Great Britain star Dan Bewley is determined to rocket up the FIM Speedway Grand Prix standings after leading an historic home one-two in the FIM Speedway GP of Great Britain – Cardiff on Saturday.
Bewley topped the podium at Principality Stadium for the second time in three seasons – extending his astonishing 100-percent Speedway GP final record to four wins from four.
It was a night that will live in British speedway legend after his GB teammate Robert Lambert finished second to complete the first British one-two in the history of Speedway GP.
Bewley becomes the seventh different winner of a Speedway GP round this season and moves up to eighth place in the standings on 73 points.
Having racked up 24 points on a perfect weekend in the Welsh capital – 20 for topping Saturday’s podium and four for winning Friday’s first-ever Cardiff sprint race – Bewley is determined to maintain his momentum as he stands just two points short of the top-six spot needed to qualify for the 2025 Speedway GP series.
He said: “That’s 24 points this weekend and we still have another 80 to go. That’s what’s up for grabs.
“If I got 80 points, I could still win it. Who knows? Before the weekend, I said there were 104 on offer and I got as many as I could here.
“I just want to score as many as I can and have more nights like this. I feel like I belong here, but I don’t want a wild card or anything like that. I want to put myself up the top.”
Bewley is still 38 points behind Polish star Bartosz Zmarzlik, who still leads the Speedway GP World Championship on 111 points, but saw his lead slashed from 27 to 21 after scoring seven points on a night when his run of six straight Cardiff finals came to an end.
The SGP series was launched in 1995 to replace one-off FIM Speedway World Finals and the last British one-two at this level came at the 1980 World Final in Gothenburg – won by Michael Lee with Dave Jessup second.
Bewley got an ear-splitting ovation from a passionate Cardiff crowd as they celebrated another epic night for the Lions – just over a month after Bewley joined forces with Lambert to win the 2024 FIM Speedway of Nations World Championship in Manchester on July 13.
The Belle Vue rider was delighted to thrive in Cardiff’s cauldron of noise once again. “This feels pretty surreal,” he said. “I did an interview on the centre after the final and I honestly couldn’t hear a thing.
“I feel like we have some pretty cool rounds, but being right in the centre of Cardiff is great. I don’t think there are many cities in the world where you have the stadium right in the middle of the town. I can’t wait to come back here.”
Bewley was elated to extend his unbeaten final record to four, but admits he is keen to convert more semis into finals.
He said: “It’s a bit of a record – four from four. I would have probably rather made a few more finals in the past three years. But I can’t really complain too much.
“Freddie [Lindgren] has obviously won a few now and I feel like Rob’s [Lambert] time is coming. He has been in more finals than me.
“I think you just need a bit of luck on your side too. I want to be up here more consistently if I am honest. I have not been progressing from a few semi-finals when I feel I should have done. If it meant making a few more, I would probably take a few seconds and thirds here and there. But if we can keep making finals and keep this record going, that would be pretty cool too.”
Second-placed Lambert admits a bout of food poisoning nearly put his hopes of Cardiff success in jeopardy – until a steak dinner came to the rescue.
He said: “I was a bit worried after Friday. I couldn’t really hold on for the two practice runs. I had food poisoning on Wednesday, so I was a bit under-par and slowly trying to build my energy up over the past couple of days.
“After my second run on Friday, I was trying to think of some ways to pick up my energy levels. I had a big piece of steak last night and I think that did it, along with a good night’s sleep.”
Sweden’s world No.2 Fredrik Lindgren was elated to end his wait for a Cardiff podium after three fourth places since he finished second to Aussie legend Jason Crump in 2009.
He said: “Obviously it was nice to be on the box and not finishing fourth in the final like I have done many times here in the past. I am happy to be on the podium.
“I wish I could have spoiled the British party, but I was not able to do that and congratulations to both Dan and Robert. They were amazing and it was a well-deserved one-two.”
The Speedway GP action continues with the DeWalt FIM Speedway of Poland – Wroclaw on August 31 – the start of a full-throttle fortnight of Speedway GP action as the series also visits Latvian capital Riga on September 7 and Danish circuit Vojens on September 14.
Words by Speedway GP – Feature Image by Jarek Pabijan
