BEWLEY: MALILLA MOVE MADE TO MASTER TRACK

Great Britain racer Dan Bewley hopes his winter Malilla move will pay dividends as he lines up on his home track for the Holmgrens Bil FIM Speedway GP of Sweden – Malilla tonight.

The Cumbrian raced to two championship points in the 2022 Malilla event – his lowest return of a fine debut Speedway GP season, which saw him finish sixth in the World Championship and top the podium in Cardiff and Wroclaw.

Bewley helped Smederna win the Bauhaus Elitserien championship in Sweden last season, but he made the switch to Malilla club Dackarna for 2023 and the team is currently second to near neighbours Vastervik in the standings.

The Wroclaw and Belle Vue rider admits his Swedish switch was partly made in an effort to master the Malilla track.

“That’s part of the reason I signed here,” he said. “Just to try and get a little bit better here. I felt like coming here would make me a better rider. I enjoyed the meeting here in 2022. I didn’t feel like I struggled or anything like that. I struggled with the starts, but I enjoyed the actual track.

“I have had a pretty good season here and some pretty good meetings. It’s a pretty fun track and I loved it last year. I thought it was pretty cool. I just didn’t have the result last year, but I am looking forward to it and we will see what we can do. 

“It has been good for me here so far and as far as the Dackarna team here goes, we are in a really good position for the play-offs.”

Bewley is still waiting for his first final of 2023, having reached the semi-finals at each of the first four rounds and fallen just short at the last round in Gorzow, scoring eight championship points. 

The GB international’s form in the heats has been rock-solid so far this season, and he’s a little frustrated not to have gained the rewards from this. He admits racing under the previous SGP scoring system, which awarded one championship point for every race point scored, would have left him in better shape.

He said: “If we had the old point system, or we were going off the heats, I think we would be a bit further up. But we are not, and everyone knows the game. The big points are paid out at the end. You just have to be there at the end and try and turn it around.”

STORY: PAUL BURBIDGE