Speedway GP LIVE – All the action from Cardiff with two Brits in the final and Bartosz Zmarzlik out

CAN THIS PLACE GET ANY LOUDER?!? The Brits are coming good at just the right time as Bewley scorches away for his first win of the night from the middle gate.

And we’re treated to a stonking battle behind that I just cannot call between Lebedevs and Kubera! The last finish was close, this is millimetres!

And the result is… Kubera by 0.021 seconds! You didn’t need to see the screen to know that though – the roar of the Polish contingent backing their only dog left in the fight tells everything.

THE ROOF IS BLOWN OFF THE PRINCIPALITY!!! Lambert finally got it together and tracked Lindgren all race, finally sneaking into the final by a few inches on the line! It was 55.5 seconds of truly gripping racing as the Brit poked and prodded his prey all heat despite both riders seeming destined for the final with Vaculik and Michelsen nowhere.

And it did pay off on the run to the line, what a heat! Can Bewley follow suit? He gets a deafening reception with the crowd still on a high from that Lambert win.

Vaculik compounded that delay by taking an absolute age to take his gate in semi-final 1, but here is how they’ll line up:

Semi-Final 1 – Lindgren, Lambert, Vaculik, Michelsen

Semi-Final 2 – Holder, Bewley, Lebedevs, Kubera

That’s heartbreaking for Janowski, he’s been stellar this evening with two wins in his last three heats but losing out to Madsen has cost him! But a HUGE roar will go up in the Principality Stadium now when both Brits are confirmed in the semi-finals!

There’s four riders tied on 9 points with identical records, so the calculations are still ongoing to decide who will miss out on the semi-finals: Robert Lambert, Dan Bewley, Martin Vaculik or Maciej Janowski. The Pole could miss out simply due to his lower ranking as an injury substitute.

This one is going to countback and Lambert or Bewley could well be out, but for now here’s the provisional standings. Zmarzlik is definitely OUT in tenth, Brennan picks up four championship points for his efforts.

ZMARZLIK IS OUT!! And Vaculik may have dragged himself into the semis with the bravest of moves around the outside of Fricke on the final lap! The Australia was the only one with something to race for in the heat and led the way for much of the heat while Lambert ends with a whimper out the back… For now.

Michelsen’s biggest enemy was his bucking bike in heat 19 but he holds on to take victory, well ahead of Holder who’s grown into tonight’s occasion beautifully. Wozniak takes a rare point but won’t make the semi-finals, Bewley has gone off the boil somewhat and could do with Lambert denying Zmarzlik or Vaculik victory in the last heat.

False start! Janowksi took the biggest premature bite but it doesn’t look like he touched the tapes. But we’ll have all four riders back with both inside boys on a warning, and good job because they provide the best action!

Lindgren scores a rare win wearing white with Madsen breathing down his neck after initially battling Janowski, who’s third. Brennan salutes the crowd on a lap of honour – he’s raced well tonight but is out with four points in total.

And Lebedevs is into the semi-final! He swept round Kubera who also books his ticket to the knockouts by denying a determined Huckenbeck in the final laps.

Lambert went halfway to the River Taff at the first bend but was cut off and out the back by Madsen and Huckenbeck! However, he storms back to take second behind a stunning victory for Jack Holder – just the second win from gate two all evening.

Lebedevs scored 0 in white in his last heat but second time is most certainly the charm, while Brennan’s bike caught fire in the second phase of the launch and he edges out Vaculik for his second second place of the night. That means he’s still in with a sniff of making the semis tonight with his last heat starting from the outside, Lebedevs and Vaculik are likely on their way.

Bewley can’t quite make gate two work, but he’s as close as anyone’s got so far and tops Zmarzlik in a belting battle over in the first three laps! It’s scintillating speedway as Bewley was just a foot or so away from being shut out down the back straight while Janowski wins the heat and Kvech is pointless, unlikely to make the semis.

Lindgren looked set for victory in that one but his bike bucks in turn two and he’s quickly relegated to the back! Kubera continues the edge gate supremacy in his stead though, ahead of Michelsen – who’s looking good for the semis – and Fricke – who isn’t.

This was the heat of the evening until that Brennan-Michelsen photo finish…

The evening’s starting to take shape, led by our two British stars:

Bewley is introduced to the Cardiff crowd as the ‘rising star of British speedway’ which seems a bit modest for a reigning Speedway of Nations champion that’s won three grand prix.

And his star fades a little here, Lambert hits the front from an abrasive start and takes his second win of the night to stay firmly in contention for the semis, while try as he might Bewley can’t overcome Lindgren even after the Swede bangs the fence.

Jan Kvech hasn’t looked like the same rider that reached the sprint final yesterday, until now! He makes the start and controls the race from there, Madsen clinches second after a race-long battle with Fricke behind.

This one is more straightforward after a bit of a sandwich at turn one – Janowski continues his resurgence and the roar is just as loud as it was for Zmarzlik. Behind it’s Vaculik, Michelsen and Huckenbeck.

It’s first vs second in the championship and this time Zmarzlik takes it! Holder seemed to get the better start but his rival just never gave up and beat him to the third turn, to the delight of the ample Polish support here in Cardiff. And Brennan can’t repeat his heroics, he’s out the back in fourth.

For the first time since 2012, Tai Woffinden isn’t in action at the British GP, and he caught up with Eurosport in the pits.

“Yeah it sucks but I was just watching a few races, the first block of heats and it was definitely a different perspective.

