EUROPEAN PREVIEW - FIME European Pairs Semi Final

Image courtesy of Steve Hone Photography

The meeting takes place at Stralsund on Saturday with GB facing competition from Norway, Czech Republic, Sweden, Ukraine, Slovenia and the hosts, with only the top two qualifying.

Germany are tracking Kevin Wolbert and Norick Blordorn, with Jan Kvech lining up alongside youngster Adam Bubba Bednar for Czech Republic.

Five seeded teams – Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Finland – are already confirmed starters for the Final at Lonigo on October 20.

Meanwhile play-off and relegation issues are set to be decided in the PGE Ekstraliga this weekend, with former champions Leszno looking most likely to drop.

Thursday’s re-arranged fixture saw Czestochowa and Zielona Gora fight out a dramatic 45-45 draw with the home side fighting back from 12 points down with six races remaining.

Kacper Woryna and Leon Madsen were on a 5-1 in Heat 15 when Rasmus Jensen came down at the back, with the referee awarding the race in the home side’s favour and also showing Jensen a red card.

The outcome, which also gave Czestochowa the bonus point, made the home side safe and also put them in the best position of those chasing the remaining play-off places.
They have 12 points with Zielona Gora in sixth place on 11. Grudziadz are next, also on 11 but with an inferior points difference, and Leszno are bottom on nine.

That means Leszno must at the very least defeat second-placed Gorzow in their final fixture, and even then it may not be enough for survival.

The Bulls are unlikely to catch Zielona Gora on points difference, and their gap to Grudziadz is 15 race points.

They trail Gorzow 53-37 for the bonus point so may well be reliant on a win themselves and hoping Grudziadz lose at home to Czestochowa, or alternatively if Zielona Gora lose at home to Torun and Leszno also collect the bonus point.

However, Zielona Gora’s hopes of a home win, and a play-off place, are boosted by Torun’s concern over Emil Sayfudtinov following his horror crash at Sheffield on Thursday, and although he confirmed no broken bones he is set to remain in hospital until Saturday.

The weekend schedule gets underway with Wroclaw hosting leaders Lublin in a clash of two clubs who are already in the play-offs, with Dan Bewley in action for the home team.

They could potentially go second in the table as they are two points behind Gorzow, and they trail Lublin 50-40 for the bonus point.

Next up is the Grudziadz v Czestochowa fixture, also on Friday, which will begin to clarify matters at the bottom, before Zielona Gora host Torun on Sunday.

Not surprisingly after his excellent performance last weekend, Anders Rowe is back in the Torun line-up, and he joins Robert Lambert.

Leszno v Gorzow completes the regular season schedule, and the hosts will know before the start whether they have any realistic chance of survival.

The final regular match in Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga takes place on Sunday with Lodz hosting Gdansk, but this does not affect the league table.

Lodz, who are sixth and will stay there regardless, lead 49-41 for the bonus point, whilst Gdansk have been relegated after just one win and a draw all season. Tom Brennan is in their team and doubtless will have options to consider for his 2025 racing at that level.

There are two National Speedway League fixtures this weekend with Adam Ellis lining up for Pila at home to Tarnow on Saturday, with Tarnow then hosting leaders Gniezno on Sunday.