EUROPEAN REPORT - WEEK 3

Image courtesy of Taylor Lanning Photography

In the re-arranged PGE Ekstraliga Round 3 fixture, the unbeaten visitors collected an emphatic 58-32 away win over the newcomers, who suffered their first home defeat since returning to the top-flight.

Lambert, who rode for Rybnik in 2020 before joining his current club, won three of his five rides to score 11 points as one of four riders in double figures along with Patryk Dudek (12+1), Mikkel Michelsen (13+1) and Emil Sayfutdinov who also broke the track record as well as scoring 12+1.

Rybnik had only three race winners as Nicki Pedersen (5) and Chris Holder (3) missed out on major points, whilst Rohan Tungate picked up 10+1 from six rides.

Lambert teamed up with Dudek for a 5-1 over Pedersen in Heat 6 to put Torun six points up, and by the time he won Heat 12 by passing Tungate they were 20 points to the good. He completed his meeting with a win in Heat 13, joining Sayfutdinov for maximum points against Holder and Gleb Chugunov.

The result moves Torun up to five points in the early league table, with a clear gap over the chasing pack.

Elsewhere in Round 3 the standout meeting saw Lublin make it three wins out of three as they triumphed 47-43 at Wroclaw.

The home side did have their opportunities with Brady Kurtz in outstanding form, scoring 16 from six rides which included three wins over World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik.

But reserve Wiktor Przyjemski made a significant difference with nine points from four rides, including a remarkable win in Heat 1 over Artem Laguta after Dominik Kubera had broken the tapes.

Dan Bewley suffered a nightmare start to the meeting with last places in his first two outings, but he did turn things around after that and finished with seven from five, but Lublin clinched their away win with a 3-3 in Heat 15 as Zmarzlik and Fredrik Lindgren packed in behind Kurtz but ahead of Artem Laguta.

The other 100 per cent team along with Lublin are Grudziadz, whose great start continued with a surprise 51-39 win at Zielona Gora, who are the only team yet to get off the mark.

Michael Jepsen Jensen’s strong form continued with 13 from five rides and Jaimon Lidsey added 10+1, whilst Przemyslaw Pawlicki scored 14 from six for the hosts but Leon Madsen only picked up five.

There was a first win of the season for Czestochowa, who defeated Gorzow 54-36 at home with Piotr Pawlicki scoring a 13+2 paid maximum and Wiktor Lampart adding 11 points. Martin Vaculik picked up ten for the visitors, who sit second from bottom in the early table without a win so far.

In Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga, Bydgoszcz’s 100 per cent start to the season ended when they were beaten 52-38 at Leszno, the final margin being somewhat surprising with the hosts having to race without the injured Ben Cook.

But Grzegorz Zengota (15+1) and Janusz Kolodziej (12+1) led Leszno to victory in front of a huge home crowd, whilst Szymon Wozniak picked up 12 for the visitors – but it was a tough day for Tom Brennan, who scored 2+1 from three.
That result means Krosno are clear at the top with three wins from three, the latest being a 52-38 home win over Poznan.

The hosts did well to overcome the absence of Dimitri Berge due to the rearranged European Pairs semi-final, and Tobiasz Musielak (12) and Kenneth Bjerre (11+3) led their scoring. The remaining fixtures in Round 3 take place this weekend.

There were three matches in the National Speedway League, where four sides are currently level on four points including Pila who have only raced twice so far.

They thrashed Landshut 57-33 with Adrian Cyfer and Villads Nagel both scoring paid maximums, but it was still a positive day for Leon Flint who rode in the main body for the team for the visitors and notched a creditable 8+1 from six rides.

Also on four points are Gdansk, who thrashed Krakow 65-25 with Niels-Kristian Iversen scoring a full 12-point maximum and Tim Sorensen a paid maximum on 10+2. Richard Lawson provided the best of the visitors’ resistance with eight from six rides.

Daugavpils joined Gniezno on four points with a 46-44 home win in the closest match of the round, with the scores level with two races remaining before the Latvian club bagged what proved a crucial 4-2 in Heat 14.

Sam Masters scored 13 from five for the visitors and Adam Ellis collected 7+1 from five.

Meanwhile Great Britain now know the identity of their remaining rivals in the European Pairs Final at Daugavpils on July 19.

The semi-final in Krsko was delayed by a day due to rain, but when it took place it was the Czech Republic, hosts Slovenia and France who made it through.

The Czechs recorded maximums in five of their rides, and although they were outscored by Slovenia when they met, it wasn’t by enough for them to lose top spot on the day.

The meeting saw both Norway and Germany reduced to one rider after a crash between Lasse Fredriksen and Sandro Wassermann, with neither side having travelled with a reserve.