A former Workington rider is celebrating Premiership glory with Ipswich Witches.
For the first time in 27 years the Witches have been crowned top flight champions.
Ex-Comet Ritchie Hawkins is team manager – a role he has held since 2016.
Hawkins was part of the Somerset Rebels quartet who won the Premier League Four Team Championship at Derwent Park in 2005.
It was a win that prompted him to sign for the Comets the following year. He had been British Under-21s champion in 2004.
He suffered severe bruising to the brain following a track crash at Workington, which forced him to miss the rest of that season.
The Witches secured the title at a packed-out Foxhall last night where the local and wider community turned out in their thousands to help them over the line.
But an eventful second leg of the Grand Final against Leicester was far from plain sailing, with numerous incidents and disqualifications in the first half of the meeting.
Witches finally established some control with a 4-2 in Heat 8 and then a 5-1 in Heat 9 from Tom Brennan and guest Keynan Rew to leave them 11 points up overall.
The Lions, though, did not collapse and the tie went mathematically down to the very last race, where Ipswich needed to provide a finisher, and it was finally settled when Leicester’s Ryan Douglas crashed out on the third lap.
Ipswich won 46-43 on the night for a seven-point aggregate victory, with Jason Doyle top-scoring on ten points, whilst visiting skipper Max Fricke (13) and Douglas (9) won three races apiece.
Hawkins said: “It was an amazing night for everyone involved at the club. We had a massive crowd in, thank you to everyone who came to support. We have won it for them and all the local sponsors.
“We have terrific support here and we have waited a long time for this moment. I am so proud to be part of a team that have managed to bring a trophy back.
“The meeting was another close affair, which we expected. Leicester battled hard and they are a superb team, and it wasn’t a surprise to me at all how close it was.
“I felt we needed to win at Leicester. I hope it was a great Final for everyone watching, and we are buzzing to come out on the right end of it.”
