looks a solid side and if the rumours are true of the Swede coming back on a buttons average they should have the best reserve in the league all season long. The only thing I personally think is there might have been a better choice than King on his average I understand he's been a great servant but he will do well to maintain his average this coming season.

I would’ve wanted rew in my engine room this coming season

[YeOldPitGate]

9 minutes ago, 89buttons said:

I would’ve wanted rew in my engine room this coming season

Doesn't the lad want more dollar than Doyle though for turning out, maybe Mayfield aren't going to be as generous with the wages as Tolley was last season.