LAMBERT: BRITS WILL BOUNCE BACK STRONGER

Great Britain star Robert Lambert believes the Lions can come back stronger after suffering Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup heartbreak in Wroclaw on Saturday.

The Brits went into a last-heat decider just a point behind Poland as they battled for their first world title over the four-team World Cup format since England won gold at Bradford in 1989.

Going into lap three, Lambert was holding second place behind Aussie star Max Fricke in heat 20, with Polish racer Maciej Janowski placed last behind Denmark’s Anders Thomsen.

This would have been enough for GB to grab gold, but Janowski gave Thomsen the slip at the end of the lap, before sending Wroclaw into a frenzy when he dived under Lambert at the start of lap four to snatch the title for Poland.

It was a cruel way for Britain to miss out on what would have been their first world title on foreign shale since England’s 1984 FIM Speedway World Pairs win at Lonigo – 39 years ago.

But Lambert is determined to bounce back as the Lions finished in the world’s top two for the third straight season.

He said: “We knew watching the Race Off that it was going to be much closer in the Final and it would come down to the last four heats.

“I knew I needed to win that last one. Everything was cool and I made a good start, but Max had to come and mess things up and get in front. I knew if I was in second and Magic was behind me, we would have a run-off.

“I tried to finish it in that race and get the win. I moved off the line and Magic came up the inside. I was fast. I had speed in the bike. I did what I could, but it didn’t work.

“I was just thinking of that last heat as another race because I could have ended up losing everything in my head and messing things up big time. I was making good starts all night. I was very confident in my equipment. 

“I know it’s the best GB has done in the World Cup, but we had belief we could come here, get a medal and push forwards to win it. We knew that and we believed that. 

"It’s hard to take at the moment, but we move forwards and sometimes you need those knockbacks to come back stronger again.”