Speedway of Nations 2018: Glory goes to Russia!

The Speedway of Nations charged into Wroclaw, Poland this weekend and after 44 races of breathtaking, heart-thumping action it was Russia who stood on the top step - and on top of the world.

Seven nations came together to go bar-to-bar for national glory and the action on track was every bit as hot as the humid Polish heat, producing moment after moment of sheer sporting brilliance. Russia, who always looked to have a powerful team, won their first team speedway gold medal after edging out Tai Woffinden-inspired Great Britain in the do-or-die final race.

After 42 races, spread over two days, it was Woffinden’s GB who led the overall scores and that was largely down to his genius. He produced the best performance ever in a world team cup final and won 12 of his 13 races, scoring 38 points out of a possible 39, to lead GB to a surprise silver medal. It was a stunning performance and one that will go down in history as one of the greatest ever on this stage.

Polish hero Patryk Dudek claimed bronze as the home team recovered from a tough first day to finish in the top three, but it was all about Russia and they earned their victory the hard way.

Despite missing out on gold Woffinden was proud of his team’s showing and vowed to come back even stronger.