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ZMARZLIK FOCUSED ON RACING NOT RECORDS AHEAD OF SPEEDWAY GP OPENER IN CROATIA

Polish icon Bartosz Zmarzlik insists he will leave others to keep track of his astonishing statistics as he bids to set a FIM Speedway all-time record at the Boll FIM Speedway GP of Croatia on Saturday.Sixteen riders from 10 different countries battle it out at the Speedway Stadion Milenium in Donji Kraljevec in the opening round of the 2024 Speedway GP World Championship.Zmarzlik has topped the podium at the past two season-openers in Croatia on his way to becoming a four-time Speedway GP world champion, and he has now led the Speedway GP standings non-stop since April 30, 2022.He clinched world title No.4 with victory at last year’s final round in Torun – matching Aussie great Jason Crump’s all-time record of 23 Speedway GP wins in the process. A third straight victory at Speedway Stadium Milenium would see Zmarzlik surpass this figure. Speedway GP victory No.24 would further cement the 29-year-old’s status among the sport’s all-time greats. But Zmarzlik insists he will leave others to measure his achievements while he focuses on delivering his best form on the track.Asked about matching Crump’s tally of 23, Zmarzlik said: “I am very happy and really very proud about this. Jason also has 23, and he is a big name for me. I remember when I was very young and watching Speedway GP. He was always a big star – along with people like Greg Hancock, Tony Rickardsson and Tomek Gollob.“He is a big hero in my eyes and now I am at the same level maybe. I have the same number of GP wins as Jason. This is important, but I am not noting in my book how many points or podiums I get – it’s more the other people around me that talk about this.“I always look at myself and just do everything I can to make everything the best it can be this year. How many wins or points I get; we will see after the season.” 

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MICHELSEN: SEEKING SMOOTHER SPEEDWAY IN 2024

European champion Mikkel Michelsen hopes to enjoy a “smooth road” in 2024 after working with a sports psychologist to find his best form in the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series.The Danish champion lines up in Saturday’s FIM Speedway GP of Croatia in Donji Kraljevec, having qualified for this year’s series by winning his third Speedway European Championship crown in 2023.While he enjoyed a fine SEC series, Michelsen finished 12th in Speedway GP, reaching just two semi-finals from 10 rounds.He admits a combination of equipment and personal problems made life difficult, but he hopes these are now behind him after a winter of hard work away from the sport.Michelsen said: “Last year, it’s no lie that going into the Speedway GP series, I was not there at all. I didn’t enjoy it and, to be honest, it’s hard to say it, but I didn’t really want to be there. Every time I came to Speedway GP, I just wanted to get it over and done with.“This is why I have worked hard this winter to be in a better place mentally and eliminate a lot of the issues I had last year, so that I can come in with a fresh mind and go out and do the same thing I am doing in the PGE Ekstraliga and the SEC series. Hopefully this will be a turnaround point for me.“It can’t really be any worse than last year. It’s nice to be back. I have been on the struggle bus for the last two years. Two years ago, it was with injuries and last year was just, in general, a pretty tricky season for me with a lot of struggles – personally and equipment-wise.“We have been eliminating those issues over the winter and I have been working very hard with myself and my sports psychologist, Greg. I hope it is going to be more of a smooth road this year. I am ready for it.”Michelsen has teamed up with sports psychologist Grzegorz Więcław, who has worked with the Polish Athletic Association. Sports psychologists are now as much a part of a professional athlete’s backup team as a physio, manager or personal trainer, and the Czestochowa and Slangerup star says his work is having a positive impact.He said: “There has been a certain stigma about using psychologists in the past. But I am using one and a lot of riders are too. You see it in other sports as well. The best athletes work with sports psychologists. It’s just as important when it is going well as when it is going badly. I have only used one in the past when it is going badly. I am trying to be upfront about it and work on these things.“Sometimes it is nice to talk to someone who is a bit more neutral about everything and has a different perspective or view on certain things.“Greg is a guy who has a lot of experience with the Canadian Olympic team and also the Polish Olympic team. I feel like it has been a good fit, and I am excited to work more with him.“Working with a sports psychologist is always something I have touched on a little bit over the years, but not something I have worked on or focused on for that matter. But now I am a bit more focused on the mental side and I feel I am in a more positive space. The mindset is different, and I feel way calmer and more prepared compared to previous years.“I feel like a different person. There are a lot of things you can work on – personally and on the sports side. We have touched both sides of that and I feel more complete in some ways. I hope this year I have a few more tools in my toolbox for different situations, and hopefully I can use them soon.”Michelsen admits some engine issues did not help matters in 2023. He added: “It was also something that affected my mindset a lot. Most of the races I showed up to were effectively testing. I didn’t know if it was going to be good or bad, which is why I was not there mentally in a lot of the GPs. I was thinking, ‘It’s either going to be bad, or it’s going to be very bad.’“I didn’t at any point last year go to the tapes and feel comfortable that it was going to be a good night. This is what we have been trying to eliminate this year. I don’t have that many engines, and we are going to focus on only two tuners – not three, four or more. Hopefully that’s the recipe for success this year.”

