FIM SPEEDWAY: BEWLEY BUZZING AS LIONS WIN LANDSHUT SEMI-FINAL
Great Britain hero Dan Bewley can’t wait to take his place in “the biggest meeting there is” after starring as the Lions roared into the BOLL FIM Speedway World Cup Final – Warsaw with victory in Germany on Friday, May 1.
The Brits join hosts Poland and 2025 FIM Speedway of Nations World Champions Australia in track racing’s biggest event at PGE Narodowy on August 29 after winning WWK Schwaiger & Partner FIM SWC Semi-Final 1 – Landshut.
Skipper Robert Lambert led the GB scoring on 14 points, with his Speedway GP rival Bewley bagging 13. Their 2021 and 2024 SON World Championship-winning teammate Tom Brennan notched nine, while Leon Flint picked up three points on his SWC debut for GB.
Despite tying on 30 points with Germany, who were cheered on by a 5,000-plus crowd, Czech Republic took second place after registering five race wins to the hosts’ three. Ukraine finished fourth on their SWC debut, scoring 21.
But the night belonged to the Brits, and Bewley cannot wait to take part in the BOLL FIM SWC Final – Warsaw showdown in front of a circa 50,000-strong crowd at PGE Narodowy.
He said:“I remember watching the World Cup on livestream in the pits at Glasgow when it was at Leszno in 2017. It has always been a cool meeting.
“I think it’s the peak of speedway – that’s the biggest meeting there is. It’s a World Cup year and racing the Final in Warsaw is something extra special.”
Lambert, who started his professional career aged 14 racing on a German licence, enjoyed some incredible battles in Landshut, notably with German captain Kai Huckenbeck, on a night when he dropped just one point.
The former world number two insisted: “Victory didn’t come easy, for sure. As a team, we don’t take any other riders or teams for granted in meetings like this. We had some great racing out there. I was throwing a few shapes and making some moves. I’m happy with that, and of course I am happy with the team getting through – that’s our goal achieved. Bring on Warsaw now!
“Bringing the SWC to Warsaw is something great. It will be amazing for the spectators and also the riders. Being part of any meeting in Warsaw is an amazing feeling as a rider when you come out of the tunnel. The atmosphere gives you that extra little boost. It’s going to be great. The fans are definitely going to raise the roof.”
GB team manager Oliver Allen was delighted to see his side deliver under the pressure of carrying the favourites tag.
He said: “It was good. We came here to qualify. It’s so easy for people to call us favourites and say, ‘You should do it easily.’ But the boys still had to perform and do what they are capable of.
“I am really pleased with the team. They made my job really easy. I say it every year. I am really lucky to be the team manager at a time when I have a team like this. I am grateful.”
Lambert and Bewley are both back in action at the OneSolar Arena on Saturday in the WWK Schwaiger & Partner FIM Speedway GP of Germany – Landshut. They are joined by Ukrainian racer Nazar Parnitskyi and German wild card Norick Blodorn.
Blodorn raced to 11 points for the hosts as they took third place. He said: “I don’t think it was too bad for Germany.
“Overall, it was a pretty decent meeting for everyone. It was nice to have a meeting like this in front of a home crowd. The scores were close for quite a bit, even GB wasn’t that far away early on. We kept it pretty close.
“I think it was just a good night of racing and I think we were unlucky to come up short for second place. I think that would have been cool for Germany. We were tied with the Czechs on points, so it was unfortunate.
“Overall, it was a good meeting for Landshut, a good meeting for the German fans. I was quite happy with my performance. I just hope to improve on that for tomorrow. We’ll see where I end up and hopefully, I can put on a good show for Germany.”
Full results from Friday’s Semi-Final 1 can be viewed, HERE. The Final line-up will be completed by the winner of 11.lv FIM SWC Semi-Final 2 – Riga on August 7, which features Latvia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
WWK SCHWAIGER & PARTNER FIM SWC SEMI-FINAL 1 – LANDSHUT SCORES:
1. GREAT BRITAIN 39: 1. Dan Bewley 13, 2. Robert Lambert 14, 3. Tom Brennan 9, 4. Leon Flint 3, 5. Will Cairns DNR.
2. CZECH REPUBLIC 30: 1. Adam Bubba Bednar 3, 2. Daniel Klima 5, 3. Vaclav Milik 12, 4. Adam Nejezchleba DNR, 5. Jan Kvech 10.
3. GERMANY 30: 1. Norick Blodorn 11, 2. Mario Hausl 0, 3. Kevin Wolbert 5, 4. Lars Skupien 2, 5. Kai Huckenbeck 12.
4. UKRAINE 21: 1. Stanislav Melnychuk 11, 2. Andrii Rozaliuk 0, 3. Roman Kapustin 2, 4. Nazar Parnitskyi 4, 5. Marko
Levishyn 4.
