West Cumbrian speedway star Dan Bewley secured his second rostrum finish of his debut Speedway Euro Championship campaign in Gdansk last night.
The former Workington Comets rider from Maryport, finished third in round three of the series, behind Danish duo Mikkel Michelsen and Leon Madsen in the final after battling through the last chance semi-final with Madsen.
With one round remaining, Bewley is in the all-important fifth position overall – which secures automatic qualification for 2022 – eight points off joint leaders Michelsen and Piotr Pawlicki, and five ahead of sixth-placed fellow Brit Robert Lambert.
Former Workington rider Steve Lawson has been his mentor since he started in the sport and still acts as his mechanic at his UK meetings.
Tony Jackson, the former Comets manager said: “I gave him his first ride in professional speedway as our number eight at Newcastle early in 2016.
“He was still quite raw at that point but the potential was clear to see and about a month later he joined Edinburgh as they had a vacancy for a two point rider.
“He progressed quite quickly there and was soon signed by Belle Vue for their Colts side at National League level, but a concussion ended his season early.”
He joined Glasgow for the 2017 season while still riding for the Colts and the following year signed for Workington Comets as well as getting a few outings for Belle Vue in the top flight Premiership.
But the season ended prematurely after a horror crash at Derwent Park riding for the Comets when he suffered serious injuries – breaking his thigh, arm, ribs and damaged his shoulder.
He made a comeback in 2019 and has gone onto establish himself with Belle Vue and Great Britain.
Jackson said: “It was clear he had potential from the early days and when he rode for us I always said he was destined for the top as he was a natural talent.
“When he had his crash I hoped it wouldn’t stop that happening and while it understandably slowed his progress he is clearly now back on track and I firmly believe capable of reaching the Grand Prix and maybe even achieving the ultimate goal of one day becoming world champion.”
