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Last Updated: Nov 28th, 2010 - 10:22:29 |
It was a marvellous night for Team Great Britain at a packed out Norfolk Arena in Kings Lynn on Monday at Round 2 of the Speedway World Cup. It was a titanic tussle between the host nation Team Great GB and a young Australian side that featured many ex Kings Lynn riders.
After Simon Stead was excluded for Tea, GB in heat 23, it looked as though the side may not win the meeting and the final two heats were the decider for victory on the night. Wins from GP star Chris Harris and Scott Nicholls, sent the Brits’ straight through to Saturday’s final in Vojens. Denmark and sent a large crowd home very happy. Leandra Graves spoke to the Coventry star after the awesome display to see how pleased he was with the team’s performance.
“Yes I’m really happy. The team manager was really good tonight and the five of us got together and rode as a team. Danny King was there as the extra man in the pits and he was helping. Pushing us and keeping an eye on things, to help keep the team spirit going.
“There is always pressure! Especially on me and Nicholls in the final two heats to clinch the win. Luckily it paid off at the end. The gate positions we had were good, so that did favour us and that was a little bit of help. That’s what we’re there for, to take the pressure.”
It may not have been the 20,000 fans that Gorzow had for Round 1 of the Speedway World Cup, but for a Monday night event being featured live on television, around 5,000 fans made their way to Kings Lynn to support the British team and certainly got their money’s worth with the perfect result.
“The atmosphere was great. The fans really got behind us and they were our extra man tonight, they really lifted us. Everytime I went out at the start, I could see the flags flying and they were backing us all the way.”
The result may have been to the likening of the majority of the supporters but for the first 15 heats, most of the racing was largely processional. It appeared to liven up only for the remaining 10 heats once there were more lines to ride on the track.
“The track wasn’t the best I’ve ever ridden but it did get better as the night went on. It did get slick towards the end, but we managed to work it to our advantage as we became stronger and we got the job done.”
However, anyone present at the Norfolk Arena may also remember the night for more disturbing reasons. A very unwelcome swarm of greenfly which seemed to encompass the whole stadium. Luckily it didn’t seem to affect ‘Bomber’ too much on the track and with his preparations.
“The swarm of flies didn’t really affect us, luckily we had our goggles!”
The Vastervik star also had a lucky miss when he there was a problem with the starting tapes that nearly interfered with his helmet whilst leading.
“I was quite surprised when I came around after my first lap and I saw the tape dangling in front of me. I just tried to stay out of the way of it!”
Now the Team GB side have four days to wait before the final of the Speedway World Cup competition. Plenty of time to check out their competition?
“The whole team are flying out Wednesday night as that was what was originally booked. We will go there and watch the practice. We will try and pick up some tips on the track and set-up. Then I think we will just relax really and maintain the excellent team spirit.”
After a successful night’s work, the talk after was still about whether there would be any rider changes for the final.
“I think Danny King is coming to the practice with us and then Rob Lyon will make his decision. It’s hard to take somebody out of the team after tonight when everyone rode well. I’m sure whatever decision Rob will make, the team will support it and we will just continue as we are.”
Finally, after beating the confident Aussies, how does the Cornwall born star rate his chances for his side lifting the trophy in Vojens?
“We have been in the race-off the last three years so it’s really nice to miss it this year and go automatically to the final. It’s going to be tough in the race-off but I think Denmark in their own country will be hard to beat and I think probably the Aussies will just squeeze it in the race off. We can beat anyone on the day. A bit of bad luck on their part and good luck on ours and who knows!”
Article by and with permission of By Leandra Graves.
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