EUROPEAN REPORT - Week 18

Image courtesy of Taylor Lanning Photography

And it will be Wroclaw who go in as favourites after an impressive display when the sides met in the final regular round of the season last weekend. They raced to a 56-34 home win, which also saw them take the bonus point by a 14-point margin, and it put them ahead of Torun in the league table with both sides on 26 points.

Bewley, with 11 points from five rides, led the way for the home team along with his Belle Vue team-mate Brady Kurtz who scored 11+1, whilst Lambert’s good run of form came to an end as he scored 4+1 from five rides.

The only head-to-head between the British riders came in Heat 3 when they battled over third place behind Artem Laguta and Emil Sayfutdinov in Heat 3, with Bewley taking it.

Lublin, meanwhile, wrapped up a regular campaign which saw them lose just one meeting by thrashing Zielona Gora 63-27 as the Mickey Mouse side finished outside the top four play-offs.

Bartosz Zmarzlik, Jack Holder and Wiktor Przyjemski all scored maximums for the defending champions, who limited the visitors to just two race wins.

Grudziadz were already in the play-offs for the first time as a result, but they took care of their own business on Sunday with a 61-29 demolition of Czestochowa, with Max Fricke, Vadim Tarasenko and Michael Jepsen Jensen all dropping just one point from five rides, and reserve Kevin Malkiewicz scored a paid maximum from four outings.

The other Round 14 match saw Gorzow defeat Rybnik 51-39, which assures them of home advantage in the second leg of their play-down semi-final against Czestochowa. Zielona Gora have unsurprisingly elected to face Rybnik, who at least had Maksym Drabik in good form at Gorzow with 16 points from six rides.

The final meetings of the regular season in Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga saw Bydgoszcz wrap up their campaign with a 55-34 win over Lodz, including maximums for Alexandr Loktaev and Kai Huckenbeck, whilst Tom Brennan collected 8+2 from four rides.

Bydgoszcz finished five points behind Leszno in the league table and seven ahead of Krosno, who they will meet in the play-off semi-finals.

Krosno themselves were 51-39 winners over Ostrow, for whom Luke Becker made a comeback from injury, whilst fourth-placed Rzeszow were beaten 47-43 at Poznan despite a 17-point score from Pawel Przedpelski.

Rzeszow were already confirmed in fourth place, and they will meet leaders Leszno in the other play-off semi-final.

The play-down matches will take feature Poznan v Tarnow and Lodz v Ostrow.

National Speedway League leaders Gdansk wrapped up their regular campaign with a 47-43 win at Landshut, for whom Leon Flint (9+1) and Charles Wright (9) both completed solid seasons for the German club.

Gdansk will take on Daugavpils in the play-off semi-finals, although the Latvian club suffered a heavy 61-29 defeat at Pila, who will face Gniezno in the other semi, with Adam Ellis scoring 11+1 from five rides in a big 60-30 win over Opole for the second-placed side.

Opole did complete their home programme with a 50-40 win over Krakow, who have picked up the wooden spoon despite the efforts of Richard Lawson, who scored 6+1 from six rides in that meeting.

The other main action of the weekend was the Grand Prix Challenge in Holsted, and whilst no British riders were competing, Bewley and Lambert – assuming they secure their own spots – know the identity of four more of next year’s line-up.

Dominik Kubera won the meeting which offers him continuation in the series as he is currently outside the top seven, whilst Kacper Woryna will be a GP newcomer in 2026 and Leon Madsen will be back in full-time.
Woryna and Madsen were both on the podium in Denmark whilst Andzejs Lebedevs took fourth place. The Latvian may also finish in the top seven of the main series this year, and if he does so then Jepsen Jensen, fifth in the Challenge, will be promoted into the GP.

Bewley himself needs just four more points to be mathematically certain of competing next year, whilst Lambert is neck-and-neck with Max Fricke for seventh place, and whoever misses out will have to await news of the seeded positions.

Tuesday’s action in Sweden saw Vastervik take over at the top of the Bauhaus-Ligan at the conclusion of the regular schedule.

Lambert led the scoring with 11+1 in their 50-40 win over Indianerna, whilst Brennan added 5+1 from four rides.
The result moved them two points ahead of Smederna, who dropped to a 56-34 defeat at Rospiggarna in the absence of Madsen, with Ellis scoring nine from five rides for the home side.

Elsewhere, Zmarzlik scored a 14+1 paid maximum for Lejonen in their 49-41 win against Dackarna, and they are likely to finish third in the table with one meeting remaining against Indianerna.

Rospiggarna’s victory and Dackarna’s defeat left the Hallstavik side clear in fourth place, whilst the meeting of the bottom two saw Piraterna and Vargarna draw 45-45 thanks to a 5-1 in the last race from the home side.