Last week, the Stars made their final journey of the season over the Norfolk/Suffolk border into enemy territory to take on those pesky Ipswich Witches.
Having led the first league fixture for much of the contest and grabbed a well-deserved draw to dump the Witches out of the Knockout Cup, hopes were high that the Stars could push Ipswich hard in a meeting in which bragging rights were the main currency, with Lynn now unable to reach the Play-Offs.
Unfortunately, on the night, the Witches were far sharper from the tapes and as has been an issue for Lynn all season, they struggled to win heats with just four chequered flags taken by the Norfolk men across the 15 races.
The team was built this year with no big guns at the top of the order but instead a strong and solid 1-6 so heat wins, particularly on the road, were always going to be tough against the top heavier clubs, but that needs to be countered with far less last places.
On Thursday, Lynn carded eight to Ipswich’s seven which added up to a 12-point defeat and the bonus point surrendered.
The Witches are top of the table and likely to finish there, having been the pre-season favourites for league honours, so losing there is no disgrace, but it always hurts to lose to your nearest and dearest.
Interestingly the Ipswich Speedway social media accounts announced to their supporters that the Witches were ‘your pride of Anglia’ after the meeting, whereas three wins for Lynn to the Witches’ two across the six head-to-head meetings would suggest that Lynn might have the overall bragging rights in 2025, especially with that KO Cup semi-final victory being the most significant and dramatic of them all.
On Bank Holiday Monday evening, the Stars travelled to Oxford to take on the Spires in front of the TNT Sports cameras to complete their away league programme and they triumphed with a 50+ score for the third time at the Cowley circuit.
Just like the home meeting a week prior, it was a comfortable evening for Lynn with 11 race wins and four maximum 5-1 heat advantages.
While it must be recognised that Oxford are having a wretched season, the way Lynn have dispatched them on all six occasions this year has been ruthless, and the Stars septet have looked every bit as at home in OX4 as they have at the Adrian Flux Arena.
There are just two meetings left this season and those are both at home against Belle Vue and then Sheffield across the next week, and Lynn owe both of those teams a beating after home defeats in the A fixtures earlier in the season.
Thoughts of fans then inevitably turn to the make-up of the 2026 side and personally, I would happily see all seven men return next year if deals can be done.
A fresh face or two wouldn’t be a bad thing, but I’ve enjoyed watching them all this year and feel they are collectively capable of more than they have achieved this season with a little more fortune.
Finally, all of us at the Pride of the East podcast would like to pass our best wishes on to everyone involved at Birmingham Speedway following the closure of their Perry Barr stadium this week.
They are now homeless and building new speedway venues nowadays is a difficult task, but hopefully they, along with the other clubs in hibernation, can find land to resurrect their teams and provide more people somewhere to go to watch our wonderful sport.
