Birmingham and Ipswich have both seen their preparations for tonight’s clash at Perry Barr thrown into chaos.
The Witches will be without Jason Doyle and in-form Dan Thompson after both crashed out of meetings this weekend.
Doyle dislocated a hip after a heavy fall at the Polish Grand Prix while Thompson broke his scaphoid in a spectacular crash at Sunday’s British under-21 Final at Glasgow.
For the Brummies news that Matej Zagar has finally received a visa and can take his place after missing the last five meetings were tempered by Michael Jepsen Jensen’s decision to quit British speedway.
Both sides operate rider replacement from their missing overseas stars while former Witch Danyon Hume – released by Birmingham last week to accommodate the return of Zagar – guests for Ipswich.
It will be the first meeting since it was confirmed that Perry Barr would not be hosting racing after the end of this season so emotions were already running high.
The Brummies have yet to pick up a point from their six ROWE Motor Oil outings in 2025, a run which includes a 47-43 win for the Witches in April.
Despite Birmingham’s blank ledger in 2025, team manager Ritchie Hawkins is warning his Ipswich side against complacency.
He said: “We didn’t perform that well there earlier in the year and Birmingham ran us close, so we will need to improve on that performance.
“On paper they are a good team, Zagar is back which is a massive bonus, and I think it will be a tight, tough test.
“I’m concentrated on us but with the team they have, to not have any points on the board is surprising. I think they will be a strong team as the season goes on.”
Birmingham: Tobiasz Musielak, Paco Castagna, R/R for Michael Jepsen Jensen, Keynan Rew, Matej Zagar, Jonas Jeppesen, Jason Edwards.
Ipswich: R/R for Jason Doyle, Adam Ellis, Emil Sayfutdinov, Danny King, Tom Brennan, Danyon Hume, Jordan Jenkins.
Words by George Dodds.
Image by Taylor Lanning.