EUROPEAN REPORT - Week 17

Image courtesy of Steve Hone Photography

Kurtz’s Latvian GP victory added to previous results at Gorzow and Malilla, and the bonus for him on this occasion was that defending champion Bartosz Zmarzlik was not in second place.
Zmarzlik found his run in the Final blocked by Fredrik Lindgren with the result that Kurtz took six points back in the title race, and the two title protagonists are now separated by just three points with two rounds remaining.

Lindgren’s runners-up spot ahead of home favourite Andzejs Lebedevs was also a significant moment in the race for bronze overall, as he now leads Dan Bewley by nine points.

The key moment came in Last Chance Qualifier 1 which Lindgren won ahead of Bewley to put the GB racer out of the meeting at that stage, but Bewley will look to respond next time out in Wroclaw.

Robert Lambert also missed out in the second Last Chance Qualifier, but ten points from the meeting leaves him still in a tight battle for the top seven and automatic qualification for 2026.

Lebedevs is now clear in sixth place on 65, with Lambert and Max Fricke level on 67 and seemingly in direct competition as they are now nine ahead of Dominik Kubera.

The second round of the SGP2 series saw Czech prospect Adam Bednar underline his current form with a spectacular victory in a twice re-started Final.

Bednar was allowed back in the re-run after a first bend fall, which became a three-rider race after Norick Blodorn was then excluded, before Bednar got the better of Nazar Parnitskyi and Wiktor Przyjemski in an eventful first lap.

The title race itself looks to be between Przyjemski on 36 points and Parnitskyi on 32 heading into the final round at Vojens in September.

Dan Thompson put on a competitive performance despite a nightmare trip to Riga after a van breakdown following the previous weekend’s European U24 Team Championship in Macon.
Thompson scored eight points from five rides, including a win in his fourth outing, but he missed out with last place in the first Last Chance Qualifier. Jake Mulford failed to score from his five rides.

The weekend saw two catch-up meetings take place in the PGE Esktraliga which means all clubs now have one fixture remaining in the regular campaign.

Lambert scored ten points from five rides in a convincing away win for Torun, who racked up a 55-35 result at Czestochowa to move three points ahead of Wroclaw in second place in the table.

Mikkel Michelsen scored a 12-point maximum with Emil Sayfutdinov (12) and Patryk Dudek (11+3) also in the major points to continue an impressive season for Torun who have only lost two of their 13 matches.

Jason Doyle scored 12 for the hosts, who cannot go higher than sixth in the table and will be part of the play-down phase.

Elsewhere Grudziadz moved into the top four with a crucial 50-40 win at bottom club Rybnik, although it was a dramatic finish as the home side actually led by two points with three heats to go.

But GKM ended the meeting with three successive 5-1s to go ahead of Zielona Gora, and with their rivals having to travel to Lublin on Friday it looks odds-on that Grudziadz will take their place in the title play-offs.

In Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga Tom Brennan led Bydgoszcz to a 55-35 win at Rzeszow by top-scoring with 12+1 from five rides as the visitors got back on track after their home defeat to Leszno one week earlier.

They are guaranteed second place in the table with Leszno certain to top the standings heading into the play-offs as they demolished Krosno 60-30 at home.

Despite Rzeszow’s home defeat, their place in the top four play-offs was secured by other results over the weekend, including their own 51-39 win at Ostrow where Keynan Rew scored a 15-point maximum.

Poznan were the other team who could have challenged for the top four, but they were held to a 45-45 draw at Lodz and although they took the bonus point, it was not enough to keep them in the hunt.

Ostrow raced two home matches in two days with the second proving to be more successful as they beat troubled Tarnow 52-38, although the visitors were at least boosted by the inclusion of Timo Lahti, whilst Mateusz Szczepaniak racked up 16 points from six rides.
In the National Speedway League, the clash of the top two went the way of Gdansk who defeated Gniezno 51-39 and will therefore be confirmed as league leaders after the regular league stage.

Niels-Kristian Iversen top-scored with 14 from six rides for Gdansk whilst Adam Ells scored 8+2 from five for the visitors.

Elsewhere, Charles Wright kept up his excellent form for Landshut, although his 14+1 total from six rides wasn’t enough to quite inspire an away win at Daugavpils, who secured their play-off place with a 47-43 victory. Leon Flint scored 1+1 from two rides for the visitors, who cannot now reach the top four, whilst the Opole/Krakow fixture was postponed due to rain.

In Tuesday’s Swedish Bauhaus-Ligan action, there were wins for the top two in their penultimate matches before the play-offs. Smederna raced to a huge 61-29 victory over bottom club Piraterna, although they only had one rider scoring a maximum, which was Maksym Drabik on 13+2. Oskar Paluch, with 13+1, scored nearly half of the visitors’ points on his own.

Vastervik remain just behind in second place after a 55-35 win at fourth placed Dackarna, with Lambert one of four visiting riders to score double figures.

He collected 10+2 from five rides whilst Lindgren top-scored with 12, and Brennan added 4+3 from four rides in a second-string berth.

The match between the two sides just outside the top four, Indianerna and Lejonen, was postponed, but third placed Rospiggarna slipped up as they were beaten 47-42 at second-bottom Vargarna.

Ellis scored ten points for the visitors, including two race wins, but he failed to finish in a last-heat decider where they needed a 5-1 to snatch a win but ended up conceding a 4-2.