Poland just pipped Australia to lift the World Cup on home soil after captain Tomasz Gollob won a dramatic final heat in Leszno.
Hosts battle back to deny Australians right at the death
Poland just pipped Australia to win the World Cup on home soil after Tomasz Gollob won a dramatic final heat in Leszno.
The hosts' captain held off the challenge of Australian counterpart Leigh Adams to clinch glory for the Poles, who last lifted the trophy in 2007.
The two nations had gone into the 25th race of the meeting, which had nearly been ruined by rain after already being pushed back from Saturday evening, deadlocked on 41 points.
Coming off the inside gate, Gollob made a superb start to lead all the way to the finish, sparking wild scenes of celebration from the partisan crowd.
Borrowed bike
What made the efforts of the 38-year-old, who had failed to score a point in his last two rides, even more impressive was that he had to do it all on a bike borrowed from one of his team-mates.
Jaroslaw Hampel had set up the thrilling finish by winning heat 24 straight after managing a second place as Poland's 'joker' ride in the previous race.
"We are very happy because we are the best," said Hampel before heading out to receive the trophy. "Tomasz was not good all through the meeting but he is a big man because the pressure was on him."
Sweden finished in third place on 36 points, one ahead of Russia - who had qualified as surprise winners of Event One.
Defeat was tough on the Australians after they had held a comfortable cushion before the heavens opened just before the start of the 20th heat.
Having already come under heavy punishment from rain throughout the night, the track soon became chewed up, putting in doubt the prospect of any further action despite the best efforts of the officials to repair the damage.
Eventually racing did get back underway and a superb victory for Jason Crump in heat 22 put a six-point gap between the leading two.
Tactical ride
However, Poland immediately made the most of their tactical ride to pick up four points for finishing second and then powered their way to glory at the death.
"We're gutted," admitted a disappointed Crump afterwards. "We thought when the rain came we were in a great positition.
"We got the meeting back underway again and we started off okay and then we just ran out of steam in the end. Gollob produced a special ride in the last one to win it for the Poles. He was obviously inspired by all the fans here.
"We can't look at one of our guys and say they didn't give 110 per cent. The commitment from our boys today was like I've never seen before. To not come away with the gold after that is devastating."
