A packed full-house of 50,000 screaming fans in Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy stadium witnessed a full-throttle showdown at the 2022 Orlen Warsaw FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland on the 14th of May.
With a whole load of speed and a pinch of luck, Monster Energy’s Frederick "Freddy" Lindgren progressed through to the finals by virtue of a semifinal transfer, ahead of fellow Monster Energy race Paweł Przedpełski. It was a slick ending to a tricky tournament for the Swedish rider, who bags 16 valuable points with the third-place podium finish, just behind winner Max Fricke - who can now call himself a two-time GP winner - a year and a half after his first Speedway Grand Prix win in 2020 in Torun.
It was also a memorable night for the fans in Warsaw, who proudly displayed their solidarity with their Ukrainian neighbors; flying giant Polish and Ukrainian flags in the Warsaw stadium - which is home to the Polish national football team.
After the race Lindgren told us: “I really needed a decent result in Warsaw to bounce back and climb the ladder in the championship table. I am really happy with third tonight. It was a really tough night for me.
“I had some really bad luck – I snapped a chain and crashed in one heat. I was fighting in every heat for every point and I got a bit lucky in the semi-final, to be honest. I was in the final to get on the podium, and that’s the way it is sometimes.”
In the second semifinal, Monster Energy’s Tai Woffinden, who races for Poland’s WTS Wroclaw team in the Polish Speedway League, was unfortunately unable to make the final showdown – leaving Warsaw without any countrymen (along with Przedpelski) to root for in the finals.
After two rounds of FIM Speedway Lindgren (5th) and Woffinden (10th) are keeping the dream alive as the only Monster Energy-backed racers in the top ten in the overall standings.
SPEEDWAY GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 32, 2 Leon Madsen 30, 3 Mikkel Michelsen 30, 4 Maciej Janowski 29, 5 Fredrik Lindgren 24, 6 Max Fricke 22, 7 Robert Lambert 18, 8 Anders Thomsen 15, 9 Jason Doyle 15, 10 Tai Woffinden 14, 11 Matej Zagar 11, 12 Paweł Przedpełski 10, 13 Jack Holder 10, 14 Patryk Dudek 10, 15 Martin Vaculik 9, 16 Dan Bewley 9, 17 Maksym Drabik 4.
WARSAW CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS:
1 Max Fricke 20, 2 Leon Madsen 18, 3 Fredrik Lindgren 16, 4 Mikkel Michelsen 14, 5 Bartosz Zmarzlik 12, 6 Maciej Janowski 11, 7 Tai Woffinden 10, 8 Paweł Przedpełski 9, 9 Robert Lambert 8, 10 Jack Holder 7, 11 Jason Doyle 6, 12 Patryk Dudek 5, 13 Maksym Drabik 4, 14 Dan Bewley 3, 15 Martin Vaculik 2, 16 Anders Thomsen 1, 17 Jakub Miskowiak 0, 18 Vitalii Lysak DNR.
Check out a recap of all the action here:
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