Jason Doyle: Ipswich Witches 'going to have a great year'

Former world champion Jason Doyle has predicted another successful year for Ipswich Witches ahead of the start of a new Premiership campaign.

They won their first trophy for 25 years by beating Sheffield in the 2023 Premiership Knockout Cup final.

Doyle and team-mate Emil Sayfutdinov topped the league's points average list with 9.98 and 10.64 respectively.

Both men are back for 2024 but Doyle told BBC Radio Suffolk: "We can't always rely on two riders."

The Australian continued: "I know Emil is going to do the same as he did last year and it takes the pressure off all of us boys. I think we're going to have a great year and having Emil back is a massive positive for the club.

"We worked as a team all the way through last year and made it to the grand final. It was a team effort and hopefully we can do the same."

This year's Premiership sees Birmingham Brummies and Oxford Spires replacing Peterborough Panthers and Wolverhampton Wolves, who had to leave their former homes at the East of England Showground and Monmore Green respectively.

Ipswich's first two Premiership meetings of the season are at home, against Belle Vue Aces on Thursday and the Brummies a week later, having been runners-up to Sheffield last season.

They will then begin their defence of the KO Cup with a double-header against Leicester Lions on 1 and 4 April.

Doyle expects an influx of riders from Europe across the various teams to make the overall standard even higher.

"It makes it a lot safer for us to be riding against the top boys, (but) maybe a bit harder," said Doyle. "We're really happy these guys are coming over and the Premiership is stronger this year, so we'll see how it goes.

"If I wanted to win every race and make it easy, it wouldn't be fun. You're going to have your ups and downs in any sport and having a league that's a lot stronger gives your racing an advantage as well because you know you've got to do 100% every time you go out there."

The 38-year-old won his world title back in 2017 and although he will also be riding in Poland and Denmark this year, he believes cutting Sweden out of his schedule will ensure he can be at his best consistently.

"I won't be as tired and I'll enjoy my racing a lot more," he added. "It's going to be busy but the way it's planned, it's going to be quite an enjoyable year."