Wilkinson praised by Louis

Mike Bacon

IPSWICH Witches promoter John Louis heaped praise on reserve Carl Wilkinson after the Witches 53-37 victory at Foxhall last night.

Wilkinson was unbeaten after a first ride last place and his determination was not only evident, but played a huge part in the Witches picking up all three points.

Louis said: “It was another slow start by the boys and again we conceded a heat two 5-1.

“But we finished strongly and I can't praise Carl Wilkinson enough.

“I know Jarek (Hampel) picked up a maximum, but Carl's contribution was m

assive and he was my man of the meeting.

“He didn't shy away from anything and was excellent. I was very impressed and pleased with him.”

Meanwhile, Hampel continued his good Foxhall form with another full score and the Pole was understandably happy with his efforts.

“I felt good right from the first race,” Hampel said.

“The track was a bit sticky early on, but nothing was any problem for me.

“It's important to me and the team I score well, but now we need to pick up points away from home, we have many away meetings to come.

“It was good to get all the points tonight, but now at Coventry on Monday we must look to pick up points too.”

The Witches will welcome back Kozza Smith at Coventry on bank holiday Monday, in a meeting being screened live on Sky.

The King's Lynn rider, who crashed on the opening night at Foxhall, will return in place of Wilkinson, who is riding for his Premier League club Scuntho-rpe earlier in the day.

Plenty of Witches fans stayed behind to watch Scott Nicholls and Chris Louis have a spin round the track after the

meeting.

But for Louis is was a case of simply testing an engine, while Nicholls also enjoyed a ride out as he tries to regain his form.

Whether either will feature in the Witches team this year is open to conjecture, with Louis still troubled by his shoulder injury, although Nicholls has said a return to the Elite League is not out of the question.

The only question is, will it be with the Witches?