LAMBERT: STEPPING UP

Great Britain ace Robert Lambert admits the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series is “definitely a step up” from Poland’s PGE Ekstraliga.

Lambert earned his full-time Speedway GP debut last year as winner of the 2020 Speedway European Championship.

The Norfolk-born racer claimed 10^th place in the final 2021 Speedway GP standings, reaching five semi-finals along the way, before crowning the campaign by leading GB to FIM Speedway of Nations gold in Manchester.

Lambert is determined to build on that historic season in what will be his second full term in the Speedway GP World Championship, added to the 2019 season when he served as series first reserve.

The Torun racer has been competing with the best riders in the world regularly for several years now, and has ridden in the PGE Ekstraliga since 2019 – previously representing Lublin and Rybnik.

While racing in the world’s biggest speedway league in Poland will have certainly helped to prepare Lambert for Speedway GP life, he admits lining up on the sport’s top stage is another level entirely.

He said: “I thought the Ekstraliga was high-pressure. But the Grand Prix is definitely a step up from that.

“When you are so focused and involved with it as much as I want to be with the drive and determination I have, the intensity is double that of the Ekstraliga. You go to Poland the day after and it is a breeze by comparison.

“Last year was a learning year. It was something different to just being the reserve and just coming in and doing a few meetings. Being a fully-fledged rider in the GPs was a different feeling. But I learned a lot of stuff last season that I can put into this coming season.”

Lambert will also race in Sweden’s Bauhaus Elitserien, where he will compete for Eskilstuna club Smederna, joining forces with his FIM SON-winning team mate Dan Bewley.