Ipswich Witches got off to a flying start in this their first meeting of the season, racing to a comfortable Craven Shield victory over the Oxford Cheetahs at Foxhall Stadium last night.

Skipper Chris Louis set the standard and was unbeaten by an opponent despite failing to make the start in any of his races, the pick of which was heat thirteen when Oxford looked to be heading for a 5-1 until Louis and team mate Tomasz Gollob passed both Todd Wiltshire and Steve Johnston in style.

It was Gollob as expected who provided Louis with his best support, the Pole just losing out on a maximum when he over-slid in the last heat whilst challenging Johnston.

On his Foxhall return Ben Howe enjoyed a good meeting, ending his evening with two race wins. "I felt really nervous at the start and was too cautious in my first two rides" he said.

"However it feels great to finish well and I'm looking forward to what should hopefully be a successful year."

With Oxford using the rider replacement facility for Craig Boyce, who was still carrying a shoulder injury picked up in Australia during the winter, they maybe didn't provide as tough opposition as was expected.

Ipswich will however be pleased to have started the defence of their title with a victory and now look forward to next Thursday when the Coventry Bees are in town.

IPSWICH: Chris Louis 14+1, Savalas Clouting 6+1, Toni Svab 6+1, Ben Howe 9, Tomasz Gollob 11+1, Jason Bunyan 3, Brett Woodfield 3+2.

OXFORD: Todd Wiltshire 10+1, Jan Staechmann 1, Steve Johnston 11+1, Paul Hurry 7+1, Lawrence Hare 8+3, Alan Rossiter 1.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.