Speedway World Cup 2023 semi-final 1 recap – Great Britain crush Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany to reach final

So do join us for those starting tomorrow and for Saturday’s final too, can Great Britain win their first World Cup of the modern era? They couldn’t have started much better tonight!

Dan Bewley was the star of the show tonight, he only dropped one point all evening. Five other riders hit double-figures, two of them on Team GB.

• 1. Dan Bewley – 14 (5 rides)
• 2. Robert Lambert – 13 (5)
• 3. Freddie Lindgren – 13 (6)
• 4. Vaclav Milik – 11 (6)
• =5. Tai Woffinden (4)
• =5. Kai Huckenbeck (6)

So that’s all she wrote! GB land a crushing win over Sweden, who are headed for Friday’s 6pm race-off along with the Czech Republic, who are just happy to be there.

• 1. Great Britain – 43
• 2. Sweden – 32
• 3. Czech Republic – 23
• 4. Germany – 22

Heartbreak for Germany! Robert Lambert ended the meeting how it started with a GB win and Vaclav Milik was locked in second ahead of Erik Riss. It looked like we were headed for a countback after a late tape change ratcheted up the tension even further, but Freddie Lindgren passed Riss late on to edge the Czech Republic one point ahead.

Germany aren’t done yet either! They’ll lead the Czech Republic by a single point going into the last heat as Kai Huckenbeck secures a valuable tapes-to-flag win. Behind him, Tom Brennan stepped straight up to finish second in his first ride of the night, Daniel Klima picked up a lucky point when Antonio Lindback’s bike packed up late-on.

Sweden aren’t going down without a fight! Jacob Thorssell takes the win to cap off a good night for the debutant, while Kevin Wolbert secured a valuable two points over Jan Kvech in third. Adam Ellis has been pointless in his last three rides, Tom Brennan gets his shot in place of Tai Woffinden for heat 19 so stay tuned for that…

Here’s how they look for the last four heats. If Great Britain are gain a point on Sweden in heat 17 they’ve won the meeting!

• 17. Milik (CZE), Bewley (GBR), Riss (GER), Berntzon (SWE)
• 18. Thorsell (SWE), Kvech (CZE), Ellis (GBR), Wolbert (GER)
• 19. Huckenbeck (GER), Lindback (SWE), Klima (CZE), Woffinden (GBR)
• 20. Lambert (GBR), Riss (GER), Lindgren (SWE), Chlupac (CZE)

Great Britain look good for the win, with the real battle still on for third as we enter the nominated heats. Will Tom Brennan get a runout for GB?

• 1. Great Britain – 35 (9 points in block)
• 2. Sweden – 26 (5)
• 3. Czech Republic – 18 (5)
• 4. Germany (5)

Disaster for Germany! Kai Huckenbeck pulled up from the start which allowed Tai Woffinden to take his second win of the evening while Jan Kvech held off Freddie Lindgren for second. For anyone confused by all the team changes, that was the first time since heat 11 that there were no substitutions on the heat!

Huge result for Great Britain. Dan Bewley got the launch he needed off the start and aside from nearly coming off on the second lap, he always looked good for the win. Sweden played their tactical sub with Freddie Lindgren who’s been fast all night but he had no answer for Bewley. Kevin Wolbert’s third place moves Germany back into third!

Erik Riss has been kept in reserve by Germany until now but had the best possible start as he fired into the lead. Robert Lambert struggled early on but fired up the back straight to take Riss on the outside while the German held Antonio Lindback in third to deal a huge favour to GB.

Those changes pay dividends as Vaclav Milik got off the gate quickest followed by Kai Huckenbeck. Oliver Berntzon and Adam Eliis re-ignited their battle at the back with the same result, Great Britain’s lead has been cut to 4.

Speaking of that battle for the run-off, it looks like Vaclav Milik will come in for Daniel Klima and Kai Huckenbeck will replace Norick Blodorn for heat 13. In the break Tai Woffinden hinted British reserve Tom Brennan was ready to come in too if needed but Adam Eilis remains in the lineup so far.

That point for Jacob Thorssell means Sweden can’t use a tactical switch – which would surely be fast Freddie Lindgren – until they drop more points to the Brits. Behind, the battle for third remains close.

• 1. Great Britain – 26 (8 points in block)
• 2. Sweden – 21 (7)
• 3. Czech Republic – 13 (5)
• 4. Germany – 12 (4)

The Czech manager has been by far the most active so far and it looked to have paid off as Jan Kvech took an early lead, before Kai Huckenbeck wound him in on the second lap. And after battling Adam Ellis at the back for most of the heat, Jacob Thorsell had a late charge on Kvech who held onto second by just a wheel. Ellis records GB’s first pointless heat of the night.

Really squirrelly from Robert Lambert heading into the first corner and Lindgren took advantage to take an unassailable lead. Kevin Wolbert had pace in third but ended the race under pressure from Daniel Klima.

Wow Tai Woffinden!!! Last after the first corner, Woffinden looked like he had a nitro boost for the rest of the race. He zoomed past Norick Blodorn and Antonio Lindback in fourth and third and put sub Vaclav Milik under enormous pressure over the next two laps before putting the inevitable move for the lead as they started the last lap. What a win for the British captain!

