Zmarzlik Has One Hand On SGP Title

Bartosz Zmarzlik is within touching distance of becoming a three-time speedway world champion after taking victory in the Danish SGP at the weekend.

The Polish hero opened up a huge 20-point lead at the top of the standings by charging his way to the chequered flag with a display of belligerence and brutality in Vojens, Denmark.

It wasn’t always pretty, and it sure as hell wasn’t easy, but his belief is unshakeable, and he kept plugging away all night long until he seized his moment for glory in the grand final.

Brit racer Robert Lambert made the better start but Zmarzlik bruised his way into the lead with a savage move on the first lap, and from there he cruised home to take his second GP win of the season and move ever closer to a hat-trick of titles.

With just two rounds to go it’s hard to see anyone stopping him from winning, but he told SpeedwayGP.com that he’s just focussing on the next round, in Sweden next weekend.

“I am just fully focused for another round in Malilla and what to do in terms of my engines and setups. My first plan is to do a good job in Malilla and score some really good points.”

“I am very happy about this result. I am very happy with the final. The heats were so hard for me, but the semi-final was good. After the semi-final, I was looking good for the final.”

“I won from a really hard gate. There was only one other winner from gate three. I am happy.” 

Elsewhere, it was a good night for our man Patryk Dudek, who secured another top-four finish to move just one point behind Dan Bewley in overall third place. Tai Woffinden was the fastest man in the field during the qualifying heats but got squeezed out in his semi-final to end up in P7, whilst Jack Holder and Bewley both just missed out on a place in the semi’s.

With just two rounds to go it looks like we know our gold medal winner, but there’s still plenty to race for below that. Bewley and Dudek are fighting for a medal, and Woffinden and Freddie Lindgren are both pushing to finish in the top six and qualify automatically for next year’s series.

There’s no let-up now as the boys head over to Sweden for the penultimate round next weekend.

FIM Danish Speedway Grand Prix result:

1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 20, 2 Robert Lambert 18, 3 Leon Madsen 16, 4 Patryk Dudek 14, 5 Rasmus Jensen 12, 6 Jason Doyle 11, 7 Tai Woffinden 10, 8 Mikkel Michelsen 9, 9 Jack Holder 8, 10 Dan Bewley 7, 11 Max Fricke 6, 12 Andzejs Lebedevs 5, 13 Fredrik Lindgren 4, 14 Pawel Przedpelski 3, 15 Maciej Janowski 2, 16 Martin Vaculik 1, 17 Benjamin Basso 0, 18 Emil Breum Ankersen 0.

World Championship standings:

1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 128, 2 Leon Madsen 108, 3 Dan Bewley 91, 4 Patryk Dudek 90, 5 Robert Lambert 86, 6 Maciej Janowski 76, 7 Tai Woffinden 74, 8 Fredrik Lindgren 74, 9 Mikkel Michelsen 70, 10 Jason Doyle 68, 11 Martin Vaculik 59, 12 Jack Holder 58, 13 Anders Thomsen 51, 14 Max Fricke 49, 15 Pawel Przedpelski 28