West Cumbrian racer Dan Bewley was out of luck when he defended his title at the British Grand Prix in Cardiff last night.
He had scored seven points and was in line for a place in the semi-final when he touched the tapes in his last outing and was excluded.
Slovakian star Martin Vaculik won a thrilling Grand Prix as Bartosz Zmarzlik took another step towards a fourth world title.
But the night ended in disaster for GB and Sheffield star Tai Woffinden, who crashed out of the event in Heat 16 and suffered a broken hand, having looked to be firmly in contention for victory.
Vaculik, who is third in the standings, won the final ahead of a brave Jack Holder on his return from injury, whilst Zmarzlik overtook his main title rival Fredrik Lindgren on the last bend to extend his lead to series 24 points with two rounds remaining.
Robert Lambert reached his first semi-final at the Principality Stadium on an impressive 11 points, but went out at that stage, whilst that tapes exclusion in Heat 19 left Maryport’s Bewley outside the semi-finals and unable to repeat his 2022 triumph.
The other British rider, wild card Steve Worrall scored three.
Vaculik said: “Amazing! What a night! I have said it before; winning a Grand Prix has always been my dream since I was a kid.
“I used to watch the Cardiff Grand Prix on television. I think all the riders had the same dream, to win one time in Cardiff. It’s something special and I did it today. I am so happy.
“In my eyes, it was the best prepared track I have ever seen here. It was a good job by the organisers. We put on a good show.”
There had been criticism of last year’s track and a number of riders – including Workington Comets youngster Luke Harrison – had been invited to try it out on Friday with all of them exceedingly complimentary ahead of the main event.
