MANAGING Great Britain must make Neil Middleditch pine for the pits of Wimborne Road.

Fortunately for Pirates’ boss, he’ll be back in Dorset sooner than he had hoped for as Team GB crashed out of the World Cup race-off in Gorzow last night.

And their downfall? Well, several factors.

Firstly, one man Middleditch knows well and, secondly, one he would love to have in a skull and crossbones race jacket if he could: Chris Holder and Emil Sayfutdinov.

The two hottest properties in Grand Prix speedway were simply outstanding once again on a slick Gorzow surface last night.

Indeed, Sayfutdinov scored a colossal 19 of Russia’s 33-point haul as they joined Middleditch’s men on the flight out of Poland.

Holder’s form is becoming a habit these days, for Poole, Torun and on the international stage, yet it never fails to excite and impress in equal measure.

For Middleditch though, last night’s fourth place finish was about more than a couple of incredibly talented 20-somethings.

In truth, the likes of Sayfutdinov, Holder and Darcy Ward simply put Britain’s speedway frailties firmly in the spotlight.

It would be wrong to criticise Middleditch, who had instilled a team spirit against all odds during this World Cup week with warring team members Edward Kennett, Ben Barker and Lewis Bridger all in the ranks.

Barker proved his selection was a good call from Middleditch, despite Bridger’s Twitter protestations, as the Birmingham man scored seven hard-earned points. His race nine win against Pirate Ward, who had a quiet night by his standards, and Swedish Grand Prix star Andreas Jonsson was the triumph of the meeting.

Bridger, meanwhile, took just three rides and notched one point as he struggled to keep pace with his more illustrious colleagues.

Ditto Poole Castle Cover captain Davey Watt, who toiled and fought for his six points, but was slightly off the pace. His highlight was a hard-riding heat six where he nudged Kennett out of the way and stormed past Pirates team-mate Renat Gafurov to bag two points towards Australia’s winning total.

Gafurov endured a frustrating evening after being excluded from that race for crossing the white line with both wheels. He later suffered mechanical problems in races 14 and 22 and finished with no points from four rides.

Middleditch will now turn his attentions to Pirates’ clash at Lakeside next week, while his two top men, Ward and Holder, will be looking to spring a surprise on home boys Poland in their own back yard in Saturday’s final.

Watt may have to sweat on his place in Craig Boyce’s one-to-five, but some of Middleditch’s disappointed riders could do worse than study Ward and Holder at Gorzow this weekend.

If only to mend their broken relations with a bit of fair dinkum Aussie forgiveness and make the dedicated Middleditch’s life a little easier this time next year.

Great Britain 30: Chris Harris (2-1-4^-3-2-2) 14, Ben Barker (1-3-1-2-0) 7, Lewis Bridger (0-0-1) 1, Edward Kennett (1-1-0-0-0) 2, Tai Woffinden (1-0-1-3-1-0) 6.

Australia 51: Davey Watt (1-2-1-1-1) 6, Chris Holder (3-2-3-1-2) 11, Troy Batchelor (3-2-2-3-3) 13, Darcy Ward (2-2-2-2-1) 9, Jason Crump (2-3-3-1-3) 12.

Sweden 44: Andreas Jonsson (3-1-3-3-6^) 16, Freddie Lindgren (0-2-1-0-1) 4, Antonio Lindback (1-3-2-3-2) 11, Jonas Davidsson (3-1-0-1-1) 6, Thomas H Jonasson (3-0-2-0-2) 7.

Russia 33: Grigory Laguta (0-3-0-0-3-2) 8, Emil Sayfitdinov (2-3-3-2-6^-3) 19, Roman Povazhny (2-0-1-2-0-0) 5, Denis Gizatullin (0-1-0) 1, Renat Gafurov (0-0-0-0) 0.