Welcome to the official website of the Ipswich Witches speedway team. We are one of the oldest and most established teams in British Speedway and currently ride in the top level of the British League system - the SKY SPORTS Elite League. This site acts as an information resource for our fans and also fans of other teams.

We welcome fans from all over the world and are delighted to bring you our site translated into the languages of all the major speedway nations. If you are from Torun, Stockholm or København then you will be able to read about the exploits of Robert, Linus, Claus and the rest of the team in your own language.

The first ever speedway meeting in this county took place in Ipswich at Portman Road, now the home of the Ipswich Town Football Club. The present stadium at Foxhall Heath was purpose built for speedway in 1950 and meetings were held there from 1951 to 1965 when the track was concreted over for stockcar racing. Attendances approached 20,000 people and made stars of riders such as Syd Clarke, Junior Bainbridge, Titch Reid and Peter Moore. In 1969 John Berry built a new smaller track inside of the old one and re-opened the club with a team which went on to include the current promoter John Louis. 

Speedway has been held at Foxhall continuously since then up to the present day. Stars of the club during the 70's and 80's include Billy Sanders, Tony Davey, Dennis Sigalos, John Cook and Jeremy Doncaster. In 1998 Ipswich tracked what was probably the world's most successful ever team winning the Elite League, the Knockout Cup and the Craven Shield. In addition Ipswich riders won the World Championship (Tony Rickardsson), the British Championship (Chris Louis) and the British Under 21 Championship (Scott Nicholls). The team also included the Polish Superstar Tomasz Gollob who was third in the Word Championships, and to this day the name Gollob still brings many happy memories back for the fans.

Since 1998 the Witches have struggled to recapture those wonderful times. They dropped to mid table in 1999 but recovered to finish third in 2000. The Witches then slumped and in 2003 endured their worst ever season in the top flight of British Speedway, finishing last out of eight teams in the SKYBET Elite League.

2004 saw better times return and the return to the track of Ipswich legend Chris Louis, who had sat out the 2003 season with injury. The signing of Hans Andersen, coupled with the return of Louis meant that the Witches had an enviable heat leader trio of Nicholls, Andersen and Louis. The Witches enjoyed their best season since those heady days of 1998, securing a play-off spot and a place in the KOC final. Sadly the Witches were eliminated from the Play-offs in what became one of the classic speedway meetings, drawing 45-45 away at Wolves in the semi-finals, losing out in a run-off. This match has been hailed as a classic, shown to a live TV audience on SKYSPORTS. Just a few days later they were defeated over two legs in the KOC final, ending the season without a trophy.

2005 & 2006 brought no further trophies to the Witches. The return of Mark Loram in 2006, after a near 20-year absence, provided thrilling entertainment as fans were re-introduced to his classic all action style on a weekly basis. Loram became the first rider to sign up for 2007 and coupled with the promise shown by Robert Miskowiak and the capture of Marcin Rempala, Witches fans will be hopeful of the capture of some form of silverware, their first since 1998.

So, having read about our team history perhaps you might be tempted to come along to Foxhall and see what speedway is all about? If so and you are a first time spectator then the next section should give you a taste...

The following is reproduced from the British Speedway Promoters Association Website (http://www.british-speedway.co.uk)

If you are new to the sport, you may not have the foggiest idea what to expect during the two and a half hours or so of a speedway meeting! Don't worry - it was the same for all of us at one stage! Believe us though when we say that we think you're gonna enjoy it! Hundreds of thousands of fans watch the sport of speedway worldwide during the course of the season and they all began in the same way. Here are a few key points which should greatly increase your enjoyment of your meetings with us which, we hope, is the first of many!

British Speedway - The toughest speedway leagues in the world involving the very best riders from around the globe. Each team consists of seven riders and they clash over a series of 15 races. Each race last for four laps, and is contested by two riders from each team. The winner of each heat scores 3 points, the second placed rider scores 2, the third placed riders are awarded 1 point, but the fourth placed man, or non finishers score 0. Therefore, if say in heat 1, the home team riders finish first and second, they will score a combined total for that heat of 5 points to the opposition's 1. If heat 2 sees a home rider win with the opposition finishing second and third, then the points for that race are shared 3-3. The total points scored by each team's riders are added together as the match progresses and therefore, come the end of heat 15, the team with the most points are the winners.

The 'home side' in each match wear the red and blue crash helmets and the 'away' team's helmets are coloured green and yellow and black quarters. Riders also wear race jackets or jerseys with their team emblem on the front and also sporting their rider number.

Rider's individual scores are also important because their earnings depend on the number of points they score in each match. Each has an 'average' which is actually a sort of 'form guide' based on their points tally in every match and that average is recalculated each month by speedway's ruling body. A rider's average can actually affect his position in the team.

If you look at the middle pages of any race magazine, perhaps the points we have just made will start to slot into place. At the top of the left hand page, you will see the home team rider's scorechart. First the rider's number, then his name, his average and then boxes for you to fill in his score in each race he contests. The same information for the visiting team appears underneath or on the opposite page.

Below the individual scorecharts is the racecard which covers all the heats from 1 to 15. The top two riders listed in each heat are the 'home' riders, followed by the two 'away' riders. To the left of the rider.s name is their rider number and further across the page under the colour column is the colour of the helmet he'll wear (R-Red, B-Blue, W-White and Y-Yellow).

To the right of the rider's names is the 'gates' column. This refers to the starting position in each race with the No. 1 representing the inside grid and No. 4 the outside.

We hope the above will help you but don't worry if you are still confused! The announcers will guide you through the match and don't be afraid to ask the person next to you for help! Speedway fans really are a friendly bunch and they'll be more than happy to help.

There is something else you should know. Speedway bikes are powered by 500cc single cylinder engines, use fixed gears, have acceleration to match Formula 1 race cars, have NO brakes, NO gears and virtually NO suspension! It takes a very special sort of bravery!