West Cumbria’s Dan Bewley top scored for Great Britain as they moved through to the grand final of the European Team Speedway Championship.
The Brits finished runners-up in Pardubice on Sunday.
Whilst a powerful Danish squad dominated Final B, GB battled hard in a tight contest with the host nation Czech Republic which went right down to the last race.
With Sweden having scored 31 points in finishing second in Final A, the remining Grand Final place would go to Sunday’s runners-up if they exceeded that total.
Going into the crucial Heat 20, GB and the Czech Republic were both on 30 points, before Belle Vue’s Bewley won the race ahead of the hosts’ Vaclav Milik, to take GB past the 31-mark and back ahead of the Czechs.
Former Workington Comets star Bewley scored 14 points, with GB’s other contributions coming from Adam Ellis and Tom Brennan both on eight, and Richie Worrall with three.
They now face Denmark, Poland and host nation Germany in next Saturday’s Final at Stralsund.
Bewley is back in action tonight for Belle Vue when Peterborough bid for their first Premiership points of the season against a Belle Vue side with an outstanding record at the Showground.
The Aces have won on seven of their last eight visits to Alwalton, the only exception coming in the 2021 Grand Final when the Panthers secured the title.
Michael Palm Toft, who was part of the Peterborough team on that night, steps in to guest at No.1 for the home side as they continue to seek a long-term replacement for Nicki Pedersen.
Meanwhile the Aces are at full strength with Jake Mulford back from concussion, having been buoyed by their win at Ipswich last Thursday which kickstarted their season after a slow start.
Bewley said: “It’s been a busy few weeks for us, but that result at Ipswich has definitely reinvigorated the boys and we’re feeling confident going to Peterborough.
“Peterborough is a track that I enjoy riding and a lot of the boys have had good meetings there before, but that has no impact on the here and now.
“The form we found at Ipswich is what we need to be building on and carrying into all our meetings if we want to have a chance at retaining the Premiership title.”
