The Evening Star Ipswich Witches made it a hat trick of away wins this evening (Wednesday 21 May) by defeating Poole Pirates 50-40 at Wimborne Road. The win lifted the Witches into second place in the Elite League table.

Ipswich tracked Coventry’s British Grand Prix Champion, Chris Harris as a guest at number 1 in place of the injured Chris Louis. Jarek Hampel learnt during the course of the afternoon of a family bereavement but took his place in the side whilst Piotr Swiderski declared himself fit to ride after injuring a leg in Sweden on Tuesday evening. Poole had their full strength side on parade but their young Australian star Chris Holder was carrying an injury which had caused him to miss the Pirates meeting on Monday evening when they had been beaten at Belle Vue.
 
Steve Johnston won the toss for the away side and elected to take gates 1 and 3 in the opening race and Robert Miskowiak made full use of his opportunity from the inside gate to take the chequered flag in style. With his partner Chris Harris in second place the Witches began with a 5-1 heat advantage. Piotr Swiderski carried on his excellent form in the reserves race to see off Adam Skornicki and Daniel Davidsson for a drawn heat. The next race saw Chris Holder comfortably clear of Steve Johnston and Tobi Kroner but with Magnus Zetterstrom at the back the race was another drawn affair. In heat 4 the Pirates pulled two points back with a 4-2 advantage with Davey Watt passing Jarek Hampel and Daniel Davidsson third. This meant that after four races the Witches led 13-11.
 
Chris Harris showed his class in heat 5 to defeat Chris Holder and with Robert Miskowiak third, Ipswich’s lead was increased back to four points. The lead was doubled in the next race with an excellent 5-1 from Jarek Hampel who led from start to finish whilst Piotr Swiderski came from behind to force his way past Krzysztof Kasprzak. Poole came back strongly in heat 7 with a 5-1 of their own from Davey Watt and Adam Skornicki and then Freddie Eriksson took the chequered flag from Chris Schraam with Daniel Davidsson third. This left the Witches leading 25-23 after eight races.

Chris Holder found that he was unable to continue and his place in heat 9 was taken by Adam Skornicki but Piotr Swiderski raced clear whilst Magnus Zetterstrom held off Jarek Hampel so that the Witches took a 4-2 heat advantage. A strong ride from Freddie Eriksson led to him passing Tobi Kroner and finishing behind team mate Kryzysztof Kasprzak for a Pirates’ 5-1 in heat 10 to tie up the scores. They still remained level after the next race in which Davey Watt won well but Piotr Swiderski and Chris Harris filled the minor placings. Heat 12 then saw the Witches retake the lead with a 5-1 from Tobi Kroner and Piotr Swiderski who team rode their way to a 5-1 to gives the Witches a 38-34 lead with three races remaining.

Chris Harris again came up trumps for the Witches in heat 13 with Davey Watt second but Jarek Hampel got past his fellow countryman Krzysztof Kasprzak for a vital point to increase the away side’s lead to six points. Victory was sealed in the penultimate race with Piotr Swiderski scoring his third win of the evening from Magnus Zetterstrom and Adam Skornicki. The final race simply was a case of ‘putting the icing on the cake’ as Chris Harris and Jarek Hampel raced to another 5-1 for the Witches to celebrate a 50-40 victory and spoil Poole’s perfect home League record.

For the Witches both Piotr Swiderski and Chris Harris each only dropped one point to an opponent whilst Jarek Hampel scored 9+1.

Davey Watt notched 12 for the Pirates supported by Adam Skornicki with 6.

Ipswich Team Manager Pete Simmons was understandably thrilled afterwards when he said “I am absolutely elated after these three away wins. Jarek Hampel showed such professionalism to keep his mind on the speedway after a very difficult day. Piotr Swiderski did not expect to ride tonight after last night’s injury but he was simply awesome and Bomber Harris was a simply tremendous guest for us”.

The win lifted the Witches into second place in the Elite League table and they now look forward to entertaining the Belle Vue Aces at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday evening. Jarek Hampel is expected to be granted compassionate leave to miss the meeting and the Witches Management have asked Rory Schlein of Coventry to take the place of their Polish star.

After the events of the last week Ipswich supporters must feel happier than for a number of seasons and it is hoped for a large crowd to welcome the team home tomorrow evening in a meeting featuring former World Champion Jason Crump who will provide a stern test for the confident home side.

Poole Pirates:
Kryzsztof Kasprzak 5, Freddie Eriksson 5+1, Chris Holder 5, Magnus Zetterstrom 4, Davey Watt 12, Adam Skornicki 6+2, Daniel Davidsson 3+1.

Ipswich Witches:
Chris Harris 12+2, Robert Miskowiak 4, Tobi Kroner 6, Steve Johnston 2+1, Jarek Hampel 9+1, Piotr Swiderski 15+2, Chris Schraam 2.