SPEEDWAY SOLOS: LAMBERT HOPES FOR CARDIFF WIN

Great Britain racer Robert Lambert admits there would be no better place to join the FIM Speedway Grand Prix winners’ circle than the FIM Speedway GP of Great Britain – Cardiff on September 2.

Ready for Cardiff: Robert Lambert. PHOTO: Taylor Lanning

Lambert, who recently returned to boyhood club King’s Lynn in Britain’s Sports Insure Premiership after four years away, joins 2022 Cardiff winner Dan Bewley, triple Speedway GP world champion Tai Woffinden and wild card Steve Worrall in flying the Union flag at the iconic Principality Stadium in Britain’s biggest indoor motorsport event.

The 25-year-old has already racked up quite a list of major honours in the sport, having led his country to their first world team title in 32 years at the 2021 FIM Speedway of Nations Final in Manchester, as well as winning two silver medals in the competition in 2018 and 2022 and finishing second in the Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup in 2016 and 2023. The 2020 Speedway European Championship winner was also second in two Speedway GP rounds at legendary Danish circuit Vojens last September and Croatia’s Speedway Stadion Milenium in April this year.

But Lambert is still searching for his first Speedway GP win, and he would love to make it happen at the Principality Stadium after watching Bewley race to his first SGP victory in Cardiff’s cauldron of noise in August last year.

“It must have been a special feeling for Dan,” Lambert said. “Obviously it would be amazing to get my first Grand Prix win in Cardiff. I have been pushing for it this year and last year. It hasn’t come about yet. I have had a couple of podiums. But we definitely need to do something and push forwards for the last few rounds.”

Lambert, who is still striving for his first Cardiff semi-final appearance, added: “It’s definitely one round on the calendar that everyone looks forward to; it’s certainly one I always look forward to racing in. I have never had real success in Cardiff, so we are looking for a successful night.

“I’ll do what I can in the build-up to it to make sure I am in the right position and have a good meeting. The stadium is going to be full of home fans and that’s always a special feeling coming into the Cardiff meeting.

“The town is pretty wild too and everyone is there the day before to see the city. It’s such an amazing place. Walking through the city is cool. You get people coming up to you and asking for autographs and pictures. It’s a nice feeling that you are seen in that way.”

Lambert finished the 2022 Speedway GP series as the top Brit, taking fifth spot in the standings ahead of Bewley in sixth and Woffinden in eighth.

He’s currently eighth in the 2023 Speedway GP World Championship on 71 points – seven short of the top six spot needed for automatic qualification for the 2024 series and 14 adrift of Slovak star Martin Vaculik in third.

With just three rounds to race in Cardiff, Vojens (September 16) and Polish city Torun (September 30), Lambert knows there’s work to do and would love to step up his podium push in the Welsh capital.

He said: “That was the goal before the season – to better last year’s performance and get a medal. That’s going to be tough now. I need some consistently good rounds and I need to be in the finals. A medal is definitely the goal we are fighting for, and the last resort is to qualify for next season’s Grand Prix series.

“Any kind of podium in the last three rounds is going to be a bonus for me and something to finish the season off on a high with. It has been a consistent season, I would say. There could have been a few more highs and some more success, but overall, it has gone well.”

The roar of a passionate Cardiff crowd will only fuel Lambert’s quest for success. The Principality Stadium is one Speedway GP venue where the cheers from the fans can drown out even the sound of a 500cc engine.

Lambert admitted: “When you are sitting at the start, and especially if you are off gate four, you can hear the fans cheering and it’s just a massive noise.

“You can hear people cheering and you can’t figure out what they are saying or what’s going on. It’s like a hum in the background.

“At this level, you do need to be able to block that out and focus on the racing, which comes pretty normally and naturally to me now. But it’s nice when you win a race, and you look up into the stands and see all the British flags flying.”