LIDSEY AIMS TO EXTEND MONSTER ENERGY FIM SWC DREAM

28/07/2023

LIDSEY AIMS TO EXTEND MONSTER ENERGY FIM SWC DREAM

Aussie shooting star Jaimon Lidsey hopes to continue living his Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup dream as he prepares for tonight’s Race Off in Wroclaw.

The Roos fell a point short of Final qualification at Semi-Final 2 on Wednesday as Denmark pipped them to victory.

Australia now take on three-time FIM SWC winners Sweden, Czech Republic and Race Off debutants France for the one remaining spot in Saturday’s Final alongside hosts Poland, Semi-Final 1 winners Great Britain and Denmark.

Lidsey was the Aussies’ star man, scoring a sensational 16 points from a possible 18 on his Monster Energy FIM SWC debut.

While he is expecting a tough battle tonight, he’s determined to help the Roos extend their run in the competition into Saturday’s Final as he bids to continue piling up the points for his country.

He said: “It’s a dream come true to be a part of the Australian squad. Unfortunately, we didn’t get there on Wednesday, but we all tried our best and hopefully we can do well tonight and make it through to the Final. “This is the Speedway World Cup, and every race is tough. You cannot afford to get a third or fourth place in these meetings. Hopefully we can come on strong on Friday and get through to Saturday. We came so close on Wednesday, but not close enough.”

Lidsey leads the fight for Australia. PHOTO: Jarek Pabijan

Having raced for the Aussies in the FIM Speedway of Nations for three seasons from 2018 to 2020, Lidsey is delighted to now be among Australia’s senior stars as he joins forces with Jack Holder, Max Fricke, Jason Doyle and Chris Holder.

“To represent Australia in a senior position is a dream come true,” he said. “I am very honoured to do so. It’s always good when you have some speed, you are confident in what’s under you and scoring some points. Hopefully we go well on Friday and Saturday as well.”

Swedish boss Morgan Andersson hopes his side can make the most of a fresh start in tonight’s Race Off after falling 11 points short of Great Britain in Semi-Final 1 on Tuesday.

With only Fredrik Lindgren racing into double figures on 12 points, he hopes the world No.4’s teammates can join him in piling up the points tonight.

“Today is another day,” Andersson said. “Many of our riders don’t race in the Ekstraliga, so they are not riding here every year. We learned a lot from Tuesday night. We knew that meeting was going to be very hard.

“We need to have everything work well for us and to have a bit of luck to beat the Brits. We are coming in with an open mind and we have recharged for a couple of days, and we will push to make the Final on Saturday.”

Swedish star Fredrik Lindgren. PHOTO: Jarek Pabijan

French boss Laurent Sambarrey paid tribute to his top two Dimitri Berge and David Bellego as they fired their country to another major milestone.

Having reached their first speedway world team final of any kind at the 2021 FIM Speedway of Nations, they qualified for the Monster Energy FIM SWC for the very first time for this season by taking fourth place in 2022 FIM SON Semi-Final 2.

Berge delivered a stellar performance in Wednesday’s Monster Energy FIM SWC Semi-Final 2, scoring 14 points, with Bellego adding five. Sambarrey was delighted to see them show their teammates the way again.

He said: “I am very happy for the team. The French team is better step by step every year and for the country, this is very good. I am really happy for the guys. Dimitri and David are very good riders and scored the points. It was more difficult for the other guys in the team, but David and Dimi helped the other riders with their setups.

“It’s good because we go in the Race Off and this is a good step. The Race Off is a good thing for the French team and we hope to make the best of it.”

French racer Dimitri Berge pushes for the lead. PHOTO: Jarek Pabijan

Czech racer Jan Kvech saluted skipper Vaclav Milik after the pair teamed up to fire their side through – pipping Germany to third place by a point in Semi-Final 1 on Tuesday.

With Milik scoring 11 and Kvech bagging 10, the Czechs will hope for more heroics from their top two tonight. Kvech said: “I am feeling really good. I would like to say thank you to Vaclav Milik for a good job. He created a good spirit in that team. We will see what happens today. But we have a good team and a good team spirit for the Race Off.”