From left to right: Men's Senior GB Team, Ladies GB Team and the Junior GB Team
Men's Senior Team Lose Series But Close The Gap On Polish Dominance
Following years of Polish dominance on the European scene, the Great Britain Cycle Speedway squad return from Poland defeated but not disgraced as they confirmed that they now compete on a level playing field with the Eastern Europeans.
The Lions slipped to a single point defeat at Bydgoszcz in the opening test, which by the teams own admission, was down to their own mistakes rather than Polish dominance. Team GB galvanised to put this right at Zoledowo in the 2nd Test in what was one of the most memorable Cycle Speedway internationals ever staged.
Above: A video taster from Si at Shift Studios.
The Lions looked strong and disciplined as they took the 2nd test by a comfortable 92 points to 83, but the racing was fast and competitive and the Poles certainly fought all the way in front of a large and noisy crowd, which created an amazing atmosphere, under the floodlights on a fast race track.
The final test decider at Torun offered a display of international racing at its best on a tight and tricky circuit which proved to be a tough challenge for the GB riders. Unfortunately, after leading 42-46 at the interval, Great Britain suffered five second half exclusions to crash to a series defeat with Boaler, Mould, Jewkes, Timms and Heard all sent to the pits pointless for a range of infringements.
Team Manager Dave Murphy was clearly disappointed by the result, but still proud of his team's efforts when he said: "We controlled the first ten heats, as planned, and appeared on track to clinch the series. The exclusions came thick and fast - it was like a car crash! I never thought I'd suffer whiplash managing a cycle speedway team."
The first exclusion was unfortunate when Mark Boaler was deemed to have moved at the start, despite claims that the Pole Binkowski was at fault. The resulting 7-2 Polish heat win meant that the Lions found themselves chasing the match and mistakes crept in, leading to further exclusions.
Murphy concluded by saying: "I'm proud of the team effort and overall performance considering the track at Torun, both in shape and surface, was nothing like many riders had experienced before. Some of the mistakes and exclusions were probably down to our difficulty in handling the conditions".
Results
Tuesday 16 August - Bydgoszcz
Poland 87: Marcin Szymanski 20, Maciej Ganczarek 16, Tomasz Wlodarczyk 14, Marek Pronobis 12, Rafal Dulinski 10, Piotr Pluczynski 7, Remigiusz Burchardt 6, Radoslaw Wróblewski 2.
Great Britain 86: Paul Heard 16, Chris Timms 13, Andy Angell 12, Steve Harris 12, Jono Birks 10, Adam Peck 9, Mark Boaler 8, Ben Mould 6.
Wednesday 17 August - Zoledowo
Poland 82: Przemyslaw Binkowski 16, Remigiusz Burchardt 13, Marcin Kolata 12, Marcin Paradzinski 11, Szymon Kowalczyk 11, Sebastian Morawiak 9, Radoslaw Sieradzki 8, Pawel Kozlowski 4.
Great Britain 93: Mark Boaler 14, Paul Heard 14, Jono Birks 14, Lee Aris 12, Steve Harris 10, Chris Timms 10, Adam Peck 9, Chris Jewkes 7.
Thursday 18 August - Torun
Poland 91: Przemyslaw Binkowski 19, Rafal Dulinski 19, Marcin Kolata 12, Pawel Cegielski 12, Michal Nowak 11, Marcin Paradzinski 9, Kriger 5, Szymon Kowalczyk 4
Great Britain 82: Lee Aris 15, Chris Timms 12, Steve Harris 11, Mark Boaler 11, Paul Heard 10, Andy Angell 10, Ben Mould 8, Chris Jewkes 5
Great Britain Junior Team Win In Poland
The Great Britain Junior Cycle Speedway team defeated Poland to clinch a 2-1 Test Series victory during a hectic three days of racing in Northern Poland.
After dominating the1st Test at Bydgoszcz, the Young Lions crashed to defeat at Zoledowo, so GB Team Manager Dave Murphy was ecstatic when the juniors bounced back to win the three-match series at Torun. "All riders rode to instructions and played their part by scoring vital points when required," he said.