WHAT A MAN DAN BEWLEY!!! The Brit was out the back on the first lap but rode about twice as far as second-placed Oliver Berntzon with a series of deep lines through the turns paying dividends with Bewley eventually passing the Swede. He just had so much pace in that heat and Berntzon was powerless to stop it, while in third place Jan Hvech looked like he hit the wall on lap three but held on to his point.

• 1. Great Britain – 18 (8 points in block)
• 2. Sweden – 14 (7)
• 3. Czech Republic – 8 (6)
• 4. Germany – 8 (4)

A much more straightforward heat, but we needed that to catch our breath! Robert Lambert caught a flying start to take a lead he was never challenged for, with Kai Huckenbeck slotting into second. It’s GB’s first win of the block extending their lead over Sweden, who’s sub Kim Nilsson passed Hynek Stichauer for third in the Czech’s first race of the night.

Heat of the night! Jan Kvech took the Czech Republic’s second win in three races and it was chaos behind. Adam Ellis was out the back at one point but ended the race drag-racing Antonio Lindback to the line for second-place, after the Swede looked set to take the lead at one point. But it finished Kvech first ahead of Lindback, Ellis and Kevin Wolbert out the back.

Things are heating up here. Freddie Lindgren was third after the first turn but pulled round the outside of Dan Bewley and Norick Blodorn – the early leader – to win by half the straight. Bewley eventually passed Blodorn, who held third.

There was an extended break for track work and it’s had an effect – Woffinden bogged down at the start and was outstripped to the first corner by super-sub Vaclav Milik. Jacob Thorssell briefly challenged Woffinden for third but the Brit looked more likely to move forward than back.

I’m not sure why the Czech Republic named their captain as the reserve, but Vaclav Milik is in again at the start of the block after he was scoreless in heat 1. He’s in for Daniel Klima in heat 5.

After the first block of fixtures, favourites GB have already run up a lead on the rest of the competition. Sweden will disappointed after having two starts off gate one in that block but Dan Bewley showed his class against Antonio Lindback.

• 1. Great Britain – 10
• 2. Sweden – 7
• 3. Germany – 5
• 4. Czech Republic – 2

Dan Bewley take a bow! He got a flier off the start and was side-by-side with Antonio Lindback throughout the whole of the first lap. He had to slot in behind Lindback but was able to get past the Swede on the third lap with a lunge from miles back on the inside. He takes the first non-gate 1 win of the night. GB are already stamping their authority on the event.

No change to that form on the inside gate, Kevin Wolbert was once again first to turn 1 and so far it’s been the battle for second from the three other gates. Tai Woffinden did exactly that, and put the German under pressure without result. Oliver Berntzon got alongside Woffinden on lap 2 but ended up out of shape and ended up in last. Petr Chlupac picks up the Czech Republic’s first points of the night.

Gate 1 looks the place to be, Jacob Thorsell was quickest off the tapes but Robert Lambert did a great job getting across from the outside to slot into second. He shaped for a move on the Swede on lap 2 but it’s so hard to make a move off-line so he settled for second ahead of Norick Blodorn and Jan Kvech.

Start as you mean to go on! Adam Ellis and Vaclav Milik got the best start and the Brit never lost the lead from there. Milik lost out to Lindgren and Smolinski in the first corner though, Lindgren put pressure on Ellis but couldn’t shape for a move with the track looking quick on the inside but slower out wide.

As already mentioned, teams can substitute their reserve rider at any time and the Czechs are taking full advantage of that. Heat 1 is just minutes away from tapes up and they’ve already subbed captain and reserve Vaclav Milik in for Hynek Stichauer going from gate 4.

• There’s two semi-finals and the winner of each joins last year’s winners Poland in the four-team final. The remaining place is filled in a run-off from the losing semi-finalists.
• Each team is composed of five riders – four starters and a reserve at No.5.
• Each rider can take a maximum of six rides – five regular rides plus one tactical substitute ride.
• No.5 riders can replace any of their teammates in a heat at any time, taking a maximum of six rides – five regular rides plus one tactical substitute ride.
• Tactical substitutions are allowed when a team is six or more points behind the leading nation. Each rider can only take ONE tactical substitute ride. Tactical substitutions must stop if a team moves within five points or less of the leading nation.
• The line-ups for heats 17 to 20 are nominated by the team managers, with the team manager of the fourth-placed country selecting first and the manager of the leading nation nominating last.

Great Britain are fielding the strongest team, Woffinden, Bewley and Lambert finished top three after heats for the season-opening 2023 Croatian GP.

GB: Tai Woffinden (C), Dan Bewley, Robert Lambert, Adam Ellis; Tom Brennan (reserve)

Sweden: Freddie Lindgren (C), Jacob Thorssell, Antonio Lindback, Oliver Berntzon; Kim Nilsson (R)

Germany: Kai Huckenbeck (C), Kevin Wolbert, Norick Blodorn, Martin Smolinksi; Erik Riss (R)

Czech Republic: Jan Kvech (C), Hynek Stichauer, Petr Chlupac, Daniel Kilma; Vaclav Milik (R)

Good morning, good afternoon or goodnight to wherever you’re watching from in the world! The first Speedway World Cup semi-final since 2017 is coming up very shortly, as Great Britain look to book their place in the final and win the competition for the first time since 1989!