TEAM Great Britain picked up their first medal at a World Championship Final since the turn of the millennium after finishing second to Russia at the Speedway of Nations Final in Wroclaw, Poland, tonight.

Alun Rossiter’s troops were denied gold after Russian racers Artem Laguta and Emil Sayfutdinov finished second and third in the one-off grand final.

Despite there being a tinge of disappointment in the Great Britain camp after the deciding heat, Rossiter remained upbeat - describing the achievement of his team as a ‘step forward’ for speedway in his country.

Rossiter said: “I’m slightly disappointed, I shouldn’t be really. I got criticised a couple of years ago when we got silver in our own country.

“But we’ve come to Poland and beat them in their back yard.

“It’s a massive step forward.

“The bottom line is we finished top going into the final, if the result was based on a straight points system we would’ve won the World Cup.

“But we didn’t, and we’ve done ourselves proud. If anybody moans about that, I don’t care.

“This is a success today, and I will take it as a success. But I won’t be happy until I get gold.”

Great Britain booked their spot in the grand final after a dramatic last bend dive from Tai Woffinden in heat 19 on Artem Laguta ensured Rossiter’s men finished a point ahead of Russia after the qualifiers.

That result meant Russia were forced into the final qualifier against Poland, which ended in anti-climactic circumstances as Patryk Dudek was excluded for moving while under orders having previously picked up a warning.

Russia settled for second and third in the re-run to book their spot in the final, before winning the inaugural event despite Tai Woffinden again getting the better of Laguta in the final heat.

“I’m super proud of all three of my riders,” said Rossiter.

“It was a team event and not just about one rider or two riders. Everybody played their part.

“We’ve got a silver medal and should be very happy, and I am.

“It will be good for the branding of Great Britain Speedway.

“I struggled for a while at the beginning because I was so used to doing everything, but now I’m comfortable with it and everybody knows their roles. It’s all about teamwork.

“Robert (Lambert) shouldn’t be down about himself.

“His points were important too, otherwise we wouldn’t have a silver medal.

“There are five other nations that would rather be in my position.”