“I’m just going with the flow, got another x-ray on the second of September and hopefully the bone’s healing, I just want to push as fast as I can and be back as fast as I can.

Lambert wasn’t far from becoming the second man to win both his opening heats, but instead it’s Bewley out front on his own and Michelsen and Lindgren on five points. Lambert, Kubera, Holder and Lebedevs all have four.

WHAT. A. FINISH!!! There’s inches separating Michelsen and Brennan in an absolutely barnstorming heat that goes right down to the WIRE! Lambert looked good at the start but lost out to the leading pair as the Dane just pushed him too wide at the end of the first lap. And Michelsen never gave up, harrying his prey but only able to take the win in the final sprint to the line by barely more than a tyre’s width.

We have a win from the middle! And Lindgren does it in the simplest way possible – firing to the front ahead of an off-colour Zmarzlik on the inside. It could’ve been worse for the world champion though, he looked so jittery through the turns and only just fended off Wozniak on the first lap before consolidating second.

It’s Holder properly off the mark, after an all-Aussie ding-dong off the line. However, Fricke is quickly relegated to the back while Magic Maciej Janowski sneaks past Andzejs Lebedevs for second.

Two wins from two for Bewley, but it was far from easy! He got to the corner just in time against Madsen then was under immense pressure from Kubera particularly on the third lap but holds on to delight the fans while the Dane holds out against Vaculik at the back.

The wins have come from the inside and outside gates so far tonight (2-2) and Bewley will hope to keep that going next wearing the red helmet in heat five. He’ll be up against Kubera, Vaculik and Madsen – all are rivals in the battle for the top six.

Jason Doyle looked like he could be on for a tilt at a second world championship when he led the standings after two rounds including a win at the Narodowy. However, a torn rotator cuff ended his season, and he caught up with Eurosport in the pits in Cardiff:

“It’s very strange being on this side of the fence, seeing the boys do their thing, amazing atmosphere and the track looks pretty good.

“I’ll sit in the grandstands, the boys know what they’re doing, they’ve been here long enough to know what the setups need to be but looks like they’re on pace, it’ll be a long night. looks like a great track and they’re going to riding high.”

Everyone’s had a chance out there – except our two reserves Sam Hagon and Leon Flint – and Lambert, Vaculik, Lebedevs and Bewley are the men to beat so far. None of our championship top four have won a heat so far either!

BEWLEY IS MEANS BUSINESS! Huckenbeck closed the door up the back straight after an equal start but Bewley slipped back up the inside from turn four to take a second British win of the night, but Brennan can’t join the party as Fricke is third.

Well you don’t see that very often! The world champion just gets beaten up at the start, crunched between Lebedevs and Michelsen from the inside and outside with the Latvian unbeatable from there. Madsen even took advantage too, leaving Zmarzlik pointless.

Vaculik is Bakulik! He explodes out of the gate and pushed Lindgren out wide at turn one and there’s no catching him from there. And it’s not the start Holder needed battling for the championship, he pushed for second early but is relegated to the back by Kvech and only squeaked a point on the line.

LAMBERT SENDS THE HOME FANS INTO RAPTURES! He nails the start and cuts across Kubera before disappearing out in front to win by half a straight. Behind, Wozniak pushed his compatriot hard for second place but Kubera holds on.

The British and Welsh national anthems are complete, the riders’ family photo has been taken meaning it’s just five minutes until tapes up in heat one! After Zmarzlik got the biggest cheers at the rider parade it’s a Polish trio to get us underway – Dominik Kubera, Maciej Janowski, Szymon Wozniak plus Robert Lambert.

The Pole is gunning for his fifth speedway world championship, and someone needs to get their act together to stop him. The gaggle of four riders in the 70s isn’t helping matters, but Bartosz Zmarzlik hasn’t been quite at his dominant best this year – only winning one round.

That’s just as many as anyone else though, and Jack Holder could’ve really done with getting into the sprint final yesterday. Or could Robert Lambert get the job done? He’s so often come up short in finals but that victory in the Speedway of Nations finale could signal a change on that front.

So with six rounds in the books and five to go, here’s the Grand Prix standings:

1. Bartosz Zmarzlik – 104

11. Jason Doyle – 47 (inactive tonight)

14. Andzejs Lebedevs – 32

16. Tai Woffinden – 23 (inactive tonight)

And on that note, here’s Dan Bewley and Robert Lambert rose to the top of the world earlier this summer:

It’s not quite the Paris Olympics, but the opening ceremony is underway with a giant globe raised into the air at the Principality Stadium before the riders are introduced to the crowd.

Bewley sent Cardiff fans into raptures two years ago when he became the first Brit to win on home shale since Chris Harris in 2007, but has struggled through a more difficult campaign in 2024.

He sits ninth in the standings and already out of contention for the championship, but needs a top six finish to ensure qualification for 2025 and there’s no time to kickstart his season after qualifying fastest yesterday with a time of 13.074.

To arguably the most iconic stop on the FIM Speedway Grand Prix calendar and the home of international speedway in the UK: it’s the Principality Stadium!

Tai Woffinden isn’t in action but we have got the British pair that became world champions over the summer break: Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley – who was fastest in qualifying and won the sprint race yesterday!

Can he take his first win of the season at his home track though? And can anyone eat into Bartosz Zmarzlik’s lead at the top of the standings? We find out in half an hour, live on Eurosport and discovery+!

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