Team Australia has finished second in the 2024 Speedway of Nations (SON), with home side Great Britain defeating the Aussies in a wonderfully entertaining decider on July 13.
After 22 heats to decide the two finalists at the National Speedway Stadium in Manchester, it then all came down to a battle between Aussies Jack Holder and Brady Kurtz and British pair Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley to crown the 2024 champion – Australia looking to retain the title it won in 2022, and Great Britain seeking to reclaim the silverware it last won in 2021.
Thanks to dynamic starts from Lambert and Bewley, the CBS Bins-backed Australia was always on the back foot in the final – except for a fleeting moment when Holder and Kurtz positioned themselves in second and third. That would have been enough to claim the spoils, but Bewley had other ideas and sling-shotted back into second to secure British success in front of a partisan crowd.
Minutes earlier, Australia progressed straight through to the decider after taking Poland to the sword in a sensational heat 21, which included an audacious passing move around the outside of superstar Bartosz Zmarzlik by a red-hot Kurtz – who knows every inch of the National Speedway Stadium as captain of host club Belle Vue Aces in the British premiership league.
With Poland eliminated from proceedings, Great Britain then defeated Sweden in a race-off for the right to take on the Aussies – and ultimately, success.
Aussie captain Holder was magnanimous in defeat.
“The whole meeting tonight was awesome. There was plenty of good racing and the crowd was loving it. It came down to that Grand Final and the Speedway of Nations is hard. You are trying to race your own race, but you are always looking behind,” he said.
“You are trying to slow it up and it’s quite hard to slow up a race when you are going that fast around this track. We did the best we could and that was enough for second.
“Brady was good. He has ridden here week in and week out for Belle Vue over the last couple of years. He did his job; everyone did their job. It wasn’t good enough, but fair play to Great Britain – they got the job done when it mattered. We will hopefully come back strong next year.”
Sweden finished third overall in the SON, ahead of Germany, Poland, Denmark and Latvia.
Meanwhile, Australia’s 2024 SON campaign got off to a solid start on July 10 after finishing second in its semi-final behind Denmark, which guaranteed direct entry into the final. Holder, Kurtz and Max Fricke all competed in the semi before Holder and Kurtz were the only riders used in the July 13 decider.
Australia third in SON2
The massive week of team speedway in Manchester also included the 2024 SON2 event for U21 riders on July 12, where Team Australia finished a sensational third on an extremely sodden surface.
After a huge 28-heat program, the event went down to the wire, with the Keynan Rew-led Aussies finishing on the same points as a fast-finishing Sweden – which was then awarded second on a countback. Poland was the victor.
It was Australia’s fourth podium in the SON2 arena, following on from second place finishes in 2012 and 2017 and a third in 2015.
Rew was outstanding on the slick surface, winning six of his seven heats and leading the individual scoring on 27pts. James Pearson provided solid support to the rampaging Rew, while Aussie No. 3 Michael West wasn’t used by team manager Mark Lemon.
