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Last Updated: Nov 28th, 2010 - 10:22:29 |
The night Team GB won their place in the elusive Speedway World Cup Final in Denmark. A lot of people had written off the British boys chances of booking their place direct to the final on Saturday but they were proved wrong after a marvellous display at the Norfolk Arena on Monday night.
Chris Harris and Scott Nicholls packed the killer blows with 8 wins between them and of course had the tough challenge and the pressure of making sure they delivered the goods in heat 24 and heat 25.
It was particularly welcoming to see Nicholls back in such good form after being dropped from the Team GB side in 2009.
On a night that may also be remembered for the invasion of greenfly at the stadium in Kings Lynn, it was certainly a night to celebrate for the fans in attendance. A crowd of just below 5,000 made their presence felt waving the Union Jack flags and really entered into the spirit of the occasion.
The team were decked out in the national uniforms (quite smart!) and seemed solid as a unit in the pits. Daniel King was in attendance and helping in the pits, as well as Oliver Allen who watched on.
The Australian team who were rated as favourites before the meeting were of course without their two big stars, Jason Crump and the experienced Leigh Adams. The team was full of youth and exuberance (in bucket loads!) and their appeared to be a good spirit between them bearing in mind there has been some very strong rivalry between several riders. Remember Chris Holder and Troy Batchelor at Poole and Peterborough! The team were spotted playing football together on the track during the break between practice and the main event and were supported by what it seems like hoards of fellow Aussie riders in the pits such as Mitchell Davy.
There was good camaraderie before the meeting with Davey Watt receiving a lot of stick from his fellow riders for wearing his flip-flops whilst in his leathers and he and Antonio Lindback seemed to share a few jokes before the business end of the racing started.
The rain just held off until Scott Nicholls passed the chequered flag in the final heat to the delight of the fans.
Sweden were without their GP star Andreas Jonsson but Jonas Davidsson stepped up to the plate and was the best rider on the night for the side. A strange decision not to have selected the young Swede but he outperformed his Swedish counterparts on the night. It was lovely to see Magnus Zetterstrom make him Speedway World Cup debut at the age of 38 too!
It was a night to celebrate being British and to be proud of the boys for their performance on the track. Hopes were high for a chance of a rostrum and picking up a medal in the final at Vojens, Denmark but they were to miss out agonisingly by just two points behind the eventual third place team, Sweden. It’s easy to wonder what would have happened if the rain on the original final date hadn’t caused the meeting to be postponed since the Team GB were making the best of the sludgy conditions. However, there’s always next year…
Article by ad with permission of Lisa Healy.
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