THE Lakeside Hammers Speedway team had mixed fortunes last week after they bounced back from a heavy defeat at Swindon with a third win over the Ipswich Witches this season.

On Friday the Hammer returned to top form with a 58-35 victory over the Witches in an Elite League B fixture at the Arena Raceway.

Jon Cook's men followed up earlier wins in both the season-opening challenge fixture and Elite League A match with another considerable margin of victory, although Ipswich did suffer the misfortune of losing two riders part way through the meeting.

Dynamic Polish star Kris Kasprzak enjoyed a return to his very best form with a sparkling full 15 point maximum, his third of the season. The highlight of this impeccable performance was a majestic first and second corner in the final heat to see off Rory Schlein and Chris Louis in one fell swoop.

A nasty crash for both Marcin Rempala and Robert Miskowiak in heat five saw both riders withdraw from the meeting - and credit should go to a depleted Ipswich line-up, who fought to the end and had in Louis another assured performer around Arena-Essex.

There was the added bonus for all Hammers fans in the return to form of Joonas Kylmakorpi, who rode aggressively to enjoy a paid nine haul and he appears very much more comfortable on the track.

With Henning Bager back and Christian Hefenbrock returning to the fore, Hammers have a platform to build on and enjoy for what promises to be a very interesting second half of the season.

Prior to that however the Hammers suffered a 34 point loss at Swindon on Thursday evening after they crashed to a 62-28 defeat.

The scoreline however doesn't reflect the efforts of Kasprzak and Adam Shields, who scored 12 and seven points each respectively.

The Hammers were due to be in action again last night, at Poole in an Elite League B fixture.