Speedway World Cup 2023: Great Britain fire warning shot with dominant semi-final win ahead of Sweden

Great Britain put the world of speedway on notice with a crushing win in the first World Cup semi-final, beating Sweden by 11 points.

They had the meeting locked up with three races remaining after Dan Bewley – GB’s star performer on the night – beat Sweden’s Oliver Berntzon to book his team’s place in the final.

GB led from the very first heat with Adam Ellis taking his only win of the night, and Sweden never really looked like overhauling the favourites in Wroclaw.

Behind, it was a brutal battle for a place in Friday’s runoff between the Czech Republic and Germany, as Vaclav Milik condemned the Germans to last place by just a single point in the last heat.

Bewley only dropped one point all night and looks to have translated his grand prix form perfectly for Great Britain, setting the tone for the evening when he became the first rider to win off an outside gate in heat four.

He followed that up with a barnstorming run in heat nine where he ran about twice as far as the rest of the field going from last to first and it was fitting that Bewley was the man to seal the win for his team.

Robert Lambert and Tai Woffinden also played their part for GB and only dropped four points between them, but Ellis’ form might concern team manager Oliver Allen.

After that triumphant first heat he only scored one more point on the evening and looked off the pace before reserve Tom Brennan recorded an impressive second when he was substituted into the meeting late on.

But that’s only a minor concern with such an impressive triumvirate spearheading the team, and Great Britain couldn’t have made a stronger statement as they attempt to win their first Speedway World Cup of the modern era.

The second semi-final takes place on Wednesday featuring Australia, Denmark, Finland and France, the winner will join GB and last year’s winners Poland in the final while second and third place will face Sweden and the Czech Republic in the run-off for the fourth final berth.