FIM Speedway of Nations 2024
England captain Robert Lambert credits his telepathic communication with Dan Bewley for helping the Lions to a resounding victory at the FIM Speedway of Nations world championships in Manchester on Saturday night.
GB’s dynamic duo got the weekend off to a flying start as they thrashed Australia 7-2 in the Grand Final, with Bewley shining under the guidance of Roos pair Jack Holder and Brady Kurtz to join Lambert in the lead and fire up the National Speedway Stadium.
The famous victory comes less than three years since Lambert and Bewley teamed up to end Britain’s 32-year wait for a world team title at the most recent FIM SON Final held in Manchester in October 2021.
The British team have now finished in the world’s top two for the past four seasons and Lambert admitted that his on-track understanding with Bewley, who races for Manchester’s Belle Vue club, made the difference as they claimed gold in the final test of the team race.
Robert Lambert
“It’s an amazing feeling. We’re world champions again and I can’t believe we’ve actually done it. Dan and I have an unspoken language on the track. He’s created some gaps that I’ve been able to get through and vice versa. It all comes down to the final. I started and I was ahead. I trusted Dan to get through and not finish last because he’s been incredible here. All the fans were telling us at the autograph session that we were going to take home the gold. You brush it off and try not to think about it because when you think about the end result, it doesn’t happen. We just take it race by race and I’m happy that my car worked from the first run. It worked today and it paid off. We’re world champions.“ .
The GB pair were beaten to the top spot in the points standings by Australia, with the Roos automatically qualifying for the Finals on 36 points, and the Lions on 35. This left them facing third-placed Sweden, who scored 27 points, in the Finals Qualifier.
Despite the win for world number two Sweden’s Fredrik Lindgren – Lambert’s only defeat of the night – the Briton finished second and third to take a 5-4 advantage.
Lambert admitted that the clash with Sweden was even more tense than the title battle with Australia. “It was a tough game,” he said.It was hard not to make it to the Finals. We had more pressure in the semi-finals than in the finals. No matter what the result was, we were going to get the silver or gold. We knew we could do it. We kept our cool throughout the meet and tried to get the gold back.“ .
Lambert, Bewley and British reserve rider Tom Brennan shared the gold medal in Manchester, but each British rider will be looking to win on his own at the FIM Speedway GP of Great Britain – Cardiff at the Principality Stadium on August 17.
Australian skipper Jack Holder led his team to victory at the last FIM SON Final in Vojens, Denmark, two years ago. He worked overtime in this year’s Grand Final to clear the way for partner Brady Kurtz, who impressed on his FIM SON debut this week. But Roos failed to secure a second consecutive gold medal at the Manchester circuit, allowing Bewley to make one of the passes of the season to secure the gold for Great Britain.
Jack Owner
“The whole meeting tonight was fantastic. There was a lot of good racing and the crowd loved it. The Grand Final and the Speedway of Nations were tough at the end. You’re trying to race your own race but you’re always looking back. You’re trying to slow it down and it’s hard to slow a race down when you’re going that fast around this track. We did the best we could and that was enough to get second. Brady did well. He’s been racing here week in, week out for Belle Vue for the last few years. He did his job; everyone did their job. It wasn’t good enough, but fair play to Great Britain – they did the job when they needed to. Hopefully we’ll be back strong next year.“
Sweden won bronze at the FIM SON for the second consecutive time and team captain Lindgren was delighted with his team’s performance over the past week with two-time Swedish champion Jacob Thorssell racing alongside him.
Lindgren said: “When you are in the Finals, you have to fight for it. But overall, we did very well in these two meetings. We should be proud of the bronze medal we won. Jacob did a great job with me. I am very happy.“
2024 FIM Speedway of Nations Final Scores
- ENGLAND 35: 1 Robert Lambert 22, 2 Dan Bewley 13, 3 Tom Brennan DNR.
- AUSTRALIA 36: 1 Jack Holder 20, 2 Max Fricke DNR, 3 Brady Kurtz 16.
- SWEDEN 27: 1 Fredrik Lindgren 17, 2 Jacob Thorssell 10, 3 Oliver Berntzon DNR.
- GERMANY 26: 1 Kai Huckenbeck 16, 2 Norick Blodorn 10, 3 Erik Riss DNR.
- POLAND 24: 1 Dominik Kubera 13, 2 Bartosz Zmarzlik 11, 3 Patryk Dudek DNR.
- DENMARK 21: 1 Mikkel Michelsen 8, 2 Anders Thomsen 5, 3 Rasmus Jensen 8.
- LATVIA 20: 1 Andzejs Lebedevs 12, 2 Daniils Kolodinskis 6, 3 Jevgenijs Kostigovs 2.
FINAL QUALIFICATION: Lindgren, Lambert, Bewley, Thorssell (GB win 5-4)
FINAL: Lambert, Bewley, Holder, Kurtz (GB won 7-2).
FIM Speedway of Nations 2024 Results
