EUROPEAN REPORT - WEEK 1

With both sides hoping to mount a title challenge, Torun were 49-41 winners in a meeting which threw up plenty of thrilling racing in Round 1 of the fixture schedule.

Lambert made a flying start to the meeting with wins in his first two rides – after a bizarre incident at the start of Heat 4 when he appeared to have been excluded for breaking the tapes, before being reinstated as it was confirmed the starting equipment had malfunctioned.

The re-run saw Lambert and Antoni Kawczynski race to a 5-1 over Bewley to turn around a narrow early Wroclaw advantage, and Lambert then secured a 5-1 alongside Patryk Dudek in Heat 7 at the expense of Maciej Janowski.

Bewley was involved in a terrific Heat 9 and had to work hard for third place behind a fabulous battle between Emil Sayfutdinov and Bartlomiej Kowalski, before Lambert saw his maximum hopes ended in Heat 9 by a last bend pass by Artem Laguta to split the Dudek/Lambert combination.

Bewley was withdrawn from Heat 11 in favour of Janowski but the move totally backfired as Torun took a 5-1 to go ten points clear, and although a Wroclaw 5-1 in return gave them brief hope, Sayfutdinov and Mikkel Michelsen sealed the home side’s victory with maximum points in Heat 14.

Lambert ended the meeting with nine points from five rides, backing up Dudek on 12+1 and Sayfutdinvov on 10+2, whilst Bewley scored 4+1 from his three rides for Wroclaw as Laguta top scored on 13.

Elsewhere on opening weekend defending champions Lublin made an ominously strong start to their bid for a fourth successive title as they slammed Zielona Gora 59-31 away from home.

Whilst all of their Grand Prix stars contributed race wins, Dominik Kubera top scoring on 13+1 from five rides, reserve Wiktor Przyjemski also showed what a force he could be this season with 11 from four.

The home side only managed four race wins on their own track with Jarek Hampel reaching 10+2 from six rides, and Leon Madsen scored 10 on his debut.

Grudziadz have realistic hopes of a top four challenge this season, after years of battling against relegation, and these hopes have already taken a step forward thanks to an impressive 51-39 win at Czestochowa – their first ever success at the venue.

Michael Jepsen Jensen kept up his great form of 2024 with 14 points from five rides, going unbeaten from his second outing onwards, and a solid show from the remainder of the team game gave GKM a comfortable victory, despite an excellent return to the hosts for Jason Doyle who scored 15 from six against his team of last year.

There was also a notable result for promoted Rybnik, who announced their return to the top-flight with a 49-41 win over Gorzow to give an early indication that survival could be possible.

48-year-old Nicki Pedersen rolled back the years with a score of 11+1 from five rides, matched by Chris Holder, whilst Rohan Tungate who had remained with the club after they stepped up, scoring 11+2.

Anders Thomsen scored 14 from five rides for Gorzow, but did not receive the support he needed save for an 11+2 contribution at reserve from Oskar Paluch.

In Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga, there was a solid Bydgoszcz debut for Tom Brennan who scored 7+1 from four rides in a comfortable 55-35 win at Lodz which confirmed their status as title contenders.

Szymon Wozniak scored 12 for the visitors with Kai Huckenbeck (10+2) and Krzysztof Buckowski (10+1) also in double figures, whilst Patryk Wojdylo picked up 12 from six rides for the hosts.

Biggest scorers of the weekend were relegated Leszno, who smashed promoted Tarnow 63-27 – but they now face time without Ben Cook, who top scored on 13+1 but has now suffered a broken scaphoid in a crash in the UK.

Closer matches elsewhere saw Krosno win 47-43 at Ostrow despite Luke Becker scoring a 15-point maximum for the home side, whilst the match between Rzeszow and Poznan ended in a 45-45 draw with the visitors ahead for most of the meeting.

Rzeszow, without the injured Tai Woffinden, rallied to level the scores and it was Ryan Douglas who won the last race for Poznan to ensure a share of the spoils.

There were three tight matches in the National Speedway League, with Adam Ellis playing his part in a 46-44 win for Gniezno at one of his former clubs Opole.

Sam Masters scored a 15-point maximum with Ellis notching 7+2, and the duo picked up the crucial 4-2 in Heat 15 to clinch the meeting.

Elsewhere, Landshut were edged out late on 47-43 at Gdansk with two GB riders involved for the German side as Leon Flint scored three from two rides, and Charles Wright 1+1 also from two.

The other fixture produced drama in the aftermath as Daugavpils defeated Pila 47-42, only to have the seven points scored by Oleg Mikhailovs deducted as he removed his bikes from the pits before being given permission. That gave Pila a 42-40 away win.