Ipswich Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins admits he learned much from his debut year as boss of the Foxhall team in 2016.

And with the Witches 2017 season just around the corner – the first meeting is at Foxhall on Saturday, March 25 – Hawkins is looking forward to the challenges ahead.

The Witches started poorly last year but finished strong to make the play-offs. It was an encouraging end of the year for the Foxhall faithful.

“I learnt a lot of lessons last year and it was good to have a whole year as by the end of it I had a good understanding of what riders I want to work with and what kind of attitude I am looking for this season,” Hawkins said.

“The new team has been built to that and I’m looking forward to working with them. It’s a good team and we’ll have another go at trying to bring some trophies back to Ipswich.

“We’re looking for winners but you want everyone to get on as a team. If everyone can bounce off each other it will help each other. Success breeds success so if everyone is doing well, it will help. You want a good team spirit but you want people there who are determined to win, it’s no good just being there for a laugh.”

Hawkins admits he has had a big influence on the building of the team this year, with British Champion Danny King leading the side again.

“Last year I didn’t have anything to do with the team building so to have a big influence on that this year is a plus for me,” Hawkins said.

“It’s a side that I’ve had a big input in building and it is one that I’m looking forward to seeing in action. I’m very happy with how the side has finished up.

“The ultimate goal is to win the league but that is eight months away so you don’t need to spend too much time talking about that right now.

“Before then it is a build up to that point and we’ll work together to build up momentum before the play-offs and it would be great to win the league and get promoted.

“That is our goal but it is tough and there are a lot of good teams and it is not an expectation, it’s an ambition and an achievable goal.”

The rest of the Witches side alongside King, is Rory Schlein, Nico Covatti, Kyle Newman, Cameron Heeps, Connor Mountain and Danyon Hume.”