Ipswich v Rye House

On Saturday 12th March, the 2011 Speedway season got under way with the Ben Fund Bonanza taking place at Scunthorpe, which saw new Coventry Bee Hans Andersen victorious ahead of new Birmingham & Belle Vue signings Ben Barker & Chris Harris.

On Thursday, a challenge match will take place between Ipswich Witches & Rye House Rockets.

Ipswich dropped down to the Premier League this season, for some fans it was hard to take but others saw it coming as the witches have been struggling in previous seasons, however this year their luck might change. The Ipswich line up this year is incredible, most have tipped them to be Premier League champions or thereabouts and that's great to hear. I just hope the great team they have on paper will prove to be just as great on the track. I first went to Foxhall Stadium back in May 2008 and since then I've tried to go as much as possible, it's a great place with a family atmosphere, great promoters and fans! They deserve some success.

Rye House Rockets team doesn't look as great on paper but Speedway is so unpredictable you don't know what can happen. there has been a lot of speculation this week about the Rye House team, nobody knows the facts yet apart from there was an unfortunate incident there on Friday and Steve Boxhall won't be in the team this week, ex Rye House Rocket & current British U21 champion Joe Haines will be taking his place. This will be his first big competitive meeting since his horrible crash in Australia on 11th December which resulted in him losing his place at Redcar.

Not many of the riders will be familiar with Foxhall as it's been an Elite League track for so long, also for the past 2 seasons it has had a lot of work done to it, including a big re-shape, most riders will adapt to it quickly but the likes of Ben Morley & Tyson Nelson might take a bit longer to get dialled in.

Team Line Ups:

Ipswich Witches

1. Kevin Doolan (Captain)

2. Taylor Poole

3. Lasse Bjerre

4. Morten Risager

5. Chris Schramm.

6. Jerran Hart

7. Chris Mills

Rye House

1. Jordan Frampton

2. Luke Bowen

3. Ritchie Hawkins

4. Joe Haines

5. Chris Neath (Captain)

6. Ben Morley

7. Tyson Nelson

Ipswich Key Rider: Morten Risager

Morten has Elite League experience and would have ridden the Foxhall track most.

For Ipswich to do as well as people think, he needs to live up to everyone's

expectations and prove he's an Elite League rider and the 2010 season was just a down year.

Rye House Key Rider: Ritchie Hawkins.

I've picked Ritchie because he was Ipswich's number 8 last year and shone quite a bit in the meeting's he rode for them, he needs to use that to his and Rye House's advantage.

Prediction: Ipswich 51-39 Rye House