Great Britain win 2024 Speedway of Nations in Manchester – Report & Results
Great Britain captain Robert Lambert admits his track telepathy with Dan Bewley helped the Lions storm to an epic FIM Speedway of Nations world-title triumph in Manchester on Saturday evening.
Just 24 hours ahead of England’s UEFA Euro 2024 final showdown with Spain in Berlin, GB’s dynamic duo got the weekend off to a golden start when they defeated Australia 7-2 in the Grand Final, with Bewley blazing under Roos pair Jack Holder and Brady Kurtz to join Lambert at the front and take the roof off the National Speedway Stadium.
GB heroes Bewley (left) and Lambert (right) celebrate in Manchester. PHOTO: Taylor Lanning
A famous victory comes less than three years since Lambert and Bewley joined forces to end Britain’s 32-year wait for a world team title at the last FIM SON Final staged in Manchester in October 2021.
The Brits have now finished in the world’s top two for the last four seasons on the bounce and Lambert admits his on-track understanding with Bewley, who races for Manchester host club Belle Vue, made all the difference as they grabbed gold in the ultimate test of team riding.
He said: “It’s an awesome feeling. We are world champions once again and I can’t believe we actually did it.
“Me and Dan have an unwritten language together on the track. He made some gaps where I could get through and vice versa. It all came down to the final. I made the start and got in front. I had faith in Dan to push through and not get the last place because he is absolutely incredible around here.
“All the fans were telling us at the autograph session that we were going to bring home the gold. You brush it off and try not to think about it because when you think about the end result, stuff doesn’t happen.
“We just took it race by race and I was happy that my bike was working from heat one. Today worked and everything paid off. We come away as world champions.”
Lambert hits the front against Poland. PHOTO: Jarek Pabijan
The GB duo was pipped to top spot in the heat score chart by Australia, with the Roos securing automatic Grand Final qualification on 36 points, and the Lions scoring 35. This pitted them against third-placed Sweden, who recorded 27 points, in the Grand Final Qualifier.
Despite Sweden’s world No.2 Fredrik Lindgren winning the race – Lambert’s only loss to an opponent all night – the Brits finished second and third to claim a 5-4 heat advantage.
Lambert admits the showdown with Sweden was even more tense than their title fight with the Aussies. He said: “It was hard not getting straight through to the Grand Final. We had more pressure in the semi than we did the final.
“Whatever way that went, we would have walked away with silver or gold. We knew we could do it. We stayed calm throughout the whole meeting and managed to get the gold back again.”
GB went wheel to wheel with Australia in the Grand Final. PHOTO: Jarek Pabijan
Lambert, Bewley and GB reserve rider Tom Brennan won gold together in Manchester, but it will be every Brit for himself in the FIM Speedway GP of Great Britain – Cardiff at Principality Stadium on August 17.
With Lambert chasing his first Speedway GP World Championship medal, the performance of his career this evening sends him to the Welsh capital in red-hot form as he chases his maiden SGP victory.
“If this was a GP, I would have got my first win,” he said. “But I can’t get too wrapped up in that. My season has been great so far. We have a lot of meetings before we race in Cardiff. I’ll just keep things steady and keep going the way we are at the moment.”
GB was something of an underdog in the sport’s team competitions not so long ago. With the Lions now regularly in the running for gold, joint team manager Simon Stead admits expectations were always going to be high in Manchester.
He said: “It feels like we have been waiting for this moment for quite a while. I have to say the lads have been brilliant all week and we put a good shift in when it mattered.
“Since we won in 2021, we go into this competition to win. Other nations may think a medal is a good achievement. We want to be better than that.
“The progress that has been made and the riders that we have at our disposal come with their own pressures. People now expect something from us and the fact we are delivering at the highest level is a testament to the lads we have riding for us and the backroom team and the network we have behind us.”
Aussie skipper Jack Holder battles Germany. PHOTO: Jarek Pabijan
Aussie skipper Jack Holder led his side to victory at the last FIM SON Final in Vojens, Denmark two years ago.
He worked overtime in this year’s Grand Final to engineer a way through for partner Brady Kurtz, who impressed on his FIM SON debut this week. But the Roos fell just short of a second straight gold medal on a Manchester track that allowed Bewley to make one of the passes of the season to snatch gold for GB.
Holder said: “The whole meeting tonight was awesome. There was plenty of good racing and the crowd was loving it. It came down to that Grand Final and the Speedway of Nations is hard. You are trying to race your own race, but you are always looking behind.
“You are trying to slow it up and it’s quite hard to slow up a race when you are going that fast around this track. We did the best we could and that was enough for second.
“Brady was good. He has ridden here week in and week out for Belle Vue over the last couple of years. He did his job; everyone did their job. It wasn’t good enough, but fair play to Great Britain – they got the job done when it mattered. We will hopefully come back strong next year.”
World No.2 Fredrik Lindgren starred for Sweden. PHOTO: Jarek Pabijan
Sweden bagged bronze for the second straight FIM SON and their captain Lindgren was delighted with his side’s performance over the week as double Swedish champion Jacob Thorssell starred alongside him.
Lindgren said: “When you are in the Grand Final Qualifier, you are fighting for it. But overall, we have done a really good job over these two meetings. We should be proud of the bronze medal we got. Jacob did a tremendous job alongside me. I am very happy.”
FIM SPEEDWAY OF NATIONS FINAL SCORES
1. GREAT BRITAIN 35: 1 Robert Lambert 22, 2 Dan Bewley 13, 3 Tom Brennan DNR.
2. AUSTRALIA 36: 1 Jack Holder 20, 2 Max Fricke DNR, 3 Brady Kurtz 16.
3. SWEDEN 27: 1 Fredrik Lindgren 17, 2 Jacob Thorssell 10, 3 Oliver Berntzon DNR.
4. GERMANY 26: 1 Kai Huckenbeck 16, 2 Norick Blodorn 10, 3 Erik Riss DNR.
