Great Britain racer Dan Bewley insists Speedway GP has always been a marathon and not a sprint to him after finishing second at the WWK FIM Speedway GP of Germany – Landshut last Saturday.
Bewley won both Speedway GP sprint races in Warsaw and Cardiff last season, claiming eight championship points that made all the difference as he took a career-best fourth place ahead of Martin Vaculik.
The Cumbrian was unable to continue his sprint success in the opening round of 2025 last Saturday as Bartosz Zmarzlik took the four extra points on offer, while Bewley was eliminated by Latvia’s Andzejs Lebedevs in Q1.
Bewley thought he had clocked a fast enough time to beat the Speedway European champion and was gutted to find out he wouldn’t be lining up in Q2.
He said: “I actually thought I was in front in Q1. I looked at the screen and I didn’t see it right, so I went to do a practice start. But when I came into the pits and saw the screen, I thought, ‘oh no!’
“Then I picked No.1 and had to believe I was going to make some starts. No.1 is a pretty tough number. You are out after grading every time and when you go from some of the gates like three and four after some water, it can be challenging.
“But speedway is 20 heats and the final and everything gets worked out throughout the heats. The GPs are about showing that grit throughout the night and that’s what I love about racing. We made some changes throughout the night, and I actually got better from the starts. I made a good one in the last-chance heat and the final was pretty good, considering that gate four was pretty bad.”
Bewley still left Landshut with 18 championship points after finishing second to Zmarzlik in the final. He hopes to maintain his momentum in the world’s biggest speedway event, the Orlen Oil FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Warsaw on May 17.
It’s the only SGP round where Qualifying takes place on Friday, with racing on Saturday, and it’s an event the two-time FIM Speedway GP of Great Britain – Cardiff winner enjoys.
He said: “I have scored some good points in Warsaw over the years, and I look forward to it. Now we have lost Cardiff, I feel like Warsaw is for sure the biggest GP. It’s kind of the home of speedway now.
“It’s always a good crowd there. There are always a lot of Polish fans, but I feel it’s so good for the travelling fans. You can fly direct there from anywhere, so there are always a lot of British people there too. I look forward to it.
“I like when we have the Friday/Saturday weekends with Qualifying on the Friday and the GP on the Saturday. There’s a different atmosphere. When it’s all on one day, you don’t get to spend much time with your friends or team. Over two days, it’s more of a chilled weekend.”