TAURON SEC: Who will join Lambert from UK?

Speedway GB have yet to decide who will take part in the European Championship qualifier events in May before the TAURON SEC begins on 12 June in Bydgoszcz.

Robert Lambert

Of course, reigning champion, Robert Lambert will automatically be returning to the competition that he won last year. Not only that but he will be joining the permanent riders on the SGP for the first time in 2021. However, he will not be able to race in his home country with Kings Lynn Stars as planned due to new rules brought in by the Ekstraliga. Instead, he will be concentrating on Gislaved Lejonen in Sweden, where was the league’s top scoring rider in 2020 and, of course, with Torun in Poland.

But the question remains, who will get the chance to join the defending champion?

Tai Woffinden and Daniel Bewley

The two other British riders who have been competing in the top tier of the sport over the last few years are Tai Woffinden and Daniel Bewley.

But Woffinden has only appeared in the TAURON SEC once, back in 2013 (when he came fifth) and most people expect him to focus on Ekstraliga and attempting to win his fourth SGP World Championship.

So that leaves Bewley, in his first season as a senior as the most likely challenger to join Lambert at the Championship. The two riders rode together for Great Britain in the truncated Speedway of Nations competition in 2020. Meanwhile, the 21-year-old will again race with Tai Woffinden at Sparta Wroclaw as well as appearing for Belle Vue Aces in his home country this season.

Adam Ellis

Looking beyond the riders in the Ekstraliga, Adam Ellis, could well be a contender to take a spot in British colours this year. He appeared in the qualifiers in both 2018 and 2019 and was having the best season of his career until he was seriously injured in the SGP Challenge in 2020. The Brit, who was born in France, will return to the two clubs he represented last year, Rzeszow (Poland) and Motala (Sweden).

British fans are used to seeing Woffinden on the podium at international level and Lambert, who is eight years younger, looks set to follow him. But in remains to be seen who could be the country’s third rider to make it to the top level of the sport.