Speedway world champions heading to Ipswich stadium

A British speedway club is preparing to show off "the best riders in the world" after it was selected to host the FIM Speedway World Championships.

Ipswich Witches said it would be the "biggest event in the club's 75-year history" when the racing takes place at Foxhall Stadium on 13 and 14 August next year.

Richard Coleman, the club's chairman, said he hoped it would "help the club kick onto the next era" after it won the league in 2025.

"This gives us an opportunity to make investments that will be very hard to justify if it was just looking at the league club in isolation," he said.

Motorcycle speedway sees competitors race around an oval circuit on 500cc motorbikes with no brakes and fixed gearing.

The club said Suffolk would be hosting the likes of six-time world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik and Great Britain's Robert Lambert on the Saturday, as well as a series of Under-21 competitors on the Friday.

Coleman said it was "a truly special moment" as Foxhall joined "legendary venues" such as PGE Narodowy in Warsaw and Marketa Stadium in Prague.

"For many years now, Speedway GP has been raced on the wide-open, fast tracks of central Europe.

"A true world champion should be able to perform on all surfaces and in all conditions, and there's no doubt Foxhall will pose Speedway GP riders a completely different test compared to anything they experience on the continent," he said.

The club said tickets for the events would be released "in due course".

"We hope the Witches supporters, as well as speedway fans from around the UK and beyond, join us for what will be an incredible weekend of racing," said Coleman.

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