IPSWICH boss, Ritchie Hawkins was “absolutely delighted” after the win against Leicester.

The Witches are now back on top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership after winning in the east midlands by 47-43.

With just a six-rider team after skipper Danny King was sidelined, they held the lead for most of the meeting before being taken to a last-heat decider.

Hawkins said: “A brilliant performance and I am absolutely delighted with the whole camp; it was a proper team effort.

“All the mechanics played a vital role tonight, all helping each other with covering R/R, it was a proper team effort, and it was everything I want to see in an Ipswich side.

“Doyley has been terrific all season and he was again tonight.

“Keynan was superb, he was the main factor in us winning the meeting.

“We know he has the potential and he showed it tonight and it looks like British racing is starting to click for him now.”

The Lions would have needed a 5-1 in the last heat decider to level scores and force a Super Heat, but Emil Sayfutdinov and Jason Doyle secured a 3-3 behind home captain, Max Fricke.

Fricke said: “We always know when Ipswich come to town that it’s going to be a tough one, and we pulled a few points back towards the end, but not quite enough.

“The track was a little patchy early on, and after a couple of heats they tried to smooth it out a bit and make it more consistent, but overall, it was just a bit of a tough night for everyone.

“I think everyone got caught out a bit early on.

“Later on in the meeting, it came to us a bit, but we just need to try and get everyone scoring a bit more consistently.”

Doyle top-scored for the Ipswich visitors with 15+1 from six rides, whilst reserve, Keynan Rew, made a key contribution with 11+2.

Fricke dropped one point, scoring 15+2 for the hosts, and Richard Lawson picked up 10+1.

Ipswich will hope to keep their winning streak in the next meet against King’s Lynn Stars at home on Monday 6th May.

Leicester will be hoping for a comeback against Oxford Spires on Monday.

 

Words by Freya Taylor. 

Images by Taylor Lanning.