TWO former Ipswich Witches riders were triumphant in last night's Anglian Pairs speedway meeting at Foxhall Stadium.Chris Schramm - a member of last year's team - and Shane Parker - a Witch in the early 90s - were the winners after collecting the only 7-2 (5-1 in real money) of the night in the final race.

Elvin King

TWO former Ipswich Witches riders were triumphant in last night's Anglian Pairs speedway meeting at Foxhall Stadium.

Chris Schramm - a member of last year's team - and Shane Parker - a Witch in the early 90s - were the winners after collecting the only 7-2 (5-1 in real money) of the night in the final race.

The meeting ended on a worrying note for Ipswich fans, with current Witch Tobi Kroner taking a tumble in the final race and suffering a suspected broken collarbone.

Another 2009 Witch, Troy Batchelor, was runner-up along with Joe Haines by the fact that they outscored brothers Daniel and Jason King in heat six after both pairs ended four points behind the winners.

The format, on a warm evening on the Heath, was four points for a win, three for second place, two for third and nothing for last place. This put the emphasis on team riding and to avoid last place at all costs.

Every pair met each other to make it as fair a system as possible with the top scorers after the 15 heats judged the winners.

The first race of note was heat six when Daniel King went beyond young Joe Haines for a valuable second place, and in the following race Kroner touched the tapes, and after starting 15 metres adrift in the re-run he caught and passed Jan Graversen on the second circuit.

And Stuart Robson showed his superiority over Haines when he wound up his throttle and went outside him on the last bend for second place behind Batchelor in heat eight.

Witches fans held their breath when Daniel King took a heavy tumble on the first bend of heat nine in his first meeting back after cracking his sternum.

He was able to rise to his feet quickly and make the best start to win the re-run. Robson livened up proceedings again in race 10 when it was touch and go whether he had passed Tomas Topinka on the line after a flying finish.

With Tom P. Madsen off the pace, Robson was already out of the running with the Schramm/Parker pairing level on 17 points with Batchelor and Haines after three rides. The Ipswich Kroner/Stachyra combination was one point behind.

Haines was last in heat 11 to give Schramm and Parker a one-point overall lead despite Batchelor winning the race by some distance.

The King brothers kept in the hunt with six points in the next race with Daniel gating and Jason passing Stachyra for all-important third place.

Haines tried all he knew to get beyond Graversen in heat 13, but had to accept last place to dampen his hopes of partnering race winner Batchelor to overall victory.

After the Kings notched six points in the penultimate race to go level with Batchelor and Haines on 25 points, Schramm and Parker needed four points in the final race to take the trophy and Kroner and Stachyra seven.

Kroner and Schramm locked machines with no quarter given as they roared into the first turn. Both riders were soon on their feet, but the Witch then went down again and needed attention for a painful collarbone problem.

He was inhaling oxygen when helped into an ambulance before being taken to hospital for tests that will determine how long he will be out of action.

With Stachyra on his own in the re-run, he was effectively out of the running, and Parker and Schramm duly team rode for the first 7-2 of the night to secure overall first place.

Former Witches skipper Chris Louis did a few laps after the meeting and looked well on the pace after his lengthy injury lay-off. Now 40 years old, Louis has made no public announcement yet on whether he will hang up his leathers after being out for nearly two seasons.

Anglian Pairs competition results

1st: C Schramm 15, S Parker 14 = 29

2nd: T Batchelor 18 J Haines 7 = 25

3rd D King 19 J King 6 = 25

4th: T Kroner 13 D Stachyra 8 = 21

5th T Topinka 16, J Graversen 4 = 20

6th S Robson 15, T P Madsen 0 = 15

Heat details

1 Parker, Robson, Schramm, Madsen, 60.4

2 Kroner, Haines, Batchelor, Stachyra, 61.3

3 D King, Topinka, J King, Graversen, 61.1

4 Kroner, Robson, Stachyra, Madsen, 61.1

5 Schramm, Topinka, Parker, Graversen, 61.7

6 Batchelor, D King, Haines, J King, 60.8

7 Stachyra, Topinka, Kroner*, Graversen, 62.5

8 Batchelor, Robson, Haines, Madsen, 60.8

9 D King, Schramm, Parker, J King, 61.0

10 Topinka, Robson, Graversen. Madsen (fell), 61.9

11 Batchelor, Parker, Schramm, Haines, 60.3

12 D King, Kroner, J King, Stachyra, 60.6

13 Batchelor, Topinka, Graversen, Haines, 61.9

14 D King, Robson, J King. Madsen (exc/time), 62.0

15 Schramm, Parker, Stachyra. Kroner (fell), 62.4

* touched tapes - started re-run 15 metres adrift.