LAMBERT WINS GP CHALLENGE

GREAT Britain’s Robert Lambert was a classy winner of the Grand Prix Challenge in Terenzano on Saturday to officially book his place in the 2027 series.

Lambert is third in the current World Championship standings so may not need the security of the place from the Challenge, but he still put on a dominant display in Italy to lead the scorers and win the Final.

He said: “I am pretty secure in the GPs at the moment and something big would have to happen for me not to be in the top seven, so it was a nice, relaxed environment coming to Italy. That showed in my racing. When I am relaxed and fully focused, the results come.

“I am super happy. I nearly got a maximum in the meeting and then it came down to a final again. I was very close to not winning the final – the same as in Malilla. But we pulled it off. It was nice to get on the podium and secure my space in the GP for next season.”

Rohan Tungate, most recently in the UK with Oxford last season, qualified as a full-time GP rider for the first time, whilst former Lakeside favourite Kim Nilsson also made the top four, along with Polish racer Kacper Woryna.

GB’s other two competitors both missed out but Chris Harris did win his first and last races to finish on seven points, whilst Anders Rowe collected four.