EUROPEAN REPORT - SGP QUALIFICATION

Image courtesy of Steve Hone Photography

Lambert and Bewley came through their weekend qualifiers to book places in the decider for 2025 GP places, which this year comes up after the final round of the series.

That means there could yet be changes to the line-up if riders who have reached the Challenge have already secured their GP spot via a top six finish overall this year.

However, Lambert and Bewley are keeping all options open for now and Lambert was first to race on Saturday in heavy conditions in Zarnovica,

He scored 12 points at the Slovakian venue, placing him into a run-off for third place with Brady Kurtz, which the Aussie won to complete the top three with former GP racers Anders Thomsen and Patryk Dudek.

And that meant a nervous wait for Lambert, because the Zarnovica meeting would only carry four qualifying places if a Czech rider made it through to the Challenge, otherwise a Wild Card would be required for that event.
It was good news, though, as Jan Kvech won in Lonigo, dropping his only point to Dan Bewley who scored 13 and also sailed through in second place.

Jack Holder and home favourite Paco Castagna completed the top four, but amongst the names to go out across the two rounds were Martin Vaculik and Jaimon Lidsey.

Tom Brennan is also standing by for the Challenge, having finished fifth in his qualifier, meaning he could be back in contention come October.

Round 6 of the PGE Ekstraliga featured three completed fixtures as the match between Zielona Gora and Czestochowa on Friday was rained off.

The other Friday meeting saw Lublin make it six wins out of six with a 50-40 win at Leszno, with Bartosz Zmarzlik scoring a 12-point maximum whilst Dominik Kubera also scored 12 and Wiktor Przjemski added 10+1. Andzejs Lebedevs scored 12+1 for the hosts.

Match of the weekend was Sunday’s derby clash between Grudziadz and Torun and it was celebrations for the home side who recovered a seven-point deficit to win 47-42, despite being without Jason Doyle due to injury.

They clinched the victory with a Heat 15 5-1 from Max Fricke and Vadim Tarasenko over Emil Sayfutdinov and Patryk Dudek, Fricke top-scoring with 14 from six rides. Lambert scored nine from five for Torun, with Sayfudtinov on 11.

Elsewhere Wroclaw raced to a clear 56-34 win over Gorzow with Artem Laguta scoring a 15-point maximum. Bewley enjoyed a solid meeting at the end of a busy weekend following his crash at Oxford on Thursday, scoring 8+3 from five rides, whilst Tai Woffinden scored six from four.

Tuesday evening was supposed to feature two re-arranged Round 5 fixtures, although as things turned out only one took place with Czestochowa finally picking up their first win of the season.

They defeated Torun 50-40 in an entertaining meeting with Leon Madsen top scoring on 12+1, whilst Lambert scored 10 from five rides for Torun, the same as Sayfutdinov with Dudek on 10+1.

The result does not, though, move Czestochowa off the foot of the table, but it does move them level on points with Leszno and Zielona Gora.

Meanwhile an extraordinary situation emerged in Gorzow where their home match with Grudziadz was postponed several hours after the scheduled start time, following extensive track work and test runs from the home riders.

With neither side willing to compete the referee Michal Sasien described conditions as “regulated, but difficult” and it appears a dual walkover result of 0-0 will stand, although that is subject to confirmation from the authorities.

There were two matches in Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga, and both finished in 49-41 away wins as Lodz were successful in Gdansk to move above the hosts at the foot of the table.

However it was another strong meeting for Tom Brennan, who scored ten from five rides for Gdansk, and Nicolai Klindt picked up 11+1.

Ostrow won 49-41 at Krosno with Frederik Jakobsen scoring a 14+1 paid maximum from five rides, a result which establishes themselves in the top four, level on points with Bydgoszcz. Krosno remain second behind Rybnik, but they have ridden more matches than their rivals.

Only one match in the National Speedway League took place and there was no GB involvement as Opole defeated Landshut 54-36 with Robert Chmiel scoring a 15-point maximum.

The majority of the Round 6 fixtures in the Under-24 Ekstraliga are to take place on June 10, but the one match which did take place ended in a 45-45 draw between Krosno and Zielona Gora, with the visitors sitting third in the table.

And this was also a blank week in the Swedish Bauhaus-Ligan, with Fredrik Lindgren taking victory in the national championship at Vastervik.