Speedway of Nations Night 1 recap - Great Britain beaten by sensational Sweden in semi-final but qualify for final thanks to Dan Bewly masterclass
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Updated 30/09/2025 at 20:31 GMT+1
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The Marian Rose Motoarena in Poland welcomes the 2025 Speedway of Nations, with all the action live on TNT Sports and discovery+. Last year's edition saw Great Britain take the victory, powered by Robert Lambert, Dan Bewley and Tom Brennan. All three men are back this year to defend their crown. The semi-finals begin tonight, with the reigning champions in action.
Highlights: Kurtz dominates in Vojens but misses out on world title by one point to Zmarzlik
Video credit: TNT Sports
GB safely into SON final but overshadowed by sensational Sweden
Dan Bewley and Robert Lambert will defend their Speedway of Nations title in Saturday's final but they were outclassed by a dangerous Swedish squad who won the first semi-final spearheaded by Fredrik Lindgren.
Sweden have won bronze in the last two SON editions but under new manager Linus Sundstrom, Lindgren and Jacob Thorssell put the speedway world on watch in their opening heat when they smashed Great Britain's reigning champions.
GB recovered with Dan Bewley finding blistering pace on the outside and leading his team to comfortably finish second and also qualify for the final while behind, Latvia saw off Germany in the race-off to become the fourth finalists alongside GB, Sweden and hosts Poland.
Racing for the team ranked fourth in the world, Norick Blodorn faded badly for Germany who only reached the shoot-out with Latvia in a tiebreaker with Norway as Mathias Pollestad shone for the dark horses.
Wednesday will see three teams from Australia, Denmark, Czech Republic, France, Finland, Ukraine and Argentina complete the lineup for the final, but Sweden set the benchmark on night one in Torun and Great Britain will need to improve to successfully defend their crown on Saturday.
What's next?
Come back tomorrow night at the same time, same place for the second semi-final to decide the last three teams in Saturday's Final.
Australia (ranked second in the world), Denmark, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ukraine and Argentina will battle it out over 21 heats and the Final Qualifier to join Sweden, Great Britain, Latvia and Poland in the final which is also live on TNT Sports and discovery+, as our live coverage starts at 17:30 UK time.
Brady Kurtz, Jack Holder and Jason Doyle will be hard to beat but Danish trio Leon Madsen, Michael Jepsen Jensen and Mikkel Michelsen are formidable opponents while Vaclav Milik, Jan Kvech, Antti Vuolos and David Bellego are more than capable of springing a surprise too.
Final Qualifier - Kolodinskis, Blodorn, Lebedevs, Huckenbeck
Latvia join GB and Sweden in the final! Kolodinskis made the start while Lebedevs pulled the Bewley bomb around the outside, and by the end of the first lap it was all but over.
Blodorn was briefly in second for Germany but couldn't sustain that and the number four team in the world are out.
Final Qualifier Gate Choices
It's advantage Latvia as they have gates one and three, but on paper Norick Blodorn is better than Daniils Kolodinskis and they just have to avoid finishing last.
Final Qualifier - Kolodinskis, Blodorn, Lebedevs, Huckenbeck.
Swedish performance 'surprises' manager
Swedish team manager Linus Sundstrom has sprung two surprises tonight - as a first-time manager at the SON he's steered his team into the final having only dropped two points.
Secondly, there's a hint of an Australian accent in his interview with TNT Sports:
"I said before the meeting that it's important to get off to get a good start, we had Great Britain in the first round, managed to get a 7-2 there and after that just keep knocking in the points.
"So I'm very pleased with the guys' performances today, used all three on track which is good for the team to get going and feel the track, we're in the final now and now the serious stuff begins.
"It was definitely better than expected, of course I expect a high performance but that all three of them could perform at this surprises me, of course in a good way."
Final standings
1. Sweden - 40 points (Qualify for the final)
2. Great Britain - 37 (Qualify for the final)
3. Latvia - 30 (Race Germany in Final Qualifier)
5. Germany - 26 (Race Latvia in Final Qualifier)
5. Norway - 26
6. Slovenia - 16
7. Italy - 14
Heat 21 - Lambert (GBR), Lebedevs (LAT), Bewley (GBR), Kostigovs (LAT)
It's a carbon copy of Britain's last heat and Bewley and Lambert are into the final! Once against Lambert makes the start and Bewley flies round the outside to take the lead at the second bend, Lebedevs is in third and will need another ride.
