LINDGREN: RIGHT RESULT IN 2023 SPEEDWAY GP TITLE RACE

Swedish star Fredrik Lindgren believes the 2023 FIM Speedway Grand Prix title race “played out as it should have done” as he launches his bid to go one better in 2024.

Fast Freddie raced to a career-best second place, finishing just eight points behind champion Bartosz Zmarzlik in a championship battle that went down to the last race of the season in Torun.

Zmarzlik held a 24-point advantage over Lindgren going into the final two rounds but was disqualified from the Deluxe Homeart FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens by the FIM Jury after failing to wear the correct race suit during Qualifying Practice for the penultimate leg of the series.

This allowed Lindgren to close the gap to just six points and, while he gave the race for gold his all, the Orebro-born ace admits his Lublin teammate deserved to carry off the crown for a fourth time.

The triple Swedish champion said: “I did absolutely the best that I could. I could not have done much more. Bartosz was well ahead of me in reality. He was a lot more points ahead than he ended up because he missed one round.

“I think everything played out as it should have done with Bartosz winning and me coming second. If it had come to the point where I won that year, everyone would have known that Bartosz was the true champion, so I am happy with everything.”

Lindgren’s latest taste of the Speedway GP podium champagne has only whetted his appetite for more in 2024.

He said: “My motivation is very high, and I still feel I can get better. I work really hard to try and be better. It’s not always easy and sometimes I fail, but I am always doing the best I can.”

Lindgren hopes a winter training in the Spanish sunshine will help him hit the ground running when the 2024 series launches with the Boll FIM Speedway GP of Croatia on April 27.

He said: “I have been mostly at our holiday house in the south of Spain, close to Marbella, and I have been training there a lot. I have been sticking to my programme and spending time with my family. It has been good.

“The warm climate gives you an easier push out of the door when you go for a run or a cycling trip, or you’re riding some motocross. It’s convenient for me.”

Lindgren has reached three Speedway GP finals at Donji Kraljevec’s Speedway Stadion Milenium, finishing third in 2011 and 2023 and fourth in 2010. Despite this rock-solid record, he knows 2024 is a new story.

“I don’t look at the history books,” he said. “Croatia 2024 is a new challenge. What I did there in 2022, 2023 or previously doesn’t matter. 

"Of course, we have some data from what we have done there in the past. That gives me some sort of starting point in terms of the equipment. But I don’t look back in history.”