EUROPEAN PREVIEW - SGP Vojens

Image courtesy of Taylor Lanning Photography

Lambert lost ground on leader Bartosz Zmarzlik last week in Riga when the defending World Champion won the Latvian GP with the British star just missing out on a place in the Final.

But Lambert is still very well placed to secure a top-three finish overall for the first time in his career, as he is currently on 117 points with a 15-point lead over fourth placed Martin Vaculik.

Although Lambert is still yet to win a GP, Vojens has been a good venue for him in the past as he has reached the semi-finals on his last three appearances, and the previous two Finals including taking second place in 2022.

Bewley, meanwhile, is sixth in the standings after finishing third in Riga, and his position is a secure one as the only rider in close proximity behind him is Jack Holder five points adrift, but both are likely to clear Mikkel Michelsen this weekend with the unlucky Dane ruled out for the rest of the season after his crash last time out.

Bewley has competed in two GPs at Vojens, scoring 12 points last season by reaching the semi-finals, and he is also one of the series’ in-form riders having collected 51 points across the last three rounds.

Michelsen’s absence is compounded for the Danish crowd by the news that last year’s Vojens winner Leon Madsen has been ruled out as well following his crash with Holder in Latvia, although Rasmus Jensen steps up from the substitutes’ list and Anders Thomsen takes his place as Wild Card.

Vojens will be staging a Grand Prix for the 18^th time on Saturday, and Madsen’s absence means only Zmarzlik of the current field has previously won at the venue.

Zmarzlik was successful in 2019 and 2022, and only Tony Rickardsson with three wins in 1999, 2001 and 2002 has won more GPs at Vojens.

The Polish star will be World Champion on Saturday night – ironically at the venue where he was disqualified for wearing the wrong race-suit in practice last year – if he ends the meeting 21 points ahead of his nearest rival, with his advantage over Fredrik Lindgren currently at 17 points.

Due to the weather conditions in Poland forecast for throughout the weekend, only one of the scheduled play-off fixtures will take place.

That is the fascinating PGE Ekstraliga semi-final clash between Lublin and Torun which is to be staged on Friday evening with Torun holding a 12-point advantage from the first leg.

The league leaders are under pressure to turn things around on their home circuit, with Torun now back at full strength after Emil Sayfutdinov returned in their home fixture.

Lambert, who rode for Lublin earlier in his career, will also have a big part to play as Torun look to pull off a major upset over the two legs if they can hang on to their advantage.

The other semi-final between Wroclaw and Gorzow was one of several early postponements, and that match will now take place on Friday September 20.

Next Friday will also feature the first leg of the Rybnik v Bydgoszcz Final in Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga, with the return taking place on Sunday September 22, along with the second leg of Gniezno v Tarnow in the National Speedway League.