The Ipswich Witches raced to a comfortable 37-23 victory in a rain-shortened East Anglian derby at Foxhall in the Premiership yesterday.
The hosts had Scott Nicholls guesting for injured captain Danny King whilst King’s Lynn were using rider replacement for injured number one Tobiasz Musielak.
In front of a big Bank Holiday crowd, the Suffolk side dominated from the start before the rain stopped proceedings after heat 10 with both sets of riders agreeing conditions were not suitable to continue racing with the result standing. Emil Sayfutdinov and Adam Ellis top scored with 7+1 each.
Dan Thompson and Sayfutdinov were unchallenged in heat one as they hit the first maximum of the day.
The visitors got a heat advantage in heat two before the Witches recorded another 5-1 in heat three as Ellis won and Nicholls picked off both Stars riders in fine style to join his partner at the front. Jason Doyle won heat four as Ipswich raced to a heat advantage, giving them a 16-8 lead.
Patryk Wojdylo took an awkward looking fall at the start of heat five as he exited the second turn and was excluded but his partner Niels Kristian Iversen won the re-run for a 3-3.
Rain was now falling by this time but that didn’t stop Sayfutdinov and Thompson banging in another 5-1 in heat six.
The rain got heavier in heat seven but once again it was the Witches coping better with conditions as Doyle and Keynan Rew added another five points to the score chart. Lynn hit back with a maximum of their own in heat eight making it 30-18 overall.
Wojdylo hit the deck again in heat nine and was excluded and in the re-run Ellis and Nicholls made the Stars pay as they eased to a 5-1.
Michael Palm Toft held off Sayfutdinov for the victory in heat 10 as the away side scored a 2-4 before the action was stopped for track work. Sadly, it proved to be the last race of the afternoon as the rain got heavier during the remedial work with the result declared as a 37-23 victory to Ipswich.
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “From a racing perspective it was another good performance and a comfortable win, but it was a bit overshadowed by the weather and not getting the full meeting in.
"We had a second half planned as well and a big day of racing, so it was a big disappointment for the big crowd we had in. Bank Holiday meetings are a special day and enjoyable and it is a shame the weather has spoiled that.
“It started raining during the meeting and the boys were struggling, we saw a couple of crashes, but we pushed on to heat 10 and I didn’t hear any of the 14 riders that wanted to carry on.
"It was really greasy and tricky for them, so we decided to stop the meeting for a little bit and do some work on the track but unfortunately the rain started to come down even heavier and the decision was made then to call it off.
“Team wise, I was very happy with the side, we were very good. We are top of the table and are doing really well, no complaints with that at all, just disappointed with the weather!”
IPSWICH 37: Emil Sayfutdinov 7+1, Dan Thompson (RS) 6+1, Adam Ellis 7+1, Scott Nicholls (G) 6+2, Jason Doyle (c) 6, Keynan Rew 4+1, Jordan Jenkins 1.
KING’S LYNN 23: Tobiasz Musielak R/R, Niels Kristian Iversen 7, Michael Palm Toft 4, Benjamin Basso 2, Nicolai Klindt (c) 3, Patryk Wojdylo 4, Anders Rowe (RS) 3+1.
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