03 September 2010
Posted in
Ipswich Witches
Huntingdon based racer Danny King goes into this weekend’s huge Elite League Pairs Championship at his own Foxhall track at Ipswich in good form after a 9 point haul in the Witches narrow defeat at Eastbourne. That 50-42 defeat condemned Ipswich to the foot of the Sky Sports Elite League table for 2010 and they now await a relegation play-off showdown against the winners from the Premier League, the sports second division. The Witches still face home meetings with Belle Vue, Poole and Peterborough but nothing more than pride will be at stake in those clashes.
It was a frustrating night on the south coast where the normally ultra reliable Scott Nicholls didn’t manage a heat win in five rides and Pole Chris Slabon finished the meeting with an injured wrist. Danny did manage two heat wins in heats seven and twelve and at the half way point Ipswich actually looked dead and buried but to their credit battled back hard and could have nicked a draw with a last race 5-1. It went the way of the Eagles Matej Zagar/Joonas Kylmakorpi pairing however and once again it will go down though as one of those “near but yet so far” performances that have dogged Ipswich this season.
Ipswich performed superbly in the recent Sky Sports televised meeting when they beat Swindon Robins 56-37 on a night when everything went right for the Witches. Danny had a great night personally with 11+1 bonus point and would have pleased his sponsors, giving the companies who back him excellent exposure, with no less than three interviews during the course of the television broadcast with Sky Sports glamour girl Charlie Webster. Everyone in the Witches camp played their part showing that when Ipswich performs as a team frustratingly they can be a match for anyone, as Swindon as had no answer to the Witches dominance on the night.
Danny also had two further away meetings in the second part of August. Ipswich lost narrowly 53-40 at Swindon where Danny had a rough night with two crashes leaving him battered and bruised but thankfully with nothing broken and just two points to show for his efforts. Just prior to that he had put in one of his best performances in a long time at the Arena Essex Raceway where his Witches side lost heavily 55-37 to the Lakeside Hammers. Danny scored 9 in this meeting including winning heat 3 against Kauko Nieminen and Jonas Davidsson.
Danny continues to get little racing opportunity in Sweden and even less in Poland. He rode for Vargarna in Sweden at Elit Vetlanda which is once again a very tough place to go as an away rider and visiting team. He managed just one point from three rides as his Norkopping team were heavily beaten by 69-27 on the night. He has still ride to a home meeting for his current Swedish club which is not an ideal way in which to build up any confidence or momentum to help him score decent points in that country.
All roads now lead to Foxhall Stadium however for this Saturday’s (4th September) Elite Pairs meeting at Ipswich where Danny will be paired with Scott Nicholls. That led to an excellent two page article in this week’s Speedway Star magazine on Danny and their chances as a pairing in this meeting which is once again great exposure for his sponsors. Victory in this meeting would go some way towards softening the blow of what has been a poor season for Ipswich and their loyal fans although for Danny on a personal level it has been a success and has been his best domestic season so far in his career. The tapes go up against the best pairings from the Elite League clubs in British Speedway at 7.30pm.