Poland raced to a record-breaking ninth Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup win after hometown hero Maciej Janowski pipped Great Britain to gold in Wroclaw on Saturday.
The Lions roared out of the traps and appeared to be on course for their first world title over the four-rider format since 1989. But Janowski broke British hearts in heat 20, taking second place ahead of GB star Robert Lambert to send the Olympic Stadium crowd wild in one of the all-time great Monster Energy FIM SWC Finals.
Poland triumphed on 33 points, with Great Britain claiming silver on 31 - their best-ever performance in the FIM SWC outside of the UK.
Rafal Dobrucki (Polish team manager): "It was a really tough meeting. We expected a very close fight. All the guys were very good, and everything was decided in the very final heat. I want to say a big thank you to the fans, the team and the people around us. Every detail mattered, every race was different, the guys worked well in the pits, and we were in big trouble sometimes. But at the end, it was good. Dziękuję Wroclaw."
Maciej Janowski (Team Poland): “I am proud of my team, proud of the fans and proud of everybody who was around us. To be honest, I was pretty chilled going into the last race. I knew the changes we had made for the last heat gave me not-so-bad speed. It was maybe not working the best on the outside, but when I moved to the inside, I felt I could be in that fight for second position. The boys were fighting each other, and I thought I could maybe use the gap. I saw the gap at the end of the third lap. I used a good line, and it was actually working. Big thanks to the rest of the teams because I think we showed great racing. It was very emotional.”
Jason Doyle (Team Australia): "It's not looking good for Jack (Holder). He's complaining of a wrist injury. All the best for him. He flew through the air and landed on his wrist, so it's not looking good. It was so close all night and Jack was a massive key. We knew that it was going to be difficult to get back into the game. But that's speedway! What a great night of racing, very close. Over the last couple of days, I have really enjoyed riding for Team Australia. It is a great week for our sport and our country. Not the result we wanted, but fair play to Poland. What a great night!"
Robert Lambert (Team GB): "We knew it was going to be much closer today, and I knew I needed to win that last one. Everything was cool; I made the perfect start and I knew if I was second, we would have a run-off. I was fast, I had speed in the bike, but it didn't work. I was just thinking it was another race because I could have ended up losing everything in my head and messing things up. I know it's the best GB has done in the World Cup, but we had belief we could come and get a medal and even push to win it. I have to take a moment and move forward. Sometimes you need knock-backs to bounce back stronger."
Oliver Allen (Joint GB manager): "This was a fantastic advert for speedway. Anyone who watched this meeting will be fascinated by this sport. It was a really good event. Everything was decided in the last race between three teams. I know we started well, but we had a bad block of gates and we dropped points there. The result is good, our world ranking for the last three years has been good, but when you come so close, it feels like a loss, not a win. Robert Lambert is very disappointed because he was in that last race, but he has to keep in mind it's a collective effort. It's not down to one race; it's how many points you score in the night. I'm proud of him and I'm proud of the team."
FIM Communications