The Evening Star Ipswich Witches defeated the Wolverhampton Wolves 53-38 in an Elite League A fixture sponsored by the Evening Star at Foxhall Stadium.

Ipswich tracked an unchanged team following last Monday’s emphatic victory over Peterborough. Wolverhampton had fitness doubts over both David Howe and Christian Hefenbrock due to injuries sustained earlier in the week but both riders took their places on parade.

The Wolves took the lead in the opening heat with a 4-2 from Freddie Lindgren and Ales Dryml over Piotr Swiderski. Tobi Kroner kept up his perfect record in the reserves heat at Foxhall this season by winning the race for the eighth consecutive time. The Wolves pairing of Christian Hefenbrock and Kenneth Hansen however filled the minor placings for a shared heat. Nicolai Klindt broke the tapes in heat 3 and was forced to start from fifteen metres back. Niels Kristian Iversen looked very strong in the rerun to win well from Steve Johnston and Robert Miskowiak for another drawn race. The Witches leveled the scores at 12-12 in the next heat courtesy of a 4-2 from Jarek Hampel and Chris Schraam with David Howe finishing second.

Ipswich took the lead for the first time in the match in heat 5 when Robert Miskowiak and Steve Johnston scored a 5-1 over Freddie Lindgren after Ales Dryml had fallen. Miskowiak gained another race win in the next race from David Howe with Piotr Swiderski third to put the home side six points ahead. Jarek Hampel took the chequered flag in heat 7 whilst Tobi Kroner who had held second place for three and three quarter laps was pipped on the line by Niels Kristian Iversen. Heat 8 turned out to be a quite bizarre event, the like of which had possibly never before been seen at Foxhall. Firstly Kenneth Hansen parted company with his machine at the first bend. Then Chris Schraam fell on the third bend when at the back. Referee Tony Steele had to exclude both riders as Schraam was the prime cause of the stoppage but Hansen was not under power at the time. In the rerun Ales Dryml then fell causing the race to be stopped and he was excluded. This meant a further rerun with just one rider in Piotr Swiderski. After completing the four laps on his own the popular Polish rider joked to the crowd “I made a good start and did not see another rider for the rest of the race”. The 3-0 heat win meant the Witches led 28-17 after eight heats.

Heat 9 was drawn with David Howe holding off Steve Johnston and Robert Miskowiak before Wolves’ Team Manager Peter Adams gave a tactical ride to Niels Kristian Iversen in the next race. In possibly the best contest of the evening Jarek Hampel raced into the lead hotly pursued by Niels Kristian Iversen with Piotr Swiderski just behind him. The placings stayed that way until the chequered flag but with numerous attempts to pass being made by the trailing riders. Jarek Hampel again made a good start in Heat 11 and allowed Tobi Kroner to go past him off the second bend to put the home side into a 5-1 position. Freddie Lindgren had other ideas however and burst past Hampel but could not catch the stylish Kroner so that the Witches gained another 4-2 heat advantage. Peter Adams now played another card in an attempt to get his side back into the match by replacing Christian Hefenbrock with Freddie Lindgren as a tactical substitute starting off a fifteen metre handicap. Robert Miskowiak got away well to lead from Niels Kristian Iversen and Chris Schraam held on for two laps before Lindgren could get past him. Iversen then slowed on the last bend to allow Lindgren past to give the Wolves a 5-3 heat advantage. So with three races left the Witches led 42-31.

Jarek Hampel and Piotr Swiderski sealed victory for the home side with a 5-1 in heat 13 over Freddie Lindgren and the Witches pairing of Steve Johnston and Tobi Kroner repeated the feat in the penultimate race over Nicolai Klindt. The final heat of the evening saw Freddie Lindgren and Niels Kristian Iversen out gate Robert Miskowiak and Tobi Kroner to leave the Witches victorious by fifteen points.

For the Witches Jarek Hampel led the way with thirteen points supported by Robert Miskowiak with 12+2.

Freddie Lindgren notched 13 for the Wolves supported by Neils Kristian Iversen with 12+2.

The Witches Captain Steve Johnston was pleased with the victory when he said “the boys have done well tonight. I have been captain at most clubs I have ridden for and I very much enjoy it.” He also explained his own upturn of form in recent weeks by commenting “after fifteen seasons of riding continuously in England, Europe and Australia I decided to take the Australian summer off. I packed away my gear on October 28th last year and I did not ride again until the Ipswich Press Day on March 11th. It therefore took me a little while to get dialed in this season but I seem to be getting there now.”

Ipswich Witches:
Chris Louis rider-replacement, Piotr Swiderski 9+1, Robert Miskowiak 12+2, Steve Johnston 9+1, Jarek Hampel 13, Tobi Kroner 9+1, Chris Schramm 1.

Wolverhampton Wolves:
Freddie Lindgren 13, Ales Dryml 1, Neils Kristian Iversen 12+2, Nicolai Klindt 1, David Howe 8, Christian Hefenbrock 2, Kenneth Hansen 1+1.