EUROPEAN PREVIEW

Lambert leads second-placed Torun into a big local derby against Grudziadz on Friday, with the visitors just one point behind and with a match in hand.

With wins in both home matches so far, Torun will be favourites and a win would take them to the top of the table at least for 48 hours until Lublin race on Sunday.

Lambert’s main battles are expected to be with Max Fricke and Michael Jepsen Jensen, with the Danish racer currently sitting in top of the Ekstraliga averages just ahead of Bartosz Zmarzlik.

Meanwhile Bewley heads to Rybnik with Wroclaw for a meeting where the focus will be firmly on his team-mate Brady Kurtz. The Australian played a massive part in ROW’s promotion back to the top-flight last season before his winter switch to Wroclaw, and this match will be his first return to his old home track.

Wroclaw are third in the table with six points from five matches, whilst Rybnik enjoyed an encouraging start by winning their opening fixture, but they have now slipped to the bottom after four successive defeats.

Lublin are in action on Sunday when they head to Gorzow, where Zmarzlik will always be assured of a warm reception after his years of service to the club, whilst the other fixture sees a clash of the in-form Pawlicki brothers as Czestochowa meet Zielona Gora in an important match between two sides currently in the bottom four.

All clubs should have completed six fixtures after next Thursday when the re-arranged Grudziadz/Lublin match is now scheduled to take place.

In Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga, Tom Brennan is part of the Bydgoszcz team who are currently top of the table, and they have a home match against Poznan on Sunday where he will come up against two of his regular rivals from UK racing, Ryan Douglas and Norick Blodorn.

The other fixtures in the second tier his weekend see third-placed Leszno take on Ostrow on Sunday, whilst on Saturday Rzeszow host Lodz as both look to make progress from the bottom four.

Second placed Krosno were due to host bottom club Tarnow on Thursday, but the meeting was postponed due to a poor weather forecast.

In the National Speedway League the main interest from a British perspective comes from the fixture at Krakow, who host Landshut in what is actually a clash of the bottom two in the league table. Richard Lawson lines up for the home side against a German outfit who include both Charles Wright and Leon Flint, and who will be seeking to get off the mark after four defeats so far.

Elsewhere on Sunday, second placed Gdansk take on Daugavpils, and third placed Pila visit Opole, with leaders Gniezno not in action this weekend.

There is also an important schedule of SGP2 and SGP3 Qualifiers, with the Under-21 category staging meetings at Glasgow and Pardubice in preparation for their three-round series.

Jake Mulford, Ashton Boughen and Joe Thompson race at Ashfield, the latter replacing his injured twin brother Joe, whilst Luke Harrison and Jody Scott are reserves.

British Under-21 Champion Sam Hagon heads to the Czech Republic where his qualifier includes defending SGP2 Champion Wiktor Przyjemski and former Birmingham and Glasgow rider James Pearson. The third Qualifier, featuring Luke Killeen, takes place at Debrecen on June 7.

Three British youngsters have headed to Krsko, Slovenia for the SGP3 semi-finals building up to next weekend’s Final at Prague. Cooper Rushen competes in Semi-Final 1 of the 250cc series on Saturday, with Seth Norman and Archie Rolph in Semi-Final 2, and the top eight from each semi will move on to the Final.