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DOYLE: SEEKING SECOND SPEEDWAY GP TITLE HIGH

Aussie icon Jason Doyle admits he’s still chasing the rush of being FIM Speedway Grand Prix world champion again as he prepares for the FIM Speedway GP of Croatia this Saturday.Doyle went from Speedway GP debutant in 2015 to world champion in 2017, famously clinching the crown with an epic victory Down Under at the FIM Australian Speedway GP in Melbourne.While the Newcastle-born racer has not won a Speedway GP round or featured on the World Championship rostrum since, his desire to regain the sport’s biggest prize still burns bright.“I have been in the top 10 for the last nine years in Speedway GP,” he said. “Every rider in there wants to be world champion and after winning it in 2017, I know it’s the drug of choice for us. “We are always chasing it and maybe it will never happen again, but the reason why I am in the GPs and still want to be in the GPs is to chase the world title."Doyle reached the final in Croatia last year and gave himself every chance to win it with a jet-propelled start in the final. Disaster struck as he crashed on bend one, leaving him fourth on the night. That was the first of four final appearances in the opening five rounds last year. But having reached just one semi-final in the last five, Doyle was left eighth in the final Speedway GP World Championship standings.“I am very disappointed with how the end of the season went,” he said. “We changed a few things, and it went the wrong way. “The weather plays a big part in your setups, and I guess we went the wrong way and did some silly things to try to rectify the problems. It just showed in the results that everything was going downhill.“It’s going to be a new season and a lot of lessons were learned from last year, so I think we will be in the right place and hopefully it will be a lot more positive. We need to just carry on with what we know for this year. What happened last year is gone now and I don’t have to worry about it.”Doyle is pleased to be joining forces with the team that helped him to eighth spot in 2023 and believes continuity will pay dividends.He said: “I am keeping with the same tuner (Bert van Essen) for this year and the same mechanics and team around me. It makes it a lot easier for me to start the year with the same familiar faces and it ensures I’m in the right place in my head. I made the changes last year to get where we are now. There is a lot of trust, and a lot of effort has gone into this year. We are looking good.”

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VACULIK: ZMARZLIK PUSHES SPEEDWAY GP RIVALS TO ANOTHER LEVEL

Slovak star Martin Vaculik says former Gorzow teammate Bartosz Zmarzlik “has moved the limits to another level” in Speedway GP as the pair resume rivalries at the Boll FIM Speedway GP of Croatia on Saturday.World No.3 Vaculik heads to Donji Kraljevec bidding to build on the best season of his career in 2023, which saw him become Slovakia’s first-ever Speedway GP World Championship medallist and win SGP rounds in Prague and Cardiff.Upgrading bronze to gold will be no easy task as Vaculik and his Speedway GP rivals bid to dethrone Polish icon Bartosz Zmarzlik – a four-time world champion who has led the SGP standings uninterrupted since he topped the podium in Croatia on April 30, 2022.Vaculik knows Zmarzlik better than most after racing alongside his good friend at the Lublin man’s boyhood club Gorzow.While he knows the challenge that competing with the three-time FIM Speedway World Cup winner brings, Vaculik also admits Zmarzlik forces his opponents to raise the bar.He said: “Bartek is a great sportsman. He is very talented. He works hard and he has a great team. He has all these tools to be the best.“I can truly say he is a motivation for us. He motivates us to be better than we are now. He has moved the limits to another level. That’s good.“Always when I beat him in a heat, I am very happy. It’s a cool feeling. He’s just moving the limit up and up and up.”Vaculik’s historic bronze medal came at the end of a 2023 season, where the sport has reached new heights in Slovakia, with every round of the Speedway GP series televised free-to-air on national broadcaster RTVS.The Zarnovica-born ace is delighted to see speedway’s profile grow in his homeland. He said: “It’s amazing. It was always one of my dreams to grow the sport of speedway in my country, and this is happening now. I am very pleased with that. “One big help was Slovak television showing speedway live on our public TV channel. That’s a great thing. I am very pleased with that and very thankful.“Now many, many people can watch speedway and it’s an amazing opportunity to show the discipline. It’s fantastic. I try my best with my results to give them a good show, and it motives me to be better and better.”Vaculik was recognised for putting his country firmly on the world speedway map when he received the prestigious Crystal Wing sports award in March.Crystal Wings are awarded to those who excel and raise their country’s profile in every walk of Slovakian life in areas including philanthropy, economics, journalism and literature, theatre and audiovisual arts, fine arts, music, popular music, sports, medicine and science, innovation and startups, extraordinary success abroad or another significant achievement.Vaculik was pleased to be honoured with the best of the best in Slovakia. He said: “It was a very big pleasure for me to get this award. I am really very thankful and pleased with this Crystal Wing because it’s a really special thing.“There are so many unique people at this ceremony and there are so many great stories behind them.“I am very honoured to be one the winners. It was amazing and for me, this is another motivation to show my best and try to be the best. All this stuff motivates me so much.”Becoming Slovakia’s first-ever Speedway GP world champion would take his profile and that of the sport to new heights in his country, but Vaculik is well aware of the task ahead as the 11-round series gets underway on Saturday.He said: “Of course I will try my best. I am keeping my feet on the ground, and I am focused on the moment. Of course I have a dream to be world champion. I think the main reason all 15 riders are in the GP is because they want to be world champion – otherwise they will not be in there.“It is a process. I will try my best and I am very pleased I can be among the 15 best riders in the world. I just want to show my best and, if everything works well and goes like it should, then I can really fight for a very high position.”

