The Evening Star Ipswich Witches suffered their second home defeat of the season to a full strength Lakeside team on a night packed with incident and drama.

The first drama of the evening happened before the parade when the Witches management learnt that heat leader Jarek Hampel had missed his flight to Britain earlier in the day and was to be absent for the meeting.

Earlier that afternoon the Witches were preparing to announce that following the departure of Robbie Kessler from British speedway, Mildenhall heat leader Jan Graversen was to become the team’s new number 8 rider. He had brought his machinery along with him for a practice session after the main event. On learning the news of Hampel’s absence there was no option available at such short notice other than to throw Graversen in at the deep end as a Premier League guest replacement.

With Hampel missing things were always going to be difficult, and it proved to be the case as the Witches managed only 3 heat advantages all evening, one of which came from the use of a tactical ride. The outcome of the meeting would have been much different if heat 1 was to be a sign of things to come. After some movement at the tapes, the rerun saw rider replacement Tobi Kroner make a terrific gate, while Piotr Swiderski won the physical battle with the Hammers pair to get ahead in the first turn, resulting in a 5-1 over Andreas Jonsson and Leigh Lanham. Kroner continued to impress with an electric start in the reserves heat, but was soon pulled back as referee Tony Steele decided that there was again movement at the start. Chris Schramm had managed to get out of the gate in second place and another Witches maximum was on the cards, but it was not to be as the Hammers effectively got a second chance after moving before the tapes went up. In the rerun Ricky Kling got away, and Lubos Tomicek led Schramm before the Witches reserve managed to find a way past on inside of lap 4.

Jan Graversen made his first start in an Ipswich race jacket in the next heat, but was unable to challenge the rest of the field, while Steve Johnston was shut out behind comfortable looking Jonas Davidsson and Adam Shields. That Hammers 5-1 was the first of three heat adavantages in a row. Heat 4 was rerun with Tomicek being replaced by Kling after the Czech had touched the tapes. Kling got away from Robert Miskowiak in second and Chris Schramm chased Joonas Kylmakorpi hard but was unable to catch him from last place. Andreas Jonsson was unstoppable in heat 5, but Steve Johnston managed to get ahead of Leigh Lanham while Graversen again trailed at the back.

Heat 6 was drawn 3-3 as Pitor Swiderski was again to strong for the Hammers pair, while Robert Miskowiak was left behind. Miskowiak managed to turn it around in the next race though as he and Tobi Kroner both made excellent gates to record the Witches second and last 5-1 of the night over Shields and Davidsson. Swiderski took heat 8 over Kling and Lanham to keep the scores level at 24-24. This was to be the last time in the meeting that the Witches would be on level terms with the Hammers.

Heat 9 was rerun after Jan Graversen was the victim of rider bunching in the first turn. The Dane made a good gate and had Ricky Kling on his inside entering the turn, but both men were reluctant to give up any advantage and it was Graversen who went into the airfence. He was fit to take his place in the rerun, where disaster struck again, this time for Steve Johnston. Johnston managed to pass Joonas Kylmakorpi on the first lap before he lost a primary chain as was dumped onto the ground leaving the 4th bend. Graversen came in for his first point as a Witch but the Hammers took their second 5-1 of the night.

Adam Sheilds rode superbly to beat Pitor Swiderski in the next heat, but had to work extrememly hard to keep the Pole from getting in front. Jonas Davidson got ahead of Kroner for another Hammers heat advantage. Tony Steele was the centre of attention in heat 11 after a controversial fall involving Tobi Kroner and Andreas Jonsson. Kroner made it clear to the referees box that he felt Jonsson had taken his line in the second bend of the opening lap, but Steele decided that all 4 should start the rerun. Jonsson made the most of the opportunity to win the heat comfortably, while Miskowiak followed him home. The unfortunate Kroner suffered mechanical problems on the last turn of the 3rd lap and was dumped out of the heat, handing Tomicek an easy 3rd place finish.

Kroner came in as a reserve replacement for Graversen in heat 12, but his second bike was unable to complete 4 laps, while Chris Schramm could not prevent Shields and Kling handing the Hammers another 5-1. By this time it was 30-42 and team manager Pete Simmons decided to hand Swiderski a tactical ride, which he won ahead of Jonsson and Kylmakorpi, but Miskowiak was again left behind. The Hammers confirmed their victory with a 3-3 in the penultimate race, as Jonas Davidson beat Johnston and Schramm. The last heat was immaterial to the result, but was hotly contested by Swiderski and Sheilds, with the Australian getting the better of the Witches top scorer for the second time in the meeting.

It was Swiderski who would take a deserved rider of the night award from meeting sponsors Anglian Willhire for his 18+1 score. The Witches top scorer was unfortunate to be on the loosing side having performed so well while being unable to help the problems that the Witches suffered around him.

The Witches now face Belle Vue away on Monday 4th August, before the return fixture back at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday 7th August.

Witches:
P.Swiderski 18+1, C.Louis R/R, J.Graversen 1, S.Johnston 4+1, R.Miskowiak 8+1, T.Kroner 7+1, C.Schramm 4+1

Hammers:
A.Jonsson 9, L.Lanham 2+1, A.Shields 13, J.Davidsson 6+1, J.Kylmakorpi 6+2, R.Kling 13+1, L.Tomicek 2+1