Zmarzlik Secures SGP Hat-trick as Fast Freddie Gets Home Silver

Bartek Zmarzlik cemented his status as a bona-fide speedway legend by racing to his third world speedway championship title in Malilla, Sweden at the weekend.

Zmarzlik has been an absolute model of consistency all year long; he has won three rounds, been on the podium in three more and in the rounds he failed to make the top three he still finished in fifth. No finish below P5 all season – that’s what makes champions.

The Polish hero headed to Sweden knowing he realistically just needed to finish above title rival Leon Madsen to snare his third gold medal and despite both men getting into the semi-final’s, Zmarzlik’s victory was secured when Madsen suffered machinery problems in his semi.

After a pause in the action whilst Zmarzlik and his team – which his two brothers and father both play a vital role in – celebrated, he rounded off the night in style by winning his last two races and the GP itself.

He is someone who does more of his talking on the track, but he admitted afterwards he was lost for words.
 

He told fimspeedway.com; “I don’t really understand it now. I know what I have done, but I haven’t got the full feeling now. Maybe I will understand it more tomorrow morning. I am very happy because I know now that I have won the championship and I have also won the round in Malilla.

“I am really very happy about this. I have been in Speedway GP for seven years and I have made it six medals. That’s really nice, and three times it has been gold.

“I am really proud about this because I know how much work goes into it. Sometimes you do not win everything by doing a good job on the track. The whole season I want to do a good job on and off the track and I love it.

“For me, it’s such a nice night and now I can go to Torun with No.3 and it makes it so much easier for the head.”

As Zmarzlik celebrated with family and friends so too did our man ‘Fast’ Freddie Lindgren, who pushed him all the way in the final to take silver in front of his home crowd.

It has been a tough spell for Lindgren, with injury and illness both making life difficult in recent months but he bounced back in style and now sits in overall sixth - which would secure his place in next year’s series automatically.

He said: “I’m over the moon. I have struggled a lot over the last couple of weeks in the GP series. I haven’t performed very well and my league form has been a bit down as well.

“I have been struggling with a lot of health issues off the track and it was very emotional for me tonight because I have been so down for some period of time now.

“To be able to come here in front of my home fans and sponsors and perform like I did today, getting back to myself and the way I know I can ride is a nice feeling. My pit crew has done some serious work behind the scenes over the last couple of weeks to try and figure out some stuff with the equipment. It paid off.”

Tai Woffinden had another strong night to close out in P4, Patryk Dudek moved into third place overall with a P7 finish but it was a tough night for Jack Holder (P11), Dan Bewley (P15) and Pawel Przedpelski (P16).

With just one round to go there’s still plenty to race for. Dudek and Bewley are both targeting a medal, whilst Lindgren and Woffinden are both desperate to finish in the all-important top six.

But, for now, the speedway world belongs to Bartek Zmarzlik. We at Monster Energy salute you, champ.

FIM SWEDISH SPEEDWAY GP RESULT:

1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 20, 2 Fredrik Lindgren 18, 3 Maciej Janowski 16, 4 Tai Woffinden 14, 5 Martin Vaculik 12, 6 Robert Lambert 11, 7 Patryk Dudek 10, 8 Leon Madsen 9, 9 Jason Doyle 8, 10 Mads Hansen 7, 11 Jack Holder 6, 12 Oliver Berntzon 5, 13 Andzejs Lebedevs 4, 14 Max Fricke 3, 15 Dan Bewley 2, 16 Pawel Przedpelski 1

FIM SPEEDWAY GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 148, 2 Leon Madsen 117, 3 Patryk Dudek 100, 4 Robert Lambert 97, 5 Dan Bewley 93, 6 Fredrik Lindgren 92, 7 Maciej Janowski 92, 8 Tai Woffinden 88, 9 Jason Doyle 76, 10 Martin Vaculik 71, 11 Mikkel Michelsen 70, 12 Jack Holder 64, 13 Max Fricke 52, 14 Anders Thomsen 51, 15 Pawel Przedpelski 29, 16 Andzejs Lebedevs 16,