ONE of the biggest speedway races of the season is due to go ahead today after Ipswich Witches promoter John Louis was thrown from bike on the track and suffered head injuries.

ONE of the biggest speedway races of the season is due to go ahead today after Ipswich Witches promoter John Louis was thrown from bike on the track and suffered head injuries.

The next 24 hours are said to be crucial for Louis who was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital following the crash at Foxhall stadium yesterday.

It is believed Louis was preparing for a meeting due to be staged there today when he came off a bike and was hurtled towards a safety fence.

His wife Magda who has been by her husbands side said that he also had wrist and shoulder injuries from the crash.

He was said to be in satisfactory condition at Addenbrooke's today.

Louis' side the Witches, who he co-promotes with wife Magda, are in action today in a home and away Elite League clash with the Peterborough Panthers.

Now in his early 60s, he began his management at the Foxhall track in the late 1980s and has been at the forefront of the Ipswich side for more than a decade.

Before then, he rode with distinction for the Suffolk team throughout the 1970s and was once third in the world after a run-off at Wembley Stadium.

His son Chris, also a Witches favourite, received serious head injuries in a crash in Poland two years ago and then suffered a serious back injury a year later on his return to the track and he hasn't ridden since.