ROBERT Lambert lived up to his pre-meeting billing as red- hot favourite by sweeping to his third British title at the National Speedway Stadium on Saturday night.
As expected, the in-form Grand Prix star was a class above the opposition, reeling off five untroubled wins in the qualifying heats before leading the final from start to finish. Behind him, Charles Wright battled his way past Leon Flint at the end of the first lap to secure the silver medal and with it the wild card berth for the 2027 British Grand Prix, while fourth place went to teenager Cooper Rushen who produced an accomplished performance on his national final debut. A delighted Lambert said afterwards: “Today is one of those days where you need to win. I came here and everyone thought I’d already won before I turned a wheel. “But the others are all gunning for that first spot and I can make mistakes with bike set-up, so it can be more difficult to come to a meeting like this than probably being in the Grand Prix sometimes because of that kind of pressure. “That makes me stronger and being in that kind of environment helps me for the massive meetings like the World Cup coming up, to be able to handle that kind of pressure and still be able to perform. “I’m happy to get my name on the trophy for the third time and for the second time in a row.” • Full coverage from Manchester in this week's Speedway Star – on sale on Thursday.
