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POLES POWER TO TEST TRIUMPH OVER AUSSIES

Poland’s Speedway GP stars head into the Orlen FIM Speedway GP of Poland - Warsaw in red-and-white-hot form after racing to a 60-30 victory over Australia in a test match in Rybnik on Wednesday evening.Triple world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik powered to a 14 paid 15-point maximum, with Warsaw wild card Dominik Kubera also unbeaten by an opponent on 13 paid 15.The in-form Janusz Kolodziej also starred on 12 paid 13, with Maciej Janowski scoring eight paid nine, Patryk Dudek collecting seven paid eight and Jaroslaw Hampel recording six paid eight.The result gives Polish boss Rafal Dobrucki the nicest of selection headaches as Poland prepare to host the Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup Final in Wroclaw on July 29, where five riders will be needed.Former Speedway GP world champion Jason Doyle was Australia’s leading performer on 11 paid 12, while Jack Holder bagged seven paid eight and Max Fricke collected five points. Brady Kurtz scored four, Jaimon Lidsey added two and Rohan Tungate picked up one.

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HOLDER: SEMI-FINAL HEARTBREAK ONLY ADDS FUEL TO THE FIRE

Aussie ace Jack Holder insists his Tehnix FIM Speedway GP of Croatia semi-final heartbreak “only adds fuel to the fire” ahead of the Orlen FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Warsaw on May 13.Holder, who rides for his country in a test match with Poland in Rybnik tonight, picked up eight race points over his five heats and was tied for the last place in the semi-final with Freddie Lindgren and Max Fricke.With all three boasting a win, two seconds, a third and a last, they could not be separated on countback. Holder beat Lindgren, Lindgren defeated Fricke and Fricke got the better of Holder, meaning even their head-to-head record couldn’t separate them.This meant Lindgren progressed, purely because he had the best FIM ranking after finishing fourth in 2022, with Holder 12th and Fricke 13th.Holder was gutted to have missed out by the finest of margins, but admits it only makes him even more motivated for the rest of the series as he heads to PGE Narodowy next week.He said: “I am sure it only adds fuel to the fire. What goes around comes around and hopefully there will be a bit of luck on my side next time. Rules are rules. I just needed to be better in the heats.”Heavy rain hit Donji Kraljevec in the half hour before the scheduled start time, with track staff working hard to brush clear the surface water and ensure racing got underway with only a minor delay.The weather forced riders to adapt to conditions that were wildly different from those they experienced in Qualifying Practice earlier that day.Holder said: “The track was pretty tricky. I didn’t touch anything on the bike all night because I had plenty of speed. It was all about the start. The inside was very, very rutty and I was quite quick. Then some of the boys were in front of me, but I wanted to come out of there in one piece. It’s only the first GP.“Conditions were bad early on. We just couldn’t see, and it wasn’t nice. We knew some gates were better than others, but we all had the same problem. A couple of boys went win, win and then went to the poor gates and were stone last. It’s just one of those things.“It was the same for everyone, but it’s just very frustrating because it’s the World Championship – not a club day.”

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ELITSERIEN | LINDGREN STARS AS VASTERVIK TAME LIONS

Swedish star Freddie Lindgren raced to 13 paid 14 points on his Bauhaus Elitserien return for Vastervik as they thumped a power-packed Lejonen side 58-32 in their opening league match on Tuesday evening.Lindgren was only drafted into the side as a late replacement for injured Aussie ace Chris Holder, and it’s unclear how many meetings he will take part in as he aims to race a lighter schedule in 2023.But Vastervik may be pushing to hang on to Fast Freddie for as long as possible after he dropped just one point to an opponent over five rides.He was well supported by 11 points from triple world champion Tai Woffinden and Poland’s Bartosz Smektala, with Gleb Chugunov adding eight paid 11.Poland’s three-time world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik was Lejonen’s top scorer on 13 points, with Dominik Kubera tallying 10.Elsewhere, Great Britain star Robert Lambert raced to a sensational 17 points for Smederna, but it was not enough to save them from a 49-41 loss away to Rospiggarna.Finnish international Timo Lahti led the hosts to victory on 14, with Speedway GP star Kim Nilsson notching nine and German racer Kai Huckenbeck collecting eight paid nine.Lambert was aided by a 10 paid 11-point return from Denmark’s Michael Jepsen Jensen, while Jaimon Lidsey collected eight paid nine.In the day’s other meeting, a 13-point haul from Aussie star Jason Doyle couldn’t save Indianerna from a 46-44 loss at home to Piraterna.Polish pair Oskar Fajfer and Piotr Pawlicki led the Pirates to victory, scoring 10 paid 11 and 10 points respectively, while Przemyslaw Pawlicki collected nine paid 11 and Vaclav Milik added eight paid nine.Doyle’s main support came from former Polish champion Szymon Wozniak, who scored 12 paid 14.