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MADSEN EQUIPPED FOR SPEEDWAY GP TITLE BID

Danish star Leon Madsen insisted that if he’s going to win the Speedway GP World Championship “it’s going to be in 2024” as he bids to dethrone long-time rival Bartosz Zmarzlik.Madsen heads into Saturday’s Boll FIM Speedway GP of Croatia bidding to end Zmarzlik’s lengthy stay atop the World Championship standings, which stretches back to his win at the season-opener in Donji Kraljevec two years ago on April 30, 2022.The Czestochowa and Vojens rider enjoyed a fine finish to 2023, which saw him storm to a famous victory on home shale at the FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens, before he took third place at the final round in Torun.Taking 36 points from a possible 40 in the final two SGPs was a sensational finish to the season, but Madsen knows he would need to replicate that level over 11 rounds if he is to challenge Zmarzlik and surpass the two Speedway GP silver medals he won in 2019 and 2022.Asked what it will take to unseat the Pole as champion, Madsen said: “We just have to step up, be better and not have any off-days. That’s really the main key to it; being consistent all the way through the season.“A guy like (2021 Speedway GP world champion) Artem (Laguta) proved that if you can be stable and deliver at the top level at every GP round, then you can beat him.“You have to be really, really, really good to win the World Championship, even without Bartek in it. There is a lot of hard competition and a lot of good riders in it. It’s not only Bartek. But with Bartek in the GPs, you have to be extremely good to beat him and win the title.“But mark my words; if Leon is going to win the World Championship, it’s going to be in 2024.”Madsen’s confidence stems from a drastic upturn in performance in 2023 after he struggled to two championship points at round eight in Cardiff, before bouncing back with victory in Vojens.“We finished off on a high,” he said. “I plan to take that with me into the new season. I am continuing with the same equipment that we know is working.“We were testing a lot last year and trying to maybe develop the template with the engines, and it just went in the wrong direction. We kept trying to make it work for too long. Then you start to get the bad results and it affects your confidence. It went as low as it could get in Cardiff.“After that, I knew it was time to make some big changes. We did that coming into Vojens and we saw the results of that. I moved on to Torun and, again, it was a good result. That gives me a lot of confidence, knowing the equipment is working. I believe in that and with the mental state I am in, I believe I will be up there in the top mix.”When some riders struggle, they are quick to change equipment or engine tuner in a desperate bid to transform their fortunes. Madsen has no regrets about sticking with Danish engineer Brian Karger and believes they have now found a winning formula.“I think it’s a big advantage that I have Brian with me,” he said. “I am working closely with him, and he supports me in the pits at the GPs. I believe Karger is the best tuner in the world. He has proved that in the past, winning several World Championships.“We were trying something last season and we did it for too long. Now we are back to what we know is working. This season, we are not going to test anything. Now it’s up to the man on the bike.“I don’t say things can’t be better, but I don’t want to worry about it. I know the equipment I have now is good enough to win. It’s good enough to win GPs and be fighting at the top.”

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ZMARZLIK FOCUSED ON RACING NOT RECORDS AHEAD OF SPEEDWAY GP OPENER IN CROATIA

MICHELSEN: SEEKING SMOOTHER SPEEDWAY IN 2024

DOYLE: SEEKING SECOND SPEEDWAY GP TITLE HIGH

VACULIK: ZMARZLIK PUSHES SPEEDWAY GP RIVALS TO ANOTHER LEVEL

MADSEN EQUIPPED FOR SPEEDWAY GP TITLE BID