Ipswich Witches column: Belle Vue Aces to provide a stern test for Ritchie Hawkins' title-chasing side
The famous ‘Aces’ of Belle Vue are in town tomorrow night at Foxhall Stadium (7.30pm) as Ipswich Witches look to make it three wins on the bounce at the start of the 2023 season.
The Aces, one of the most famous clubs in British Speedway, are led by Grand Prix star and Englishman, Dan Bewley, one of the most exciting young talents around.
Witches fans will be eagerly looking forward to another dose of speedway action after their opening night of the season ended with victory over Leicester last week – more on that later.
So, what can Ipswich expect from the Aces?
Well, aside from Bewley, Belle Vue include Aussie Ace Brady Kurtz, a rider who enjoys Foxhall, as well as former British Champion, Charles Wright and the up-and-coming Tom Brennan.
However, Belle Vue have lost their two opening Premiership meetings of the year – home and away to Sheffield – the Tigers having made an impressive start, while the Aces were also thrashed at Wolves in a KO Cup, first leg clash at Monmore Green on Monday.
Despite all that, Ipswich skipper Danny King says it’s going to be another tough test.
“Belle Vue are a strong side and we will need to be on top of our game,” King said.
“Dan Bewley may not have had the greatest start in Britain so far this year. But he’s too good, he’s going to come so good and we need to believe we’re going to get the best Dan Bewley at Foxhall on Thursday, and prepare for that.
“When Dan and the rest of that Belle Vue team are on fire, they’re good.”
And that maybe the case. But it’s the Witches, Ipswich fans will come out in force to see tomorrow night – and why not?
It was a super opening night crowd at Foxhall with the Witches coming out 48-42 victors over Leicester, in the first leg of the two teams’ KO Cup clash. The second leg is on Monday at Leicester.
Jason Doyle netted a full maximum for the Witches, while Emil Sayfutidov scored 12 points and showed what a talent he is.
But it wasn’t just about those two top stars, as team boss Ritchie Hawkins pointed out after the meeting, reserving praise for new Aussie youngster Keynan Rew.
“I was very impressed with Keynan,” Hawkins said.
“He improved every race. He has not got a lot of experience to relate to this track and I think you could see enough from him tonight to see that he has a lot of potential to be a very good rider.
“I would give it until the summer and then we will see the best of Keynan and I was pleased with certain things he picked up on and how he improved.”
So, it’s two wins out of two for the Witches after their win at Peterborough three weeks ago.
Early days of course and there will be plenty of big tests along the way. But, whisper it quietly, positive vibes abound at Foxhall.
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Speedway racing is an adrenaline-fuelled sport.
The riders have to be fully ‘on it’ for the 60 seconds or so when they race each heat. Therefore, it’s no surprise when things sometimes boil over at the end of a race if one rider or both are unhappy with opponents’ racing manoeuvres.
Just this week Sheffield’s Lewis Kerr and King’s Lynn’s Michael Palm-Toft had fisticuffs as Kerr launched himself at the Lynn rider near the pit gate at the end of a heat, unhappy with Palm-Toft’s racing.
And Edinburgh’s Craig Cook and Glasgow’s Ben Basso also came to blows in the big Scottish derby over the weekend after Cook knocked Basso off during a tense battle.
Cook said afterwards: “He came up the inside of me, just turned right and swung his back end into my wheels. If you want to play games like that, you’ve got to take it.
“It’s a man’s game. How about have a spoon full of concrete and harden up!”
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However, overall, speedway is a tremendous family-friendly sport. An occasional ‘fisticuffs’ only adds to the entertainment.
Indeed, there are few sports where the players/riders/competitors are so accessible to the general public, as they are in speedway.
At Foxhall Stadium for instance, you can catch the riders for autographs as they emerge from the changing rooms in their kevlars. Or, after the meeting you can mix with them outside near their vans as they pack up and get ready to head off to their next meeting.
Over the years, as a journalist, I’ve only had two speedway riders ask me to politely ‘go away’ as I went in search of a quote at the end of a meeting.
In their defence, and it was a few years ago now, I was going for said quote because they had both just been involved in last-heat deciders which they had lost. The last thing they needed was some ‘pesky journo’ asking for a quote on how they felt!
In general, speedway riders are supremely good at having ‘selfies’ and signing autographs for all fans, young and old, as well as dealing with the press.
It really is the beauty of the sport.
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Admission for fans on race night at Foxhall: Adults (17+) £22, concessions (65+) £20, children (16 and under) free, car parking is also free.
UPCOMING FIXTURES
Thurs., April 13 BELLE VUE (HOME), 7.30pm, Premiership
Mon., April 17 Leicester (Away) 7.30pm. KO Cup.
Thurs., April 20 SHEFFIELD (HOME) 7.30pm, Premiership
Thurs., May 1 KING’S LYNN (HOME) 2.30pm, Premiership