Heat 20 - Thorsell (SWE), Frederiksen (NOR), Lahti (SWE), Pollestad (NOR)
Sweden win 6-3 and by our maths, that means Germany will face Latvia in the Final Qualifier.
Pollestad did well to overcome Lahti as Lindgren gets a race off, but Frederiksen's fell at the first turn and that was all she wrote.
Heat 19 - Huckenbeck (GER), Ivacic (SLO), Blodorn (GER), Grmek (SLO)
That could be disaster for Germany! Grmek has finished the stronger for Slovenia and finally gets rewarded, he's momentarily in first before Huckenbeck takes the lead but Blodorn can't even get close to Grmek and it's only six points for Germany.
Up next, Norway will need four points to overhaul Germany because they're behind on the first tiebreaker.
Heat 18 - Kolodinskis (LAT), Percotti (ITA), Lebedevs (LAT), Covatti (ITA)
Job done for Latvia! They needed seven points ahead of their final heat against GB, this heaps the pressure on Norway.
Lebedevs leads ahead of Kolodinskis while Covatti picks up another two points and amateur Nicolo Percotti gets a chance to race in Italy's last heat of the night.
Germany need a big result now...
Tiebreakers
As we prepare for the final set of heats, these are how teams will be split if they finish level on points:
- If two countries are tied on points after 21 heats, the nation that scored a heat advantage in their head-to-head race is placed higher.
- In the event three or more teams finish level on points, the countries are awarded a bonus point for each heat where they finished first and second or second and third. The team with the most bonus points is placed higher.
- Should that fail to resolve the tie, the countback system is used, with the team that achieved the most race wins placed highest.
- If they are still level, seconds, thirds and then fourth places are taken into account, with finishing fourth considered better than being disqualified or failing to finish.
- In the very unlikely event that the teams are still deadlocked, the country with the highest FIM ranking will be placed highest.
Lambert: Abnormal conditions at Torun
"Seems to be [under control], terrible start for us I think the track caught us out a bit, it looked more grippy on the track walk than the track actually was, that caught us out but we managed to make some changes and we seem to be fast.
"This is the slickest I've ever seen Torun.
"He [Bewley] is used to being in Manchester every week and putting it on the fence so that's why he's been on the outside gates. I'm just looking for him, waiting and hoping he's there and he sends it on the board.
"It's great to be racing with and nice to be in the Team GB camp, such a great atmosphere and we're having a lot of fun. It's great here, I'm in my backyard and it's like I'm welcoming my family to the backyard."
On the Polish championship: "We achieved something great, 17 years of Torun not getting the gold. Lublin are so good on their home track but we just showed them we're so good on our home track."
Standings with four heats to go
All eyes will be on that battle for third and fourth now. Those two positions go into a race-off for a place in the final, Latvia have two heats to go but one of them is against GB while Norway have a tough Scandinavian derby against Sweden and Germany take on Slovenia.
1. Sweden (5 heats) - 34 points
2. Great Britain (5) - 30
3. Norway (5) - 23
4. Latvia (4) - 21
5. Germany (5) - 20
6. Italy (5) - 12
7. Slovenia (5) - 13
Heat 17 - Pollestad (NOR), Ivacic (SLO), Frederiksen (NOR), Grmek (SLO)
Pollestad in front, Slovenia out the back and Heat 17 goes in a predictable way. With this result it really is all to play for in the battle for the Final Qualifier.
Heat 16 - Lambert (GBR), Blodorn (GER), Bewley (GBR), Huckenbeck (GER)
Bewley's been copying that Lindgren right around the outside and it pays off once again here, he swings around the pack at turn three and though Lambert is riding on his own track, he's the second-best Brit right now.
Could we see Tom Brennan in the final heat for Britain? They've almost certainly confirmed their place in the final with that result.
Heat 15 - Covatti (ITA), Lindgren (SWE), Vicentin (ITA), Thorssell (SWE),
After Lahti had the gall to drop points against Germany so he's benched for this race, but Thorsell nearly finished behind Covatti who gave Italy's best performance of the evening to battle for second in the first two laps.
Eventually the skipper fades though and Lindgren is yet to be beaten by an opponent.
Heat 14 - Ivacic (SLO), Kolodinskis (LAT), Grmek (SLO), Lebedevs (LAT),
Easy as you like that from Latvia. Ivacic in particular started strongly but neither Slovenian are was anywhere close to the top two, with Grmek claiming two points.
