Great Britain racer Robert Lambert feared he had blown his chance of Speedway GP silver and admits he could barely watch from the pits as Fredrik Lindgren chased him down at the series finale in Torun on September 28.
Lambert missed out on the DeWalt FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Torun semi-finals, scoring seven championship points. This left him vulnerable to Swedish star Lindgren’s charge, as he went into the semi-finals needing victory or second place on the night to snatch the silver medal.
Lindgren raced his way through to the final but was forced to make do with fourth place as Lambert’s GB teammate Dan Bewley relegated him to the back.
This allowed the former European champion to breathe a huge sigh of relief in the pits, and Lambert was delighted to get a major helping hand from Bewley when he needed it most – even if he hasn’t always returned the favour.
He said: “Dan brings it out when he needs to! In Torun, he needed to. Last year, I believe, I passed him on the last corner of our race, and he didn’t qualify for the 2024 Speedway GP series. He needed to get a wild card. I didn’t do him any favours then, but he did a great job for me. That was some great team riding right there.
“I actually went to the changing rooms when Freddie’s semi-final was happening. I came back out and Freddie had won. Then he took gate four again and I thought it was all done.
“I got into a clean suit ready for my bronze medal lap and I could see he was in third and then fourth. The team was shouting in my pit bay. I just kept looking away. I knew it wasn’t in the bag until the chequered flag.
“I am very thankful I was just able to hold on by the skin of my teeth for the silver medal.
“Big respect to Freddie for his performance in Torun. It really showed a lot of character. He had age and experience on his side and pulled out something to really take it down to the wire.
“Big congratulations to (Speedway GP world champion) Bartek (Zmarzlik) for such an amazing season as well. I am striving to be in his shoes one day.”