EUROPEAN REPORT - PGE Ekstraliga

Image courtesy of Steve Hone Photography

It was the home side who prevailed with a 48-42 victory, although Torun did plenty well enough to hold on for the bonus point.

Bewley defeated Lambert 2-1 in their direct clashes although Lambert ended with the higher individual score as he picked up 12 from six rides with he, Emil Sayfutdinov and Patryk Dudek dominating the visitors’ efforts.

On the home side, Bewley scored 8+1 from five in a more solid all-round effort led by Artem Laguta (12+1) and Maciej Janowski (10), with the Polish racer having faced a dash to get to the stadium after delays at Luton Airport caused by the global IT breakdown.

The result leaves Wroclaw third in the table, five points ahead of Torun who are in fourth place but they still must look over their shoulders as only three points cover the bottom five.

However, with just three rounds to go, the pressure is on Leszno who did win their must-win fixture against Grudziadz – but not by enough to take the bonus point.

The home side won 47-43 with Grzegorz Zengota (11+1) and Keynan Rew (11) in double figures, but Vadim Tarasenko (12) and Michael Jepsen Jensen (10) easily did enough for the visitors to come away with a key league point.

It means Leszno are two points adrift at the bottom of the standings, and realistically they must beat Wroclaw and Gorzow in their last two home matches as their remaining away fixture is at Lublin.

The defending champions were held to a narrow 48-42 home win over Czestochowa, for whom Leon Madsen was outstanding with 16 points, inflicting two defeats on Bartosz Zmarzlik along the way.

Elsewhere, Gorzow defeated Zielona Gora 47-43 to take maximum points from the meeting, and they maintain second place, seven points behind Lublin, whilst ZG are on ten along with Torun which does not quite guarantee safety just yet.

In Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga, there were two fixtures to complete Round 12 with Bydgoszcz defeating Poznan 55-35 at home to take all three points and move to within one of leaders Ostrow.

Meanwhile Krosno were 47-43 winners over Rybnik, taking two points from the meeting whilst the visitors took one, and it means Rybnik are third in the table – four behind the leaders, with a match in hand – whilst Krosno are fourth, a further point adrift.

In the National Speedway League, there was a 51-38 away win for Opole at Landshut, whilst leaders Gniezno eased past Daugavpils 56-34 with Kyle Howarth impressing once again with a score of 9+2 from five rides, being involved in two 5-1s and then taking a win in Heat 14.

The second round of the Speedway Euro Championship saw Madsen recover from a last place in his opening ride at Grudziadz to win the meeting with 14 points from a possible 15 after that stage.

Madsen was joined on the rostrum by Polish duo Kacper Woryna and Piotr Pawlicki, with Wild Card Max Fricke missing out in the Final, whilst the opening round winner Andzejs Lebedevs was restricted to a total of seven points.

It all means at the halfway stage of the series, the top six are covered by just five points with Lebedevs and Woryna (both 24) leading the way just ahead of Pawlicki (23), whilst Mikkel Michelsen (20), Madsen and Janowski (both 19) are firmly in contention – with Dudek and Anders Thomsen just behind on 17. The action resumes at German venue Gustrow on August 24.

In Tuesday’s Bauhaus-Ligan action in Sweden, Vargarna and Dackarna fought out a 45-45 draw with Adam Ellis scoring seven points for the home side, whilst Chris Harris scored 1+1 from three rides.

Ellis was kept at the back of Heat 15 by Brady Kurtz and Timo Lahti, as his team-mate Jakub MIskowiak won the race to seal the draw.

Elsewhere, Vastervik were 50-40 winners at Indianerna despite the absence of Lambert from the fixture, with Luke Becker starring on 14+1 from six rides.

Meanwhile Lejonen picked up a truly remarkable away win at Smederna, who raced into a surprise 26-10 lead after six races.

The gap was still 12 points with six races remaining, but the visitors incredibly then reeled off four 5-1s and two 4-2s to win the meeting 49-41, with Zmarzlik scoring 15+1.

Meanwhile Leon Flint was the only Great Britain rider to compete in the Polish Under-24 Ekstraliga on Tuesday.
Flint scored five points from four rides in a comfortable 54-36 home win for Czestochowa against Lublin, which also gave them the bonus point and leaves them third in the table.

Leaders Leszno suffered a 52-38 defeat at Gorzow, losing the bonus point as well, meaning the top places have closed up with only two points covering first to fourth.

Wroclaw are second after a 48-42 win at Zielona Gora, giving them all three points, whilst the other fixture saw Krosno defeat bottom club Grudziadz 52-38, again giving them the maximum.