NEXT STEP FOR LEBEDEVS IN SPEEDWAY GP?

Latvian ace Andzejs Lebedevs can’t wait to take the next step in Speedway GP, but admits he dreamed of climbing the ladder even faster in 2024.

Lebedevs became his country’s first-ever full-time Speedway GP rider this year and he will be back for 2025 after storming to his second Speedway European Championship in Chorzow last Saturday.

The Daugavpils-born racer is 10th in the standings after a difficult start to the year. But he made his first SGP final at the Deluxe Homeart FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens on September 14 and having reached five semis in his last six rounds, he is making rapid progress in the sport.

But Lebedevs admits he went into the season with Tai Woffinden’s famous 2013 season in mind – when the Great Britain hero famously won the sport’s biggest prize, defying 500/1 odds with many bookmakers. Lebedevs said: “Everyone starts the season, thinking, ‘I want to be world champion.’ I started this season with the same thinking also.

“I was thinking about Tai Woffinden’s season in 2013, when he came in as a wild card and nobody was thinking Tai would fight for the world title. But he did it and he did a great job. He had a phenomenal season. I was thinking, ‘I could be the next rider like Tai.’ That didn’t happen this season, but everyone starts the season with positive vibes and just wants to win.

“Next season, I want to make the next steps, grow and learn in every meeting. I want to take everything I got from this season into the next. I don’t want to stay in the same place or move backwards. Maybe I will do it slowly, but I want to take small steps forward. Hopefully I can take those next steps in my career.”

Two packed OlyBet FIM Speedway GP of Latvia – Riga events, have put speedway in the spotlight in Lebedevs’ homeland. And Lebedevs is enjoying life as Latvian speedway’s figurehead.

He added: “I am happy I can do something to help speedway in my country and be like an ambassador for this sport. Thanks to the GP in Riga, during the past two years, my name in my country has grown two or three times. So many more people know my name. I would have been surprised if someone knew me in Riga before.

“When you left Daugavpils, nobody knew what speedway was. Now everybody knows. Many people know who Andzejs Lebedevs is and what speedway is. I am really proud about that.

“Our TV channels show Speedway GP and the Speedway European Championship live. That is a really good thing for us and the sport of speedway. Hopefully the viewing figures next year, like with my career, will get a little bigger step by step.”