Great Britain Speedway Team captain Tai Woffinden insists Saturday’s test match with Australia was a positive step forward, despite a heavy defeat.

The Australian team showed their class with a sensational display that left the Brits reeling as they went down 33-57 at Glasgow’s Peugeot Ashfield Stadium, but Woffinden is determined to see the bigger picture as GB took to the track in an international test match on home soil for the first time since 2002.

Woffinden, the current runaway leader of the Speedway Grand Prix series, said: “We wanted to win of course, a lot of people came out wanting to see the FUCHS Silkolene-backed GB team win and we were desperate to give them that but it wasn’t to be and the Aussie boys were on fire.

“They were really quick from the gate and once they got in front they were fast so it wasn’t easy for us, and we’re disappointed to lose by so many, but we’ve got to take a step back and look at the whole picture. 

“One of the big things we want to do is get GB on track more often and this was the first step, since the new management team have taken over we’ve already started moving forward and getting a test match in already is massive. These meetings are about getting experience and getting together, so as long as we learn from it it’s not a negative at all.

“It’s been a long time since we had a proper test match and it was cool to ride in one. The fans at Glasgow were awesome and it was a really cool atmosphere, we’re sorry we couldn’t give them a few more wins but hopefully they had a good day and enjoyed it.”

It was a sentiment echoed by team boss Alun Rossiter, who said, “It was very frustrating, but these Test matches are about the bigger picture with regards to where we want to go and where we want to be in the future,” said Rossiter.