The GB success gave credence to the fact that the British Cycling sponsored Junior Academy has benefited the development of young cycle speedway riders as Murphy concluded: "Let's now believe that this form can be carried forward into the senior team in the near future."
Results
Tuesday 16 August - Bydgoszcz
Poland Juniors 70: R Ignacak 12, D Zajac 11, P Piechota 11, A Symanski 10, S.Paruzel 9, A Mazur 9, P.Ziarni 4, S Wasinski 4.
Great Britain Juniors 106: Mark Carmichael 18, Ben Higham 16, Aaron Morgan 14, Scott Millward 14, Jack Harrold 14, Dan Chambers 11, Josh Colby 10, Ben Mould 9.
Wednesday 17 August - Zoledowo
Poland Juniors 94: P Piechota 18, N Sassek 17, A Zajac 14, P Kupczyk 11, K Naskret 11, P Domagala 10, P Kasperczka 9, A Szymanski 4.
Great Britain Juniors 82: Mark Carmichael 16, Aaron Morgan 14, Dan Chambers 14, Scott Millward 12, Jack Harrold 9, Ben Higham 8, Josh Colby 7, Joe Kemp 3.
Thursday August 18th - Torun
Poland Juniors 88: K.Naskret 15, P.Piechota 15, P.Kasperczak 14, N.Sassek 13, R.Ignacak 8, P.Kupczyk 7, D.Zachmyc 4.
Great Britain Juniors 92: Scott Millward 19, Mark Carmichael 16, Ben Mould 15, Aaron Morgan 16, Jack Harrold 9, Dan Chambers 7, Ben Higham 5, Joe Kemp 5.
GB Ladies Overcome Poland
The first Poland v Great Britain Ladies Test Series, in Bydgoszcz proved to be a great success in paving the way for the future development of women's international racing.
"The GB girls all worked well as a group and demonstrated great support for one another, and off the track, under the leadership of their captain Vicky Brown," said GB Manager Dave Murphy. Murphy handed Ivan Pike, from Ipswich, the lead role in managing the Ladies team in the pits based on his experience of coaching and supporting female riders. The management team will have been proud of the team as they achieved a fine 2-0 victory over the spirited Polish girls.
The series was primarily a ‘promotional event' and the British girls raced in the spirit of showing the Polish riders, spectators and its governing body that ladies racing has a bright future. "It was good to see the girls racing as a team and not for individual glory, as all the GB Ladies were capable of winning races - It would be unfair to single out any one girl, as they all performed well and followed instructions, from Ivan, to make the racing interesting in promoting the sport" said Murphy.
However, next year will be a different story as the Ladies teams will be racing for European titles and winning will be the target for all involved and Poland are expected to improve considerably.
The Polish girls are new to the sport, but already they have some key female racers emerging such as Polish Champion Zameta Siemanoska, British based Sandra Tomborska and Sandra Bielaczek.
Results
Monday 15 August - Bydgoszcz
Poland Ladies 51: Zameta Siemanoska 14, Sandra Bielaczek 13, Sandra Tomborska 13, Angelica Piechota 8, Kamila Wypych 7, Isabela Zimma 6.
Great Britain Ladies 88: Danielle Riley 14, Lauren Davies 14, Michelle Whitehead 14, Livvy Horsley 12, Lauren Hookway 11, Laura Dale 9, Vicky Brown 8, Laura Watson 6.
Tuesday 16 August - Bydgoszcz
Poland Ladies 57: Sandra Tomborska 16, Anita Siemanoska 15, Sandra Bielaczek 8, Angelica Piechota 7, Kamila Wypych 7, Isabela Zimma 4.
Great Britain Ladies 92: Lauren Davies 14, Livvy Horsley 14, Lauren Hookway 14,Vicky Brown 12, Laura Watson 11, Danielle Riley 10, Michelle Whitehead 9, Laura Dale 8.
