Ipswich Witches 2027

[Aries]

Witches target new number one

IPSWICH chairman Richard Coleman has his sights set on bringing a stellar No. 1 to Foxhall for 2027.

The Tru7 Group Witches only confirmed their entry into this year's ROWE Motor Oil Premiership on March 1, meaning their team-building options were limited, with riders signing elsewhere or committing to other European leagues by this point.

The 2025 champions opted for a strength-in-depth side, which saw British racers Tom Brennan and later Richard Lawson take on the No. 1 position.

While both gave their all in a testing role, Coleman is keen to bring an international big-hitter to Suffolk for 2027 as Witches bid to regain the Premiership trophy.

He said: "I think it's super-important. If you look at any side, you need to try and win all your home meetings and pick up what you can on the road. That's where a No. 1 can make a big difference.

They can get those big scores when you are away.

"Tom came back from an injury. Asking him to be a No. 1 was probably a little unfair on him. He planned to be doing a lot more riding than he did in Poland and Sweden. When you are out of nick, you need to be on your bike and Tom didn't get enough seat time when he needed it.

"We didn't have the luxury of choice regarding a No. 1 rider last winter. But for 2027, we have no excuses."

Coleman is unable to reveal any names of his targets at this stage but hopes to have some news in a few weeks.

He said: "I can't say too much at the moment. We have two riders confirmed and we have contracts out with three others.

Then we have dialogue ongoing over the other positions.

"At the moment, I'm confident we can put out a good side.

Nothing is done until it is done. We have had a mixture of conversations that will come to light after the AGM and the end-of-season dinner on November 6."

 

[TTT]

8 hours ago, Aries said:

Witches target new number one

IPSWICH chairman Richard Coleman has his sights set on bringing a stellar No. 1 to Foxhall for 2027.

The Tru7 Group Witches only confirmed their entry into this year's ROWE Motor Oil Premiership on March 1, meaning their team-building options were limited, with riders signing elsewhere or committing to other European leagues by this point.

The 2025 champions opted for a strength-in-depth side, which saw British racers Tom Brennan and later Richard Lawson take on the No. 1 position.

While both gave their all in a testing role, Coleman is keen to bring an international big-hitter to Suffolk for 2027 as Witches bid to regain the Premiership trophy.

He said: "I think it's super-important. If you look at any side, you need to try and win all your home meetings and pick up what you can on the road. That's where a No. 1 can make a big difference.

They can get those big scores when you are away.

"Tom came back from an injury. Asking him to be a No. 1 was probably a little unfair on him. He planned to be doing a lot more riding than he did in Poland and Sweden. When you are out of nick, you need to be on your bike and Tom didn't get enough seat time when he needed it.

"We didn't have the luxury of choice regarding a No. 1 rider last winter. But for 2027, we have no excuses."

Coleman is unable to reveal any names of his targets at this stage but hopes to have some news in a few weeks.

He said: "I can't say too much at the moment. We have two riders confirmed and we have contracts out with three others.

Then we have dialogue ongoing over the other positions.

"At the moment, I'm confident we can put out a good side.

Nothing is done until it is done. We have had a mixture of conversations that will come to light after the AGM and the end-of-season dinner on November 6."

 

Rules out Robert Lambert then.

Emil Sayfutdinov????

[PhilTheAce]

8 minutes ago, TTT said:

Rules out Robert Lambert then.

Emil Sayfutdinov????

if rob rides over here it should be no where other than kings lynn, 1000%

[TTT]

The priority for me is Cairns or Rushen now.

Reserves were a big issue this year and it could be deja vu if we don't pick up one of the promoising young Brits.

[cowboy cookie returns?]

1 hour ago, TTT said:

Rules out Robert Lambert then.

Emil Sayfutdinov????

 

1 hour ago, TTT said:

Rules out Robert Lambert then.

Emil Sayfutdinov????

Hopefully it’s Emil 

[ouch]

1 hour ago, TTT said:

The priority for me is Cairns or Rushen now.

Reserves were a big issue this year and it could be deja vu if we don't poach up one of the promoising young Brits.

Déjà vu indeed. 😡

[TTT]

22 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

 

Hopefully it’s Emil 

I hope so, Could be hinting at Doyley though.

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

1 hour ago, TTT said:

The priority for me is Cairns or Rushen now.

Reserves were a big issue this year and it could be deja vu if we don't pick up one of the promoising young Brits.

