42 heats, 7 teams, 2 days of racing and only one champion. Speedway of Nations Final at the National Speedway Stadium in Manchester was very exciting and full of plot twists.
After the first day the best was the Polish team represented by Bartosz Zmarzlik, Maciej Janowski and Under 21 World Champion Jakub Miskowiak. On Sunday Poles were fast again but they lost some points.
The Polish Team went to the final and rode against Great Britain. After the start Bartosz Zmarzlik was leading. On the second corner Maciej Janowski fell down and that was the end of Polish dreams about first gold medal in SoN. We have to add that the British team had some problems. Tai Woffinden got injured on Saturday and was replaced by local rider Daniel Bewley.
The last time when Great Britain became Team World Champion was in 1989. At the Bradford track they have beaten Denmark, Sweden and the US Team with 19-years-old Greg Hancock. The best rider was Jeremy Doncaster who made 13 points
“We did it with such a young team as well. Dan and I went out and did the business in the last race at such a high level against the two best Poles in the world. It’s such a great feeling for us and also Team GB. I am very, very proud of everyone involved” – said Robert Lambert for speedwayofnations.com.
The hero of SoN became Philip Hellstrom-Bangs. 18-year-old rider from Sweden was the only reserve on his team, but Jacob Thorssell and Pontus Aspgren crashed in their second race on the first day and weren’t able to ride. Hellstrom-Bangs had to ride alone and made a big show in Manchester. He scored 24 out of 30 points for the Swedish team.
The US Team took 4th place in the semifinal in Daugavpils (Latvia) and didn’t go to the SoN final. Next edition will take place in Esbjerg (Denmark).
Final Standings:
- Great Britiain 64 pts + 6 pts in the semifinal + 5 pts in the final
- Poland 74 + 4 pts in the final
- Denmark 68 + 3 pts in the semifinal
- Australia 49
- France 47
- Latvia 42
- Sweden 30