2025 FIM Speedway GP
Round Four – Speedway GP of Great Britain – Manchester
British icon Dan Bewley admits he was determined to repay a passionate and partisan home crowd as he stormed to ATPI FIM Speedway GP of Great Britain – Manchester glory on Friday, ahead of another looming showdown on Saturday night.
Round Four – Speedway GP of Great Britain – Manchester
Bewley, who bids to make it a double in round five in Manchester on Saturday, has been part of the Belle Vue club at the National Speedway Stadium since he joined them as a National Development League rider in 2016 – missing only the 2020 and 2022 seasons for the Aces.
1. Dan Bewley 20
2. Bartosz Zmarzlik 18
3. Brady Kurtz 16
The Cumbrian sent 5,500 fans – the biggest crowd in the venue’s nine-year history – wild when he made a sensational start in the final, before outpacing Poland’s five-time Speedway GP world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik in second, his Belle Vue teammate Brady Kurtz of Australia in third place and Sweden’s Fredrik Lindgren in fourth.
Bewley battled his way through a tough last-chance qualifier to reach the final, defying a nightmare start to overhaul Australia’s Jack Holder for the win.
Chants of ‘Bewley, Bewley’ reverberated across the National Speedway Stadium as Union flags flew high, and the 26-year-old admits he will never forget his fifth Speedway GP victory – and his third FIM British Speedway GP win to add to triumphs at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in 2022 and 2024.
Bewley, who famously won the FIM Speedway of Nations world title with Great Britain in Manchester in 2021 and 2024, said: “The whole day has been pretty cool, to be honest. Obviously, we have had the Speedway of Nations here, but this is by far the biggest crowd we have had. The whole day has been pretty surreal.
“I just came here and treated it like any other meeting. I didn’t really want to change too much. I just used my British bikes – nothing was really different for me than when I come to a normal league meeting. I felt the same, but that feeling from the crowd was pretty different. I wish we had that every week.
“I didn’t really feel pressure or anything, but when you see so much support, you’re thinking, ‘I want to give you something back and I want to do you proud.’ It was so cool to see the fans. Everyone seemed like they were loving it. Thanks to everyone who has always had my back. Even when I had a couple of not-so-good races, the fans were non-stop chanting for me. They are pretty special.”
While Bewley has won five Speedway GPs – two of them at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, one on his Polish home track in Wroclaw and another at Malilla’s Skrotfrag Arena in Sweden – he admits the fight to seal this victory was an enjoyable one.
He said: “This one was cool. I have raced here since I was in the National League in 2016. It’s quite cool to have gone from the bottom of professional racing to the very top.
“I think that’s also the best race I’ve had in the final to get the win. I didn’t just make the start; I had to work for it.”
Bewley gets a chance to chase his sixth Speedway GP victory in round five – the second part of the Manchester double-header – on Saturday night.
He is keen to chase down all-time Speedway GP record-holder Zmarzlik, who just missed out on adding to his 28 SGP victories. “I’m a long way behind him,” Bewley admitted. “I just want to try and get a little closer. I have a long way to go, but I’ll take it one race at a time.”
Zmarzlik was content with second spot as he extended his Speedway GP World Championship lead to nine points, moving on to 73 with nearest rival Kurtz on 64 in second and Bewley third on 54 – level with Holder and Lindgren.
The Pole, who also finished third in this afternoon’s sprint race to collect two extra championship points, said: “I am very happy because I am second and I also scored the points from the sprint race. I am happy because I had many questions about the track, setups and bikes before the meeting. But I felt so very nice during the meeting, and I took a lot of fun from the racing. The track was really fantastic for fighting and racing. Dan did an amazing job in the final and also Brady. I think everyone did a good job for the fans. Of course, it’s a hard and busy weekend, but it is how it is. A double-header is okay because everyone else is in the same situation, so let’s go!”
Aussie ace Kurtz had not competed since he crashed on the final turn of the last-chance qualifier at the FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic – Prague on May 31. After two weeks of best rest and rehabilitation, he was delighted to keep pace with Zmarzlik, losing only one point to him in the Speedway GP title race after Kurtz also finished second in the afternoon’s sprint race.
Kurtz, who reached the final at the opening two rounds in Landshut and Warsaw, said: “I’m stoked with third. The first two rounds went a little bit too well, you could say, and then Prague sucked. I felt I needed to get back amongst it to stay in the points. It was good all night. I had loads of speed and just missed out in the final.
“The crash in Prague hurt me. I really hit the ground hard, and I haven’t really felt like that after a crash and had nothing broken. I was not in a good way over the next few days.
“I wouldn’t say it was hard work to get here. I would say it was no work. I was trying not to do too much at all. I did a lot of physio and rehabilitation – anything I could to be as healthy as I could be come this weekend. I woke up this morning and thought I was right to go.
“Congratulations to Dan – he knows the track better than anyone and he showed it in the final. Hopefully another good performance in the heats would be nice on Saturday and I’ll try and do something special in the final.”
2025 FIM Speedway GP of Great Britain – Manchester Results
- Dan Bewley 20
- Bartosz Zmarzlik 18
- Brady Kurtz 16
- Fredrik Lindgren 14
- Jack Holder 12
- Robert Lambert 11
- Martin Vaculik 10
- Mikkel Michelsen 9
- Max Fricke 8
- Jan Kvech 7
- Charles Wright 6
- Kai Huckenbeck 5
- Dominik Kubera 4
- Jason Doyle 3
- Anders Thomsen 2
- Andzejs Lebedevs 1
1. Dan Bewley 20
2. Bartosz Zmarzlik 18
3. Brady Kurtz 16
FIM Speedway GP Standings
- Bartosz Zmarzlik 73
- Brady Kurtz 64
- Dan Bewley 54
- Jack Holder 54
- Fredrik Lindgren 54
- Andzejs Lebedevs 42
- Robert Lambert 38
- Max Fricke 34
- Dominik Kubera 31
- Jan Kvech 28
- Martin Vaculik 27
- Anders Thomsen 26
- Mikkel Michelsen 25
- Leon Madsen 16
- Patryk Dudek 16
- Kai Huckenbeck 12
- Jason Doyle 11
- Charles Wright 6
- Erik Riss 2
- Daniel Klima 1
Images Taylor Lanning and Jarek Pabijan