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LINDGREN ANSWERS VASTERVIK SOS FOR ELITSERIEN OPENER

Speedway GP star Freddie Lindgren admits he couldn’t ignore a call for help from Swedish side Vastervik as he returns to the Bauhaus Elitserien for their season opener at home to 2022 play-off finalists Lejonen tonight.Fast Freddie originally stood down from Sweden’s top flight for this year, opting to focus on his Speedway GP and PGE Ekstraliga commitments for Lublin as he steps up his recovery from three years blighted by long Covid.But Lindgren’s 2022 side Vastervik found themselves a star short on the eve of the season when Aussie ace Chris Holder suffered spinal injuries in Leszno’s visit to Grudziadz on April 23.When Vastervik and Swedish national boss Morgan Andersson put in a call to Lindgren, the Orebro-born racer was only too happy to respond – stepping in for at least their opening three matches.He told the club’s website: “For my part, I felt early on that if Morgan and Västervik got in touch and needed my help due to Chris Holder's injury for a few occasions, I would review that possibility from our side.“As I previously said, I loved riding for Västervik and the choice to forgo the Swedish league this year had nothing to do with our relationship. It was just that the team and I needed to create a schedule with fewer trips for me in 2023.“Now I return ‘home’ to Västervik to try and make as good an effort as I can during their first three meetings. We will then see what the future holds. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in Västervik again! See you there!”Lindgren made a strong opening to his SGP season, finishing third and collecting 16 championship points at the Tehnix FIM Speedway GP of Croatia last Saturday.He nearly didn’t make the semi-final cut after scoring eight race points from five rides, leaving him deadlocked with Jack Holder and Max Fricke for the last spot in the top eight.With all three boasting a win, two seconds, a third and a last, they could not be separated on countback. Holder beat Lindgren, Lindgren defeated Fricke and Fricke got the better of Holder, meaning even their head-to-head record couldn’t separate them.This meant Lindgren progressed, purely because he had the best FIM ranking after finishing fourth in 2022, with Holder 12th and Fricke 13th.Lindgren had a long and nervous wait before his progression was confirmed. “It seemed like no-one could decide,” he said. “Or at least they took a long time. "When it’s equal on countback and we beat each other, it’s the highest ranked guy from last year who gets it, and that was me. That’s just a fact.”Incredibly, Lindgren defied the graveyard white gate to overhaul Tai Woffinden for second place in semi-final two and take his place in the final.“I thought white wasn’t too bad,” he said. “They were all pretty tricky. Yellow was a little bit tacky and good. I’d had white two times previously and had prepared a game plan to try and get in the dirt on the first lap.“Luckily for me, Woffy came in a bit hot in turn three. I rode a really tight corner, I think I rode where no-one else had ridden, got some grip, hit a rut and passed him, so I did right.”Lindgren snatches second from WoffyLindgren may be the only rider to have raced in every FIM Croatian Speedway GP, reaching the final three times, but he insists that doesn’t make him an expert on the Donji Kraljevec track.“I had a shocking one here last year,” he said. “Saturday was tricky for everyone. We had the rain and I had gate one for my first ride, which was good. But I completely missed it and got clamped by Robert. I got a zero from that, so it was an uphill battle all the way.“After my second heat, I opened a can of Monster, got some energy and got into the semi-final.”

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PEDERSEN: 2023 INJURIES FORCED ME OUT AT KROSNO

Triple world champion Nicki Pedersen insists it was the back injury he suffered at Peterborough in March that forced him out of Grudziadz’s trip to Krosno on Sunday afternoon – not further problems with his pelvis.Pedersen’s 2022 season was ended by a badly broken hip and pelvis – injuries which could have halted the 46-year-old’s career and saw him undergo surgery in both Poland and Denmark.Incredibly, he made a full recovery and got back on track in time for the new PGE Ekstraliga season. But the Danish team manager suffered a heavy blow to his back when he made his Peterborough debut against Ipswich on March 27.The injury prompted him to opt out of the UK, and Pedersen called an end to his meeting at Krosno, admitting he couldn’t cope with the heavy track conditions.But the Danish team manager, who was keeping a close eye on his national-team riders in the pits at the Tehnix FIM Speedway GP of Croatia last Saturday, insists the problem is not the injuries he picked up last year. Posting on Facebook, he wrote: “My pelvis that I broke and the injury I sustained back in June 2022 has actually been fine – no problem with this. “But after having yet another crash in Peterborough in March, I still have severe pain in my back. When the track is very heavy, I struggle to be strong and flexible enough in my back and leg. My pain is just too much.“That's why I had to withdraw from the meeting last night. Fortunately, tracks are usually in really good condition around the pole line and well prepared.“But Krosno is a newly promoted club to the Ekstraliga. They have had new stands built over the winter and they have had a lot of heavy vehicles driving on the track, so they have therefore not been able to get the track well prepared and packed yet. “There has not been enough heat in the weather yet for this, but I wonder if it will get better now that summer is on its way.  I'm going to have to fight back with strength to these kinds of challenging tracks that I've raced on before.”

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POLES POWER TO TEST TRIUMPH OVER AUSSIES

HOLDER: SEMI-FINAL HEARTBREAK ONLY ADDS FUEL TO THE FIRE

ELITSERIEN | LINDGREN STARS AS VASTERVIK TAME LIONS

LINDGREN ANSWERS VASTERVIK SOS FOR ELITSERIEN OPENER

PEDERSEN: 2023 INJURIES FORCED ME OUT AT KROSNO