EUROPEAN PREVIEW - PGE Ekstraliga

Image courtesy of Steve Hone Photography

The penultimate round of regular season fixtures starts with Torun in fourth place, but incredibly still only three points clear of bottom club Leszno.

However, with Leszno facing the toughest of tests as they visit runaway leaders Lublin on Friday, any mathematical risk of Torun being relegated is likely to be over by the time they take to the track on Sunday.

And if they defeat Grudziadz at home, and take the bonus point with it, that will ensure they will finish ahead of their opponents with one round remaining.

Grudziadz won the reverse fixture 47-42 and have their own hopes of remaining in the top six, although they will not know the full nature of the equation for final weekend until much later in the week.

That is because the key fixture between Czestochowa and Zielona Gora, which also has implications for Leszno, has been postponed due to a poor weather forecast, and it will now take place next Thursday.

Lambert is joined by Anders Rowe in the declared line-up for Torun, who has been named in place of Wiktor Lampart whose future with the club is the subject of much speculation.

The other weekend fixture is an interesting clash of second versus third as Gorzow host Wroclaw, with the visitors one point behind but virtually certain to take the bonus as they lead 56-34 from the reverse fixture.

Wroclaw are set to be further boosted by the return of Dan Bewley after a short spell on the sidelines with concussion following his crash at Leicester last week, but Tai Woffinden remains ruled out.

It’s also a key weekend in Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga with play-off places set to be decided, and Rybnik and Gdansk meet twice in 24 hours, first at Rybnik on Saturday and then at Gdansk the following day.

Gdansk also have a trip to Lodz to complete their schedule next weekend, but anything less than three points across the two fixtures against Rybnik will guarantee their relegation, and realistically they are likely to need more.

Both matches are scheduled to feature Tom Brennan racing for Gdansk, along with fellow UK regulars Josh Pickering and Niels-Kristian Iversen, and they come up against the likes of Rohan Tungate, Brady Kurtz and Norick Blodorn.

Elsewhere, top spot will be decided in Ostrow’s favour if they can take maximum points at Poznan, who recorded a shock 47-43 win away from home in the reverse fixture.

However, if Ostrow do not win and take the bonus, they will be overhauled by Bydgoszcz with a win of their own against Rzeszow, as they lead 33-21 from their previous clash.

Rybnik, Poznan and Krosno are all safe in the play-offs, and the latter host Lodz, who are level on points with Rzeszow as they battle for the last place in the top six – and to avoid any surprise threat from Gdansk behind them.

All six National Speedway League clubs are in action this weekend with Gniezno already guaranteed top spot ahead of their trip to second placed Tarnow on Saturday.

On Sunday, the two ‘foreign’ clubs are set to battle it out at the bottom with Daugavpils hosting Landshut, whilst Adam Ellis will line up at No.1 for Pila at Opole.

There was one additional meeting in the Swedish Bauhaus-Ligan on Wednesday as Rospiggarna defeated Piraterna 48-42 at home, but they are still four points outside the top six with only two matches remaining.