BELLE VUE CEO Mark Lemon admits he is “thrilled” that Manchester will host the 2024 FIM Speedway of Nations.
The National Speedway Stadium will be the venue for the prestigious event from July 9 to 13 as Great Britain bid to regain the title.
GB were crowned World Champions for the first time in 32 years in Manchester at the NSS in late 2021 in dramatic style.
Lemon said: “We are thrilled to welcome such a prestigious global event back to the city of Manchester and, as a club, we are immensely proud to be selected as hosts.
“The National Speedway Stadium was designed with such events as this at its heart, and we have seen in past seasons the level of enthusiasm by the British supporters to join us at this wonderful venue.
“We believe that the track is the best in the world and it has always produced outstanding racing.
“We are also very much looking forward to hosting the Speedway of Nations 2 event, in addition to the senior event, which is a huge cap for this Stadium and a first for Belle Vue Speedway.
“On behalf of ourselves and Manchester City Council, with whom we share an excellent relationship, we cannot wait to work with Warner Brothers Discovery next year on these four huge meetings.”
The return of the FIM Speedway of Nations to Manchester sees four events take place over five nights, with Semi-Final 1 on Tuesday, July 9 and Semi-Final 2 on Wednesday, July 10.
After a day’s break, the sport’s top under-21 teams compete in the FIM Speedway of Nations – SON2 showdown on Friday, July 12, before the 2024 world team champions are crowned in the FIM SON Final on Saturday, July 13.
Around 14 countries will be represented in Manchester with GB joined by the likes of reigning champions Australia, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, France and Germany.
Belle Vue’s top star Dan Bewley picked up his first gold medal when GB grabbed glory against Poland in the final two years ago.
He said: “It was pretty frustrating to miss out on winning the World Cup last year.
“I think anytime you put your country kevlars on is pretty cool. I’ll look forward to the Speedway of Nations next season, especially at Belle Vue.”
Great Britain boss Olly Allen is delighted that Great Britain and Manchester will host the event.
He said: “There’s little doubt that the National Speedway Stadium is a fantastic venue for racing.
“We will want to regain our Speedway of Nations title. It was a special night in Manchester in late 2021.
“We will have another very strong team and it’s sure to be another amazing event.”
Words by Holeshot Media.
Images by Taylor Lanning.