 

21 minutes ago, ouch said:

I admit I'm a sour pr!ck

Very naughty to amend a quoted post  - against forum rules I believe 😁

No such thing as poaching - no assets anymore and 1 year contracts for self employed riders

[Aries]

3 hours ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

 

Very naughty to amend a quoted post  - against forum rules I believe 😁

No such thing as poaching - no assets anymore and 1 year contracts for self employed riders

He knows that all too well the bloke is an absolute knobhead. 

[TTT]

Polish and BSN articles just released and it's fair to say that Robert Lambert doesn't want anything to do with British League racing so we can draw a line under that one imo.

[Aries]

 

[Witches1998]

17 minutes ago, Aries said:

 

Keep your eyes peeled... got to be confident of something big surely 

[TTT]

1 hour ago, Witches1998 said:

Keep your eyes peeled... got to be confident of something big surely 

Woryna is the name that springs to mind because I think most fans would expect Doyle to be back.

[Steve Irving]

On 10/22/2026 at 5:48 PM, Witches1998 said:

Keep your eyes peeled... got to be confident of something big surely 

I believe they were initially trying to bring over someone new but they’re now focusing on a top rider familiar to UK. Doyle or Fricke would be where the smart money is.

[PhilTheAce]

Doyle back with you guys. A proper no1. But not the exciting signing you all wanted. 

 

If you want these riders over here you have to move to 1 race night a week. They just dont like or want to fly in twice a week 

[Racin Jason 72]

21 minutes ago, PhilTheAce said:

Doyle back with you guys. A proper no1. But not the exciting signing you all wanted. 

 

If you want these riders over here you have to move to 1 race night a week. They just dont like or want to fly in twice a week 

For me Doyle is the perfect choice. We know we are getting a fully committed rider who wants to ride for the club. A safe and sensible choice and without his gp commitments he will able to fully focus on league racing. 
plus he is due his testimonial which would be great to see at Ipswich. 

[mikebv]

7 minutes ago, PhilTheAce said:

Doyle back with you guys. A proper no1. But not the exciting signing you all wanted. 

 

If you want these riders over here you have to move to 1 race night a week. They just dont like or want to fly in twice a week 

You can see this the way Sweden and Denmark are filling up their places....

Get to Sweden on Tuesday, then drive into Denmark on Wednesday..

Home Thursday morning and job done, ready for Poland, SEC, FIM qualifiers, or the GP's at the weekend..

Logistically, much easier, and you are not racing overseas on a Thursday and flying home Friday, which is either a highly pressured raceday or a day you would want free to sort out your highly pressured weekend fixtures... 

You also have to factor in the money earned by "young lads" these days in Poland...

Whereby "veterans" of the sport, (top level riders), had to travel, often doing four leagues, inc UK, to try and earn as much as they could, whilst they could, in what is a dangerous career of maybe 20 to 25 years, (tops), to ensure a "good retirement"...

Nowadays, even non "top level" riders can earn some tremendous money riding in Poland, meaning they can top up their earnings by cherry picking which other leagues to do, and do it on their own terms..

A very different landscape than even just 20 years ago...

[PhilTheAce]

5 minutes ago, Racin Jason 72 said:

For me Doyle is the perfect choice. We know we are getting a fully committed rider who wants to ride for the club. A safe and sensible choice and without his gp commitments he will able to fully focus on league racing. 
plus he is due his testimonial which would be great to see at Ipswich. 

Dont disagree with any. He might not be the glamorous choice. But he will score more than any newbie to the league. I include zmarzlik in that. 

[Racin Jason 72]

1 minute ago, PhilTheAce said:

Dont disagree with any. He might not be the glamorous choice. But he will score more than any newbie to the league. I include zmarzlik in that. 

We saw how Artem lugata rode for kings Lynn and Peterborough at times. Just going through the motions. Doyley puts the same effort into a gp final as he does in a challenge match. Never less than his all. 
 

[Aries]

Doyley is absolutely fine he’s a Foxhall specialist, but we need to see the make up of the league, the points limits for top 5/6 etc. 

The way the recent article was worded Coleman was talking about A number 1, not necessarily two strong heatleaders. 
 

It remains to be seen if any restrictions mean most clubs only go for one top rider instead of two next year. If Belle Vue go for both of Bewley and Kurtz again for example, then Doyle and Danny King at 1 and 5 won’t cut it. We’ll need to get another stronger rider. 
 

Let’s not forget that Doyle was having a whinge to Louis for a couple of years that he needed support at the top end and he finally got it with Emil. It was only when Emil joined that we started to seriously challenge for silverware and we won the Cup then the League. 
 

As I say though, the make up of the sides was different then so it remains to be seen whether the two under 21 rider rules makes a difference to the strengths of the top 5.