A WROCLAW BEAUTY FOR BEWLEY

Great Britain hero Dan Bewley insists there was no way he was going to spend the rest of 2022 celebrating his Cardiff win after making it back-to-back FIM Speedway Grand Prix victories in Wroclaw on Saturday, August 27.

The Cumbrian sensation topped the Betard FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Wroclaw podium on his Polish home track ahead of Denmark’s Leon Madsen in second and third-placed British racer Robert Lambert, who achieved his first-ever SGP rostrum finish.

The victory comes just two weeks after Bewley sent Cardiff crazy to become the first home FIM British Speedway GP winner at Principality Stadium for 15 years on August 13.

Bewley and Lambert – FIM Speedway of Nations world champions together in 2021 – wrote more history in Wroclaw. It’s the first time since the 2000 FIM British Speedway GP in Coventry that two Brits have reached an SGP podium. That event was won by wild card Martin Dugard, with eventual world champion Mark Loram placed third.

Britain has a new golden generation in the 2020s, and Bewley insists he has no intention of letting up in his pursuit of honours, even after his first taste of Speedway GP victory in Cardiff.

He said: “After Cardiff, people said to me I should enjoy it, and I did enjoy it and take it in. But I wasn’t going to celebrate for the rest of the season after that. I wanted to keep pushing and keep working.

“I have some important meetings coming up and some big GPs left. It has been pretty good to keep pushing and get back on the podium again.”

Bewley was not expecting to be in the Speedway GP line-up for 2022. He only received a call-up following the suspension of Russian riders Artem Laguta and Emil Sayfutdinov due to the war in Ukraine.

Despite only receiving the opportunity just a month before the opening round, his victory in Wroclaw sees him surge up to third place in the Speedway GP standings on 84 points, putting him 24 behind series leader Bartosz Zmarzlik, who has 108 and reached the semi-finals, scoring 12 points tonight.

Second-placed Madsen is also second in the overall standings on 92, with Bewley now breathing down his neck for the silver medal.

Asked if he could have predicted such success when handed his surprise Speedway GP call-up in March, Bewley joked: “Somebody out there maybe did – they would have got great odds on it! It’s pretty special.”

Bewley admits sending his Polish home fans wild in Wroclaw was a special feeling at an event he always dreamed of competing in.

“I think it’s one every rider wants to win,” he said. “Cardiff is a cool event for the fans, but when I have been watching the racing on TV, Wroclaw has always been the best. It’s really cool to win in Great Britain and at my Polish home track in Wroclaw.”

Incredibly, Bewley only made the semi-final cut on countback, scraping in with eight race points. But victory in his semi-final and final converted that to 20 championship points.

“The way the points work, it all depends on the final,” he said. “You just have to be in it to win it. I knew when I had two races to go what I needed to do to get through on eight or nine points. We just made it and the rest was good after that.”

Despite closing Zmarzlik’s Speedway GP World Championship lead to 16 points, Madsen insists he is now focused on ensuring he starts 2023 in red-hot form, rather than hunting down the Pole.

He said: “Our focus has switched to next season. We have been testing some new equipment tonight and we are definitely going in the right direction.

“I’m sure when we start up next season, we will have some new tools in the toolbox and hopefully you will see me start the season stronger than I did this year. Hopefully then I will be more able to fight for the gold medal.”

Third-placed Lambert fought his way past local hero Maciej Janowski on the run to the line to snatch his first-ever Speedway GP podium.

The former European champion, who took fourth place at the Wolk FIM German Speedway GP in Teterow on June 4, said: “It’s pretty good. It has been a long time coming. I’ve done well and been in the position to do it, but things didn’t click and work out. But now I am on the podium.

“I was hanging on the mudguard to get past Maciej. Going into that last corner I didn’t want to make it the second time in a row I finished last in the final. I was definitely pushing and it was good fun to race in Wroclaw.”

The Speedway GP world title race moves to another of its most storied venues on September 10 for the FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens, sponsored by ECCO.

FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX STANDINGS: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 108, 2 Leon Madsen 92, 3 Dan Bewley 84, 4 Patryk Dudek 76, 5 Maciej Janowski 74, 6 Fredrik Lindgren 70, 7 Robert Lambert 68, 8 Tai Woffinden 64, 9 Mikkel Michelsen 61, 10 Martin Vaculik 58, 11 Jason Doyle 57, 12 Anders Thomsen 51, 13 Jack Holder 50, 14 Max Fricke 43, 15 Pawel Przedpelski 25, 16 Matej Zagar 11, 17 Kai Huckenbeck 7, 18 Gleb Chugunov 7, 19 Andzejs Lebedevs 7, 20 Maksym Drabik 4, 21 Szymon Wozniak 3, 22 Jan Kvech 1, 23 Tom Brennan 1.

BETARD FIM SPEEDWAY GP OF POLAND – WROCLAW SCORES: 1 Dan Bewley 20, 2 Leon Madsen 18, 3 Robert Lambert 16, 4 Maciej Janowski 14, 5 Bartosz Zmarzlik 12, 6 Patryk Dudek 11, 7 Tai Woffinden 10, 8 Mikkel Michelsen 9, 9 Fredrik Lindgren 8, 10 Gleb Chugunov 7, 11 Jack Holder 6, 12 Martin Vaculik 5, 13 Jason Doyle 4, 14 Pawel Przedpelski 3, 15 Max Fricke 2, 16 Andzejs Lebedevs 1, 17 Bartlomiej Kowalski DNR, 18 Wiktor Przyjemski DNR.