Heat 13 - Frederiksen (NOR), Lambert (GBR), Pollestad (NOR), Bewley (GBR)
It's not easy for Britain but they lead 1-2 by the end of the first lap and 'Three Lions' rings out in the Marian Rose Motoarena!
Pollestad and Lambert battled into the first corner with the Brit coming out on top while Bewley did his classic wind-up around the outside to slingshot past both of them and ensure another 7-2 for the defending champions.
We'll see Lambert and Bewley again in Heat 16 before the next break.
The Huckenbeck guide to Torun
Huckenbeck is the best rider behind Lindgren and he caught up with TNT Sports:
"Tough work tonight, not the best starts for me right now, struggling a bit but I feel like I'm struggling a bit with the setup but seems like we're getting closer and I showed I had some speed in the last one so hopefully I can continue like that.
"I just told him [Blodorn] to go wide into the dirt, you need balls here right now, close to the fence and that's it, I think that's the quickest line.
"I think we were a bit of the underdogs and that was a surprise for everyone, hopefully we can repeat that or even better but it's going to be good. Torun is a special track, it's quite easy to ride but not easy to be quick."
Standings after Heat 12
GB are up against Pollestad and Norway yet, which will be a good test for the big-name champions.
1. Sweden (4 heats) - 27 points
2. Germany (4) - 18
3. Great Britain (3) - 16
4. Norway (3) - 14
5. Latvia (3) - 14
6. Italy (4) - 10
7. Slovenia (3) - 9
Individually, Lindgren is the top scorer and the only reason he's not perfect is because he's finished behind his teammate twice.
Heat 12 - Blodorn (GER), Lindgren (SWE), Huckenbeck (GER), Lahti (SWE)
"The Swedes can do no wrong this evening!" exclaims TNT Sports' Kelvin Tatum as Lindgren once again flies past Blodorn and Lahti on the back straight to take the lead.
The 40-year-old threatened to skittle the field at turn three but makes it through while Blodorn had the best start but faded.
Lahti drops Sweden's first points of the night after a brilliant effort by Huckenbeck but they remain runaway leaders.
Heat 11 - Lambert (GBR), Covatti (ITA), Bewley (GBR), Vicentin (ITA)
The two Italians aren't even in the same shot as Bewley and Lambert as they continue to mop up against lesser competition. Is that the confidence boost the champions need?
Heat 10 - Thorssell (SWE), Ivacic (SLO), Lindgren (SWE), Grmek (SLO)
Lindgren is ON IT tonight! He's once again behind at turn one but the captain fires like a missile down the back straight.
Meanwhile Thorssell responded well to being left out of the last Swedish heat by making a blistering start to take the 7-2 win.
Heat 9 - Lebedevs (LAT), Blodorn (GER), Kolodinskis (LAT), Huckenbeck (GER)
How important will that result be? These two sides are poised to pounce if GB continue to falter and Latvia finish with the advantage.
Lebedevs led a 1-2 initially but Huckenbeck made a gutsy move to force his way around the outside of Blodorn. The German continued to chase the leader but couldn't get past as Lebedevs put on an aggressive defence and it's a huge 6-3 to Latvia.
Bewley: Slow start, on we go
The world number three has been talking to TNT Sports about the action tonight and over the course of the season..
"Not by surprise, obviously they're a good team but yeah it wasn't a great start for us.
"Changed a couple things [from Heat 1] so hopefully we're in the right direction now. It feels good, everything's working good just a slow start to the night. On we go.
"It's good, been a decent season, a couple of good results but to be honest I'm excited for next."
Pollestad: I love this track
The 20-year-old Norwegian has been the surprise package so far, he won the SGP2 round in Torun last season and though he only finished sixth in the standings last season, just behind Blodorn, he's shown he loves it here as top individual scorer with 11 points in his three heats so far this evening.
"Yeah I love this track, last year I went good, this today so far I think it's good so hopefully I can keep going," Pollestad told TNT Sports.
"We took some notes [in SGP2}, it's a little bit different today because it's more cold but so far, so good."
Remember, you can watch live on discovery+.
