EUROPEAN PREVIEW: SGP Vojens

Image courtesy of Taylor Lanning

Bewley’s spectacular double victory in the last two rounds at Cardiff and Wroclaw has catapulted him up to third in the standings, eight points ahead of Patryk Dudek.

And if he is looking still further upwards, he is currently eight points behind second-placed Leon Madsen, and 24 behind series leader Bartosz Zmarzlik.

The double World Champion won the 2019 Danish Grand Prix at Vojens and finished second to Artem Laguta last year, with the event not taking place in 2020 due to the pandemic.

In the battle for automatic qualifying places for next year, Robert Lambert is just outside the top six on 68 points following his third place at Wroclaw. He is only two points adrift of Fredrik Lindgren – but by the same token there are three other riders within ten points of Lambert, including Tai Woffinden on 64.

Woffinden finished fourth in the 2021 Danish GP, which was the first time in four Vojens appearances that he had made the Final, although he has twice reached the semis.

The Danish GP is the eighth of ten rounds this season, with the series continuing at Malilla next weekend (September 17) and concluding in Torun on October 1.

Meanwhile, Rospiggarna and Dackarna have confirmed their places in the Bauhas-Ligan semi-finals after coming through their second legs this week.

Rospiggarna had raced to a 59-31 home win over Vastervik, and although they lost 49-41 in the return, it was comfortably sufficient to progress.

Dackarna were in the driving seat against Indianerna after winning 49-41 at Kumla, and they were 51-39 victors at home to make it through by 20 points overall.

The first legs of the semi-finals take place next Tuesday, with Rospiggarna travelling to Smederna to face Bewley and Lambert, whilst Lejonen host Dackarna.

In Poland, Ostrow have clinched the first-ever Under-24 Ekstraliga title after a 57-33 win over Leszno, having taken control of the Final with a 51-39 in the away leg one week earlier.

The first leg of the senior Ekstraliga Grand Final takes place on Sunday with Gorzow hosting Lublin – which means a final home appearance for Zmarzlik against the team he is set to join next season.

The last time the teams met at the Edward Jancarz Stadium was way back in early April in Round 1, when Lublin raced to a narrow 46-44 away win with Mikkel Michelsen the hero as he had the better of Zmarzlik during the contest.

Prior to the Final, the first leg of the third-place play-off takes place with Lambert in action for Torun as they take on Czestochowa. The second legs are set for September 24/25.

The fight for promotion to the Ekstraliga is now between Krosno and Zielona Gora, who meet in the first leg of the Division One play-off Final on Sunday.

The original clash between the sides in Round 2 was awarded as a 40-0 win for Zielona due to track issues at Krosno, and the recently relegated Ekstraliga outfit then raced to a 59-30 victory in the return fixture.

Sunday also sees the first leg of the Division Two play-off Final with promotion favourites Poznan hosting Opole. The home side won 52-38 when they met in Round 4, and were then narrowly beaten 46-43 when they raced at Opole in Round 11.