EUROPEAN REPORT - Week 15

Image courtesy of Steve Hone Photography

Lambert was top scorer for Torun in their 59-31 PGE Ekstraliga thumping of bottom side Rybnik last Friday, only being denied a full maximum by Maksym Drabik in Heat 4.

The current World No.2 was backed up by a 12-point full score for Mikkel Michelsen and strong scores down the Torun order as they took all three points from the meeting, with Drabik top-scoring for Rybnik on 10+2.

And Torun ended the weekend in second position in the table, due to a heavy 55-35 defeat for Wroclaw at leaders Lublin.

The visitors had little answer to the defending champions who were led by Bartosz Zmarzlik with a paid maximum, along with paid double figures for Jack Holder and Dominik Kubera, just one day after Kubera and Zmarzlik had clashed in the second round of the Polish Individual Championship at Ostrow, with Zmarzlik being excluded from the Final.

There were no such concerns in league competition, and although Artem Laguta scored 11+2 for Wroclaw they were well beaten with Dan Bewley scoring 7+1 from six rides including a win and a paid win.
Elsewhere the race for fourth place is still on as a 15-point maximum for Michael Jepsen Jensen led Grudziadz to a 57-33 win over injury-hit Zielona Gora, with Jaimon Lidsey and Max Fricke both scoring paid-14.

Kacper Woryna (14+3) and Jason Doyle (13) dominated the Mickey Mouse team’s scoring, but they are now only three points ahead of GKM with two regular matches remaining.

And a glance at those fixtures shows Zielona Gora are due to face Wroclaw at home and Lublin away, whilst Grudziadz have a much kinder run-in of Rybnik away and Czestochowa at home.

Meanwhile Gorzow beat Czestochowa 54-36, leaving both on seven points in the table, with no aggregate bonus point being awarded as the sides drew 90-90 overall.

The action in Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga focused mainly on the efforts of Poznan to challenge for the top four with their matches in hand taking place, but they remain three points behind with two matches remaining.

Having been heavily beaten 59-31 at Leszno on Thursday, Poznan responded with a huge 62-28 win over troubled Tarnow, with Norick Blodorn and Bartosz Smektala both unbeaten.

But they were then held to a 45-45 draw by Krosno 24 hours later, despite a 14-point haul from Douglas, who was beaten by Kenneth Bjerre in Heat 15 to secure the visitors a share as well as the aggregate bonus.
The other weekend fixture saw Lodz win 50-40 at Tarnow with Andreas Lyager scoring a 13+2 paid maximum, but the result is unlikely to be enough to see them break into the top four.

In the National Speedway League, Gniezno and Gdansk remain level on points at the top after both won on Sunday. Gdansk had a straightforward 56-34 win at Krakow, for whom Richard Lawson scored eight from six rides, whilst Gniezno were 51-39 victors at home to Daugavpils, with Adam Ellis scoring five from four rides.

The other meeting saw Landshut keep their top four hopes alive, and they are two points behind Daugavpils after a 51-39 win over Pila, featuring a strong performance from Charles Wright who totalled 12+1 from five rides.

Daugavpils and Landshut are scheduled to meet in Latvia in early August as they contest the fourth play-off spot.

Meanwhile the Swedish Bauhaus Elite League resumed on Tuesday with Lambert continuing his form for Vastervik as he scored 14 points in their 59-31 home win over bottom club Vargarna.
Lambert dropped his only point in Heat 15 to Lidsey, whilst Tom Brennan also contributed a solid 6+1 to the victory.
Ellis was involved in an extraordinary meeting at Hallstavik as Rospiggarna came from six points down to defeat Indianerna 45-44 thanks to a Heat 15 5-1 from Laguta and Villads Nagel. Ellis scored 2+2 from three rides for the home side.
Tuesday’s other meeting saw an emphatic 64-26 win for leaders Smederna, who found it surprisingly straightforward against fourth placed Dackarna, with Gleb Chugunov, Leon Madsen and Jepsen Jensen all unbeaten by an opponent.

Brennan, Ellis and Leon Flint were also in action on Saturday in the European Pairs Final at Daugavpils, where Great Britain were officially placed fifth out of eight competing nations, having finished level on 21 points with Poland.

That was five short of a rostrum finish as Madsen and Lyager took Denmark to the title on 31, whilst hosts Latvia delighted their crowd by scoring 30 points with Andzejs Lebedevs the joint highest scorer on the day along with Madsen.
The Czech Republic were third on 26 having made what amounted to an inspired tactical switch by bringing in 17-year-old sensation Adam Bubba Bednar after two scoreless rides for Vaclav Milik. Bednar reeled off a 15-point maximum from his five outings, backed up by Jan Kvech with 11 points.

For GB, Brenan scored 12+3 including a win in his third ride against Finland, whilst he finished second to Ellis (9+1) for a 5-1 in their second ride against France, with Slovenia also well adrift in seventh place.