Standings after Heat 8
1. Sweden (2 heats) - 14 points
2. Norway (3) - 14
3, Germany (2) - 12
4. Great Britain (2) - 9
5. Latvia (2) - 8
6. Italy (3) - 8
7. Slovenia (2) - 7
Heat 8 - Vicentin (ITA), Frederiksen (NOR), Covatti (ITA), Pollestad (NOR)
It's a great response from Norway, both teams switch gates on their riders and it's a heat that's over at the first corner. Pollestad wins and Covatti has an issue late, ending his pursuit of Frederiksen.
Heat 7 - Ivacic (SLO), Lambert (GBR), Grmek (SLO), Bewley (GBR)
GB are off the pace here though they still take the maximum led by Bewley. Ivacic makes a fantastic start from the inside and leads for a lap before the champions' pedigree counts - it's a very satisfying move as they pass him simultaneously on either side.
But don't be fooled, they'll need to be much better to beat Germany, Latvia and even Norway.
Heat 6 - Lebedevs (LAT), Lahti (SWE), Kolodinskis (LAT), Lindgren (SWE)
Timo Lahti is subbed in and fires himself to the front, while Lebedevs was in second for a moment before Lindgren flies past him on the back straight!
The Swedes never escape but Lebedevs can't get close enough to attempt a pass while Daniils Kolodiniskis was also a sub but can't get off the mark.
Heat 5 - Blodorn (GER), Frederiksen (NOR), Huckenbeck (GER), Pollestad (NOR)
Frederiksen will be replacing Glenn Moi for the rest of the evening and though we're not why, he gives a good showing here.
The star of the show is Pollestad though, he surprised Lebedevs out of the gate in Heat 2 and he passes Kai Huckenbeck on lap two this time. However, Blodorn beats Fredericksen to third so Germany take the heat advantage.
Lindgren: It settles the nerves
The world number four spoke to TNT Sports about that opening heat win and about his decision to race in Torun this year after he initially backed out of the event.
"Definitely settles the nerves to get full points against the reigning champions so we're more than pleased with that one but it's a long night and we have another five rounds to go so we've got to keep the focus up," Lindgren said.
"I thought I was going to be more tired but I still feel a lot of hunger to ride speedway this year, I have some unfinished business I feel so I'm still motivated."
Standings after Heat 4
It's grim reading for the world champions so far - each block of races sees one team race twice (with one exception, we'll get to that later). Here's how the points look:
1. Sweden (1 heat) - 7 points
2. Germany (1) - 7
3. Latvia (1) - 6
4. Italy (2) - 6
5. Slovenia (1) - 5
6. Norway (1) - 3
7. Great Britain (1) - 2
Heat 4 - Ivacic (SLO), Covatti (ITA), Grmek (SLO), Vicentin (ITA)
It's the first illustration of the importance of team riding - the Slovenians are beaten out of the gate by Covatti but Vicentin is off the pace so they take a 5-4 led by Matic Ivacic, riding the last two laps in parallel.
Heat 3 - Lindgren (SWE), Lambert (GBR), Thorssell (SWE), Bewley (GBR)
It's the best heat of the evening so far as Sweden shock the world champions for a 7-2 win! There was no stopping Fredrik Lindgren from the inside gate while behind, Jacob Thorssell rode fantastically to keep Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley behind.
The Brits probably didn't help themselves either, tripping over each other behind.
Heat 2 Re-run - Pollestad (NOR), Lebedevs (LAT), Frederiksen (NOR), Kostigovs (LAT)
Mathias Pollestad had a fine season in the U21s circuit and takes the lead, but comes under huge pressure from Lebedevs and eventually the 2026 SGP competitor forces a move.
Kostigovs looked much more assured that time and takes third, he just slid around the outside of Lasse Frederiksen who was an early substitution.
Heat 2 - Pollestad (NOR), Lebedevs (LAT), Frederiksen (NOR), Kostigovs (LAT)
There's drama as the tapes don't go up after a long wait on the rev limiter. They'll go again immediately, Jevgenijs Kostigovs looked out of place there, he didn't know where to look.
Heat 1 – Covatti (ITA), Blodorn (GER), Vicentin (ITA), Huckenbeck (GER)
Nicolas Covatti got a good start but was just beaten to the turn by Norick Blodorn, who pins the Italian on the inside allowing Kai Huckenbeck to sweep around the outside.
Great teamwork by the Germans and they take the maxim seven points. Remember, you can watch this live on discovery+.
T-5 minutes - the riders are out
All six teams have been been introduced to the crowd now, and they stand for the national anthem of Poland - remember Bartosz Zmarzlik's squad are straight through to the final as hosts and three teams from each final will join them there.
