EUROPEAN PREVIEW - SGP Prague

Image courtesy of Steve Hone Photography

Lambert goes into the meeting sixth in the overall classification on 24 points, trailing leader Brady Kurtz by 14, whilst Bewley is one point and one place behind in seventh.

The Marketa Stadium will be hosting the event for a 31^st time, and in recent years the event has been the exclusive domain of Martin Vaculik who has won each of the last three stagings.
Zmarzlik, who will be racing in his 100^th GP, is a double former winner in Prague, but not since 2020, whilst Lambert and Bewley are both yet to make a Final at the venue.

Lambert has been eliminated in the semi-finals in the last two seasons, whilst Bewley reached that stage in 2022 and 2023 but was knocked out before that stage last year as he collected five championship points.

There is one change to the line-up this weekend as Leon Madsen returns to take the place of the injured Jason Doyle, whilst Daniel Klima takes the wild card berth due to an injury for original selection Adam Bednar.

The weekend also features the SGP3 Final, the World Youth Championship for under-16s on 250cc machinery, with Cooper Rushen one of the favourites following his victory in last Saturday’s semi-final in Krsko.

Another senior route into the Grand Prix series is via the Speedway European Championship, and the line-up for that series will become clearer this weekend as the SEC Challenge takes place at German venue Stralsund.

A strong field includes no fewer than six Polish riders – Wiktor Przyjemski, Przemyslaw Pawlicki, Bartlomiej Kowalski, Mateusz Cierniak, Szymon Wozniak and Krzysztof Buczkowski – as well as former SEC regulars Vaclav Milik, Norick Blodorn, Rasmus Jensen, David Bellego and the in-form Michael Jepsen Jensen.

Five qualifying places are available to join last year’s top five – Andzejs Lebedevs, Madsen, Kacper Woryna, Piotr Pawlicki and Patryk Dudek (replacing Anders Thomsen) – with the remaining five slots nominated by the organisers.

Despite the international action, it’s also a busy weekend in Poland with racing already having taken place on Thursday as clubs caught up with postponed fixtures.
Lublin returned to the top of the PGE Ekstraliga table with a 49-41 win at Grudziadz to maintain their 100 per cent start to the season.

Of the GP contingent Zmarzlik (12+1), Jack Holder (10+2) and Dominik Kubera (10) were all in the major points, although Fredrik Lindgren scored just 2+1 – failing to hit double figures for a sixth successive meeting on that circuit.

Jepsen Jensen (14+1) and Max Fricke (10+2) were the main scorers for GKM, who remain in the top four after six matches.

In Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga, Leszno moved top of the table with an impressive 53-37 win at Poznan, with Janusz Kolodziej (13), Josh Pickering (10+2) and Nazar Parnicki (10) all in double figures.

Ryan Douglas scored 16 from six rides for the home side but lacked any consistent support as PSZ were left in fifth place but three points away from the all-important top four.

Elsewhere, Rzeszow moved up to third by winning 47-43 at Tarnow, thanks to a 5-1 in Heat 15 from top scorers Keynan Rew (13+1) and Pawel Przedpelski (10+2), who got the better of Matej Zagar and Marko Levishyn.

The weekend schedule gets underway with Ekstraliga action on Friday for Bewley who has a home match for Wroclaw against struggling Czestochowa, before he and Kurtz head to Prague for the GP.

Friday’s other meeting sees Zielona Gora host bottom club Rybnik, where a win would see the home side put further pressure on the top four.

The visitors are set to recall Chris Holder as they seek to end a losing sequence which now extends to five matches after their opening day win over Gorzow.

Whilst Bewley races in Poland the day before the GP, Lambert’s meeting is a big one on Sunday as Torun head to Lublin, where he had a spell earlier in his career.
It’s the top two in the current table – although that situation could change before the meeting – and with the likes of Lambert, Dudek, Mikkel Michelsen and Emil Sayfutdinov, Torun are one of the few sides who could offer a serious threat if Lublin are not in top form.

Sunday’s other top-flight meeting sees Grudziadz host Gorzow where a home win will be expected with the visitors having triumphed just once so far in 2025 – although GKM themselves have not been in terrific form after a run of matches against top opposition.

There are two Round 6 fixtures in the second tier on Sunday, whose schedule is split over the next two weekends meaning there is no meeting for Tom Brennan and Bydgoszcz.

Leszno therefore have a chance to go clear at the top but they face a tricky trip to Rzeszow, whilst Krosno are currently in fourth place ahead of their visit to Lodz.

Three meetings take place in the National Speedway League with Gniezno and Gdansk currently tied at the top of the standings.
Gniezno will expect a home with against Krakow in a meeting which will feature a clash between GB duo Adam Ellis and Richard Lawson, whilst Gdansk have a difficult match as they travel to third placed Pila.

Charles Wright will look for another good score for Landshut as they host Opole still seeking a win to get them off the mark in the third-tier standings.