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Speedway Photo: “Optibet” Locomotive Daugavpils
The Latvian speedboat team with Andrzej Lebedev, Oleg Mikhailov and Francis Gusta won a place in the final of the Nations Cup in Daugavpils on Saturday, which will take place in a month in Manchester.
Lebedev brought 18 points to the Latvian team, Mikhailov had 14 points and Gusta had two points. With 34 points, Latvia took the second place after Australia, which scored 35 points, both of them immediately securing a place in the final. France had 30 points and Germany 27 points. Both teams fought for the last ticket to the final in the crossing, with a 5: 4 victory for France. Behind the top four were the Russian Motorsport Federation team, Italy and Ukraine.
The final in Manchester is expected on October 16 and 17. In addition to the hostess Great Britain, six national team winners will also take part – Australia, Latvia, France, Poland, Sweden and Denmark. Unlike the usual scoring system, in this competition four points are due for victory, three for the second place, two for the third place, but the winner of the fourth position does not bring points to his team. In their first trip, Latvian speedboats raced with Germany. After the first bend, Mikhailov became the leader, followed by the German Kay Hukenbeck, Lebedev and Norik Blederen. Later, Hookenbeck overtook Mikhailov, but Latvia won the race 5: 4, as Lebedev finished third.
On the next trip, the riders were confronted by riders from the Russian Motorsport Federation (MFR). After the start, Lebedev took a safe lead, followed by both MFR motorcyclists Vladimir Borodulin and Sergei Logachov, and Mikhailov was fourth. During the trip, Mikhailov overtook Logachov, but Lebedev protected the first place, leaving Borodulina behind. Thus, Latvia defeated its opponent with 6: 3.
In their third trip, a duel with France was waiting for the Latvian team. After the first bend, Dimitri Beržs left in front of the trip, then both Daugavpils residents, but the fourth was David Bellego. At one point, Bellego threatened Mikhailov’s third place, but at the end of the race he defended his position. Lebedev’s second place and Mikhailov’s third place gave Latvia a 5: 4 victory.
On the fourth trip, Lebedev and Mikhailov were tested by the then leading Australian duo Jason Doyle and Max Freak. Also in this trip, Latvia took the second and third place, respectively to Mikhailov and Lebedev, when they gave another victory 5: 4. Doils finished first, but Freak left the Australians without points. The next home race was a fight with the Italian speedboats, without leaving Nikolas Kovati from the opponents at the start. At the beginning of the trip, Gusts, who started instead of Mikhailov, lost control of the vehicle and experienced a fall. The race was resumed and after the restart Lebedev took a convincing lead, the second was the only representative of the opponents Pako Kastanja, whom Gusts mentioned on the rear wheel, but could not overtake. This did not prevent Latvia from winning 6: 3.
In their final race, which was 20th in all races, Latvian motorcyclists competed with the Ukrainian team. Already at the start, the owners of the track took the first two places – the leader was Mikhailov, but the second place was taken by Lebedev. During the trip, Lebedev retreated to the third place at one point, but regained the second position in the last lap. Third and fourth place was taken by Marko Levišins and Vitalijas addition. After 21 races, the winners of the first two places immediately secured a place in the final, while the winners of the third and fourth places fought in the crossing.
Poland and Sweden won the first two places in Friday’s semifinals, while Denmark won the United States on the third way to Manchester. The speed drivers of the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Finland also took part in Friday’s semi-finals. The speedway of the Speedway of Nations semi-finals in Daugavpils was planned last year, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this phase of the race was canceled. The organizers decided that the semi-finals would not take place, but the seven best teams from the 2019 Nations Cup would compete for the winner’s prize. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions announced in Great Britain, the final was later moved to the Polish city of Lublin, on the track of which Russia celebrated its victory on October 17.
