ROBERT LAMBERT admitted it was a “tough one” as Russia wrapped up their third successive Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations crown in a rain-soaked Lublin.
Great Britain fielded their youngest-ever side in the SoN and finished on 12 points in dreadful conditions in Poland on Saturday night.
Russia retained the title after finishing on 23 points alongside Poland when the meeting was abandoned after 15 heats. Emil Sayfutdinov and Artem Laguta taking the crown having beaten the Poles 5-4 when they raced earlier in the meeting.
GB, already without talisman Tai Woffinden, had a troubled night with Lambert touching the tapes twice and Dan Bewley also crashing out.
The highlights of the night were Bewley sweeping around World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik in Heat 1, only for the Pole to repay the compliment. The Brits also stormed to a 7-2 over the Czech Republic later in the meeting.
Lambert said: “It was definitely a tough one. I made a big mistake in the first one and messed that up.
“But you’ve got to try and put that behind you. The track was getting progressively worse with the rain coming down.
“We tried to fix things with the bike to make it faster and get off the start because that was crucial.
“Obviously I touched the tapes again. It was a big shame for us. I know we could have done better.
“A big thanks to Rob Painter for all that he’s doing for Great Britain for getting us out here with the big set-up we’ve got and all the sponsors that we’ve got.
“Also a big thanks to the fans in the UK for cheering us on. Just a big sorry for the bad night. This happens and you learn from it.
“Even before practice there was just a lot of slush on top, underneath was dry. We were hoping after practice we’d be OK but then it started to rain again and the hard inside line got really greasy.
“But we came here with a young team and that’s going to be good experience for us all.”
Sayfutdinov effectively won the title for Russia with an extraordinary ride up the fence to pass Australia’s Jason Doyle and Max Fricke in Heat 13.
However the meeting ended on a sour note with a horrific crash two races later when Freddie Lindgren lifted violently coming out the fourth turn, fell and was ploughed into by Oliver Berntzon and Symon Wozniak. Thankfully all three riders got up from the incident, but it turned out to be the last moment of the SoN.
Pictures: TAYLOR LANNING
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LATEST RESULTS...
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 23:
PREMIERSHIP
Peterborough 58 – Michael Palm Toft 15+2
King’s Lynn 32 – Thomas Jorgensen 9
Premiership points: Peterborough 3 King’s Lynn 0
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 22:
CHAMPIONSHIP
Birmingham 55 – Chris Harris 15
Newcastle 35 – Ben Barker 10
Championship points: Birmingham 3 Newcastle 0
Poole 52 – Danny King 14
Redcar 38 – Lewis Kerr 12+2
Championship points: Poole 3 Redcar 0
Glasgow v Leicester - OFF Re-staging date: Sunday September 26 @ 6pm
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 21:
CHAMPIONSHIP Kent 37 (Scott Nicholls 11) Leicester 53 (Nick Morris 13+1) Championship points: Kent 0 Leicester 4
CHAMPIONSHIP Glasgow 3 Leicester 3 Abandoned after Heat 1 (weather/track conditions) – Result does not stand. Re-staging date: Wednesday September 22, 7.30pm
Newcastle 44 – Max Clegg 13+2 Birmingham 45 – Erik Riss 15+1 Championship points: Newcastle 0 Birmingham 3
CHALLENGE
Mildenhall v Ex-Fen Tigers - OFF
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 18:
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP S/F 1st leg Leicester 49 – Nick Morris 15 Poole 41 – Steve Worrall 10
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP, Plymouth
500cc 1 Ben Trigger 2 Max Perry
250cc 1 Luke Harrison 2 Ace Pijper 3 Jody Scott 4 Max James
125cc (a) 1 Cooper Rushen 2 Jamie Etherington 3 Stene Pijper 4 Oliver Bovingdon
Cooper Rushen beat Stene Pijper in run-off for 125cc title
125cc (support) 1 Harry Fletcher 2 Kayden Mundy 3 Casper Kluczniak 4 Seth Norman
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 17:
BRITISH UNDER-19 CHAMPIONSHIP, at Scunthorpe
1. Drew Kemp 15 – Ipswich / Edinburgh
2. Dan Thompson 14 - Leicester
3. Jason Edwards 12 – Plymouth / Mildenhall – After run off