Sweden are the obvious threat to Great Britain (though both sides can go through automatically tonight) having claimed the bronze medal in the last two editions of the SON, and Latvia could be dark horses led by Andzejs Lebedevs who had his best ever finish in the Grand Prix this season, finishing sixth.
Freddie Lindgren only missed out on the SGP podium to Dan Bewley in the final round and he's joined by TImo Lahti, who previously starred for Finland in the SON, and Jacob Thorssell.
Italy will sorely miss Paco Castagna, their talisman last time out who is out injured this week while Norway and Slovenia are certified underdogs.
Finally, Germany only missed out on the bronze medal in 2024 by a point but their two leading riders haven't performed well this season.
Meet the teams
There are plenty of names that will be new to fans of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix or the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership but Great Britain return their three champions from last year led by team managers Simon Stead and Oliver Allen.
Italy: 1. Nicolas Covatti (captain), 2. Nicolas Vicentin, 3. Nicolo Percotti.
Germany : 1. Norick Blodorn, 2. Kai Huckenbeck (captain), 3. Valentin Grobauer.
Norway: 1. Mathias Pollestad (captain), 2. Glenn Moi, 3. Lasse Fredriksen.
Latvia: 1. Andzejs Lebedevs (captain), 2. Jevgenijs Kostigovs, 3. Daniils Kolodinskis.
Sweden: 1. Jacob Thorssell, 2. Fredrik Lindgren (captain), 3. Timo Lahti.
Great Britain: 1. Robert Lambert (captain), 2. Dan Bewley, 3. Tom Brennan.
Slovenia: 1. Matic Ivacic (captain), 2. Anze Grmek, 3. Luka Omerzel.
TNT Sports is LIVE!
Tune in now on discovery+, as we're live from Torun for the first semi-final featuring world champions Great Britain, there's 15 minutes of build-up before Heat 1 gets underway at 18:00 UK time.
Path to glory
Tonight is all about finishing in the top two out of the seven countries in the semi-final. In that case you qualify automatically for the Final, which features three teams from tonight, three teams from tomorrow’s semi-final and the hosts Poland.
Then in the Final on Saturday, the top team in the 21 heats qualifies straight for the Grand Final while second and third place have a qualifying race to decide the other team, and then those two battle it out for glory in the four-lap, winner-takes-all Grand Final.
So last year, GB qualified automatically for the final as hosts while Sweden and Poland qualified automatically from the first semi-final with Germany downing Finland in the final qualifier while in the second semi, Denmark and Australia were top dogs and Latvia beat the Czech Republic in the final qualifier to join them.
Then in the Final, Australia were top after the heats while Great Britain beat third-place Sweden to join the Aussies in the Grand Final shootout, and Lambert and Bewley prevailed over four laps in the Grand Final to take the title.
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‘Pretty special’ - Lambert and Bewley revel in Speedway Of Nations victory
Video credit: TNT Sports
How does it work?
Tonight’s semi-final features seven teams and takes place over 21 heats, and each team has three riders.
Two are named as starters and the third one is in reserve (for Great Britain it’s Dan Bewley and Robert Lambert topping the card with Tom Brennan as backup) but in practice each team manager can put any of their riders in any of their heats, and can put either rider on either of their team’s allocated gate in that heat.
Each heat features two riders from two countries facing off while importantly the points system first-to-last is 4-3-2-0 (rather than 3-2-1-0 like in the Premiership or Grand Prix), which encourages team riding.
Each country races six heats over the course of the evening, and faces all the other semi-finalists once.
Last time out
Great Britain are the defending champions after downing Australia in last year’s Grand Final, with Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley finishing first and second against Jack Holder and Brady Kurtz.
It was their second SON title having also taken victory in 2021 but both titles have come on home shale - they’ve twice finished as runners up in Vojens in 2022, and the inaugural event in Warsaw in 2018.
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Highlights: Lambert and Bewley lead Great Britain to Speedway Of Nations final win
Video credit: TNT Sports
Hello and welcome
The Speedway of Nations 2025 kicks off, and we will be here throughout the four-day event with live text coverage.
Reigning champions Great Britain are in action this evening in the first semi-final - alongside Sweden, the bronze medallists in two of the last three years, plus Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Latvia and Norway.
All the action is live on TNT Sports and discovery+ with Heat 1 getting underway at 18:00 and coverage live from Torun at 17:45 (both UK time).
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