EUROPEAN REPORT

Image courtesy of Steve Hone Photography

It was a special meeting for Rowe, called up into the main body of the Torun side as a replacement for Wiktor Lampart, and he rewarded the club’s faith with his first-ever race win at this level.

That saw him take the scalp of Grudziadz top scorer Vadim Tarasenko, who just managed to split Rowe and Pawel Przedpelski on the run to the line in Heat 5, but Rowe held on for the victory.

That was the highlight of an excellent overall performance which saw him score 7+1 from four rides and could well see him in pole position to retain his place for the play-offs.

Meanwhile Lambert romped to a 15-point maximum in a 54-36 victory which cements Torun in fourth place at least in the final standings, whilst Grudziadz are one place behind, with the bottom four now covered by two points.

Leszno will go into the final round in the relegation position after a 55-35 defeat at Lublin in which they did not field their top rider Janusz Kolodziej as they prepare for this weekend’s crucial showdown with Gorzow.

Zielona Gora and Czestochowa also remain in danger although one side can secure their safety – and also potentially a play-off place - when they meet in a rearranged fixture on Thursday, after a rain-off last weekend.

Meanwhile Gorzow are two points clear of Wroclaw in second place after a 55-35 home win in which Anders Thomsen scored a paid maximum with 14+1.

Dan Bewley scored 9+1 from six rides for the visitors, who did just enough for the bonus point, which was virtually secured by a forceful ride by Artem Laguta to defeat Oskar Fajfer in Heat 13.

The main business of Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga is now complete although there is one outstanding fixture to come between Lodz and Gdansk.

However, Gdansk’s relegation was sealed last weekend as they suffered a pair of heavy defeats to Rybnik, starting on Saturday in the away fixture where they lost 56-34 with Jakub Jamrog scoring a 15-point maximum for the hosts and Brady Kurtz being unbeaten.

Tom Brennan scored 5+2 from five rides and then top-scored in the reverse fixture with 11+2 from six, but it was a huge 59-31 home loss to sum up the season for Gdansk.

They were already relegated by that stage as a result of their defeat on Saturday and the fact that Lodz picked up a bonus point from a 49-41 defeat at Krosno. Vaclav Milik scored the full 15 for the hosts, whilst Luke Becker kept up his strong form with 15+1 from six for the visitors.

Ostrow have finished top of the table after winning 50-40 in Poznan, which was also enough to take the bonus point despite their four-point home defeat in the reverse fixture, the visitors sealing top spot with a 5-1 in Heat 15.

That meant Bydgoszcz had to settle for second ahead of the play-offs despite a 52-37 home win over Rzeszow, with that result meaning the visitors finished in the unwanted seventh spot to mark the end of their season.

The line-up for the play-off quarter finals is therefore settled as Ostrow v Lodz, Bydgoszcz v Poznan and Rybnik v Krosno, with Lodz guaranteed to finish sixth regardless of their last match against Gdansk.

Two matches in the National Speedway League were called off with Tarnow v Gniezno and Opole and Pila both failing to beat the weather, meaning the only action was in Latvia where Daugavpils beat Landshut 52-37 and also took the bonus point, a result which keeps their play-off hopes alive whilst the German side definitely finish bottom.

Tuesday’s action in Sweden saw plenty of British involvement with the top two sides both taking big away wins.

Lejonen romped to a 58-32 victory at Vargarna, for whom Chris Harris scored three points from four rides and Adam Ellis 1+1 from four. World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik scored 14 for the leaders.

Vastervik are only just behind on race points difference, and they had Lambert in top form in their 57-33 win at Rospiggarna as the GB star carded a 14+1 paid maximum.

Smederna remain third after a 49-41 win over Piraterna, whilst Dackarna defeated Indianerna 50-40 despite Bewley scoring a lower than normal four points, and Brennan collected five from six for the visitors.

In the Polish Under-24 Ekstraliga there was no British involvement this week as Wroclaw went top of the table with a 55-34 win over Gorzow, whilst Leszno were beaten 54-36 at bottom club Grudziadz and dropped to second.

Zielona Gora recorded the biggest score of the night as they thrashed Krosno 62-28, whilst Lublin were 47-43 winners over Torun in a battle in the lower regions of the table.

Despite winning the meeting, Lublin actually dropped to the bottom as Torun took the bonus point and with Grudziadz taking all three points, all three sides are left on 11 with Lublin having raced one meeting more than their rivals.