EUROPEAN REPORT - Week 19 SEC

Image courtesy of Taylor Lanning Photography

Brennan was in need of a SEC boost after failing to score in the second round at Gustrow, and his display in Round 3 was just the tonic required.

In a meeting run at fast pace due to cold weather and the threat of rain, Brennan secured his first win in the series in his third outing as he charged around Grzegorz Zengota with an exciting move in lap one, and in the process he recorded the fastest time of the night.

Going back-to-back in Heats 12 and 13, Brennan made it two successive wins as he held off the strong challenge of Leon Madsen, and that put him firmly in the mix to make the last chance at least.

He added a point from his last ride to finish on nine, whilst the last chance produced a brilliant race with Brennan repassing Zengota for second place in a classic duel which denied the home fans a one-two as Ukranian youngster Nazar Parnitskyi led throughout.

Unfortunately Brennan was left with the unfavourable gate three in the Final and missed out on a rostrum place, but the meeting as a whole was a massive step forward as he looks to establish himself in the series.

Round 3 was won by Patryk Dudek, who moved closer to sealing a GP return as he is now six points clear of Andzejs Lebedevs in the standings, with the Latvian being the only rider who can realistically deny him the title.

Lebedevs was third on the night with Parnitskyi a hugely impressive second to again underline his rapid progress at the top level. The final round takes place in Pardubice on September 19.

The PGE Ekstraliga title play-offs got underway on Friday with leaders and favourites Lublin winning 47-43 at Grudziadz in an exciting meeting which saw them pull back from six points down after Heat 6.

Bartosz Zmarzlik scored 14 from five rides to lead the scoring, and he dropped his only point in Heat 15 to Michael Jepsen Jensen who scored 14+1 from six.

The other Semi-Final featured the British clash between Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley, wjth the Semi-Final fascinatingly poised at the halfway stage as Torun lead Wroclaw 52-38.

Lambert scored 10+1 from five rides for the home side who always looked set to build a comfortable lead, although their momentum was somewhat halted in the closing stages as Brady Kurtz recovered from two earlier last places, and they took their only advantage with a 4-2 in Heat 15.

Bewley scored 5+1 from four rides for the visitors, and he was beaten by Lambert in Heat 9 although he did secure a good second place ahead of Dudek in that race.

In the play-down meetings, there was controversy at Czestochowa where the home side won 48-42 over Gorzow but unsuccessfully protested the engine of the visitors’ Anders Thomsen who scored 17 points from six rides to keep his side in the tie.

Elsewhere bottom club Rybnik battled to a 46-44 first leg win over Zielona Gora with in-form Maksym Drabik scoring 13 and Rohan Tungate added 10+2 despite a clash with his own team-mate Nicki Pedersen which saw the Dane excluded, whilst Madsen racked up 16 for the visitors.

In Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga Brennan kept up his excellent weekend and is now on course to make the Final with Bydgoszcz as they won their first leg tie 49-41 at third placed Krosno.

Brennan top-scored for the visitors with 12 from five rides, and a Final against Leszno, who trail Rzeszow by a single point after their first leg, looks increasingly likely.

The first leg of the Play-Down Semi-Final saw Ostrow establish a 51-39 advantage over Lodz, who tracked Matej Zagar following his exit from Tarnow only for the Slovenian to fail to score.

In the National Speedway League, Adam Ellis gained more time to recover from a knee injury as the semi-final between Pila and Gniezno was called off due to track conditions.
Despite rumours of a walkover being awarded to the visitors, it has been confirmed that the meeting has now been rearranged for this Sunday.

Elsewhere, Gdansk were 44-40 winners at Daugavpils in a meeting which was halted one race early due to rain.

Tuesday night’s action in Sweden saw the Bauhaus-Ligan semi-final line-ups confirmed, and whilst the three aggregate winners were never in too much doubt, there was a close battle for the remaining place handed to the ‘best loser.’

Lambert and Brennan were both in good form for Vastervik in their 54-36 win over Dackarna which gave them a 20-point aggregate victory. Lambert scored 10+3, being unbeaten in his first four rides before losing out to Zengota and Timo Lahti in Heat 15, whilst Brennan at reserve scored 7+1 from three rides, dropping his only point to Pawel Przedpelski.

Zmarzlik scored a 15-point maximum for Lejonen, who defeated Rospiggarna 51-39 as they too won 100-80 on aggregate.

That meant Indianerna took the remaining Semi-Final place despite a 52-38 defeat at Smederna. Two 3-3s in the last two races meant the aggregate score was 98-82, leaving Indianerna just ahead of Rospiggarna and Dackarna.

The Semi-Final line-up will see Indianerna face Vastervik with Lejonen meeting Smederna, with the first legs taking place next week.