EUROPEAN REPORT - WEEK 2

Image courtesy of Taylor Lanning Photography

After a tough start to the season at Torun, Bewley was back on form with 9+2 from five rides, although it was his Belle Vue team-mate Brady Kurtz who took top billing with a 14+1 paid maximum on his home debut.

Bewley was involved in an early 5-1 with Maciej Janowski over Leon Madsen, and his race win in Heat 10 also came at the expense of the Dane.
Artem Laguta and Bartlomiej Kowalski (both 12+1) were also in the major points for Wroclaw, whilst Madsen scored 9+1 for a Zielona Gora side who have now suffered two heavy defeats.

Elsewhere on Sunday there was a dramatic 45-45 draw between Gorzow and Torun, with the latter dropping points for the first time in 2025.

Both sides took turns in leading the meeting and whilst Torun went into Heat 15 43-41 ahead, Anders Thomsen (12) and Andzejs Lebedevs collected a 4-2, split by Mikkel Michelsen (12+1) to leave the match all square.

Robert Lambert had mixed fortunes for the visitors as he ended the meeting with seven points from five rides, starting with a last place although he did hit straight back to win Heat 6.

Friday’s meetings both produced home wins although the margin was surprising at Lublin as the defending champions were held to a 49-41 result against Czestochowa in wet conditions.

Bartosz Zmarzlik scored 13+1 for the hosts but lost his maximum in the final race at the expense of Jason Doyle, who racked up 14+1 from six rides for the visitors.

Grudziadz have joined Lublin on four points from two matches after a 51-39 win over promoted Rybnik, with GKM doing most of their work in the early stages of the meeting.

Max Fricke top-scored with 12+1 and Michael Jepsen Jensen added 11, whilst Nicki Pedersen enjoyed a successful return to his old home track with 13 from six rides.

Meanwhile in Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga Tom Brennan made a solid home debut with seven points from four outings for Bydgoszcz as they defeated Rzeszow 49-41.

That made it two wins on the trot and took them to the top of the early league table, with Krzysztof Buczkowski leading the scoring on 12+1, whilst Brennan took two race wins in Heats 4 and 7.

Krosno are the only other team with a 100 per cent record after two matches, as they defeated Leszno 48-42 with the visitors suffering from the absence of the injured Ben Cook and who saw an early four-point lead cancelled out.

Tobiasz Musielak broke the track record in his first home appearance, scoring 11+1 with Jakub Jamrog on 12, whilst Grzegorz Zengota led the way for Leszno on 12+1.

Elsewhere Poznan were comfortable 54-36 winners over Lodz with Ryan Douglas top-scoring on 10+2 and three other riders being paid for double figures. Andreas Lyager scored 12 for the visitors.

Six clubs have now completed two matches with Tarnow and Ostrow having to wait to race their meeting due to stadium works.

In the National Speedway League, Adam Ellis scored nine points for Gniezno as they made it two wins out of two with a 47-43 home victory over Gdansk.

It was a remarkable contest as the hosts led 37-17 after Heat 9 before Gdansk fought back strongly, but not by enough to turn the meeting around.

Sam Masters also scored well for Gniezno with 11, whilst Niels-Kristian Iversen racked up 16 from six rides for the visitors.

There was a strong home debut for Richard Lawson for Krakow but his score of 12 points from six rides came in a home defeat to Opole, who were 52-38 winners with Oskar Polis scoring a five-ride paid maximum.

In Germany, Daugavpils edged a 46-44 away win at Landshut, who elected not to track Charles Wright in their line-up, although Leon Flint did get one outing at No.8 where he failed to score.