BRITAIN'S top three riders will be in action at Foxhall Stadium when Ipswich Evening Star Witches entertain high-flying Coventry Bees in the Sky Sports Elite LeagueAfter nearly two months without a Grand Prix rider in action on a Suffolk track, British champion Chris Harris will be joined tonight by Scott Nicholls and David Howe.

By Elvin King

BRITAIN'S top three riders will be in action at Foxhall Stadium when Ipswich Evening Star Witches entertain high-flying Coventry Bees in the Sky Sports Elite League

After nearly two months without a Grand Prix rider in action on a Suffolk track, British champion Chris Harris will be joined tonight by Scott Nicholls and David Howe.

Harris, the sensation of the 2007 GP season, will be in the Bees side along with Ipswich-based Nicholls, while David Howe - who was runner-up in the British Final - will be guesting for Mark Loram in the Witches team.

All three are taking part in the showpiece speedway meeting of the year when the British GP is staged at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on June 30, with Howe the wild card.

After five consecutive home wins, Ipswich will be severely tested by Coventry with Bees' team manager Peter Oakes looking for his side to get back to top form tonight.

He said: “We've got to win at Ipswich. We've had a look at things as it was clear that something was missing in our last couple of away matches.

“We have taken action by replacing Morten Risager with Steve Johnston.

“You can perhaps overlook losing at places like Swindon because you are going to lose meetings during a season - but losing 52-41 at Arena last week was a blow.

“It is not a fatal blow, but we should have won, and coming on top of losing seven points from the Oxford demise, it wasn't a good few days.

“Things should get better, hopefully starting tonight, and this is what we've got to strive towards.

“We have confidence in the team, and it was unfortunate that two or three riders had their worst meetings of the season last week.”

Howe has done well at Foxhall this season scoring 16 points for his Wolves club on April 26 and 15 points as an Oxford guest on May 17.

Apart from Nicholls and Harris, Rory Schlein will also be a big threat having scored 12 and 14 points on his trips to Suffolk this year.

On his last visit Schlein ended up riding for Reading when originally booked to replace Mark Loram in the Ipswich team!

Ex-Witch Johnston will be making his Bees debut, but the Australian's scores at Foxhall have been disappointing this year - scoring three in the Knock Out Cup and six in the League match for the Cheetahs.

The meeting starts at 7.30pm.

Tonight's line-ups

Ipswich: D Howe (ave 8,56), K Jansson (4.46), C Louis (6.76), Z Suchecki (4.55),R Miskowiak (5.73), M Rempala (3.00), T Kroner (3.17).

Coventry: S Nicholls (9.24), B Janniro (5.81), R Schlein (8.77), S Johnston (5.59), C Harris (8.66), O Allen (4.00), M Smolinski (5.03).

Referee: Frank Ebdon