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FRICKE: BUSY IS BEST
Aussie ace Max Fricke insists he has no regrets about opting for a busy schedule over a PGE Ekstraliga place. Fricke heads into the Prague FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic next Saturday on the back of a sensational Orlen FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Warsaw win at PGE Narodowy. The Victorian star won five of his seven races on the way to victory, which he secured by beating Leon Madsen and Freddie Lindgren in the final. Fricke is the only rider in the full-time Speedway GP field not competing in the world biggest speedway league, the PGE Ekstraliga. With his club Zielona Gora relegated to the First Division at the end of last season, the former World Under-21 champion remained under contract and followed them into the second tier to aid their promotion push. While this means he isn’t racing the sport’s top guns as often as some of his rivals, the move down a league cleared the way for him to return to Britain’s SGB Premiership with Manchester club Belle Vue. With clubs in Poland, Britain and Sweden and his Speedway GP commitments, Fricke is one of the sport’s busiest riders. But he’s keen to maximise his time on the bike. He said: “I grew up watching speedway riders and the idea is to be on your bike every day and racing in as many different countries as possible. I am excited this year to have the opportunity to race everywhere and be really busy. Obviously I also have the GP series, so I am doing three leagues plus the GP. “It means I can be really busy during the season. Later in life I will be able to look back and say ‘I did that.’ I have been pretty busy and I have been riding a lot. It was good to bounce back after the first round in Croatia and have a good result in Warsaw.” One man helping him stay on top form is Fricke’s Speedway GP manager Thomas Gaszynski, who served as Polish great Tomasz Gollob’s right-hand man throughout his storied racing career. The San Francisco-born man has joined Fricke’s team after parting company with Robert Lambert at the end of 2021. And it appears he is making an instant impact with the Aussie champion. Fricke said: “He has been very helpful and he is part of my team in an area where I needed a little bit of help. He is working with me and helping me in a few areas and taking a little stress off me, which is really nice.”
EKSTRALIGA | MICHELSEN INSPIRES LUBLIN AWAY WIN
European champion Mikkel Michelsen piled up 15 paid 16 points for Lublin as they roared to a 55-35 victory away to Ostrow in Poland’s PGE Ekstraliga on Friday. On the back of reaching his second straight Speedway GP final in Warsaw, the Dane went unbeaten in his last four rides. He was brilliantly backed up by Orlen FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Warsaw wild card Maksym Drabik and former world No.2 Jaroslaw Hampel, who both registered 12 paid 13 points. Dominik Kubera notched nine paid 10. Former world champion Chris Holder collected 11 points for Ostrow, with Oliver Berntzon and Tomasz Gapinski adding eight each. In the day’s other meeting, Danish ace Leon Madsen cruised to a 15-point maximum as Czestochowa took full advantage of triple world champion Nicki Pedersen’s absence to maul visitors Grudziadz 65-25. Former World Under-21 champion Bartosz Smektala bagged a 12 paid 15-point maximum, while Sweden’s Freddie Lindgren stormed to 12 paid 13. Ex-Speedway GP rider Przemyslaw Pawlicki topped the Grudziadz scorechart on eight points. For full details of the day’s results, scorers and the latest league table, visit https://speedwayekstraliga.pl/ (in Polish).
LINDGREN'S ROSTRUM LIFT
Swedish star Freddie Lindgren hopes his Warsaw podium appearance will kick-start his season as he prepares for the Prague FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic on May 28. Fast Freddie heads to Marketa Stadium next weekend, bidding to extend his fantastic run of three consecutive final appearances and six straight semi-final appearances at Speedway GP’s longest-serving venue. He also has an enviable record at PGE Narodowy, reaching his fourth rostrum on the bounce when he finished third in the Orlen FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Warsaw on May 14. This was the ideal way for Lindgren to bounce back from falling short of the semi-finals at the opening round in Croatia, and he is now fifth in the Speedway GP World Championship on 24 points, just eight behind leader Bartosz Zmarzlik. The two-time Speedway GP bronze medallist started the season with a mixed run of form, but is much happier with his scoring heading to Prague. He said: “I feel it is slowly getting better and better. There are some small details, which I feel I am improving. I hope I can kick-start my season now. I had a good race in the Swedish league on Tuesday and it feels like I am getting there. “It’s really open still. We have only done two rounds. We will have to wait a few more rounds to see how the table turns out. It will be very important to stay up there in the next couple of rounds. 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. It was a really tough night for me.” Lindgren may have sprayed the champagne at PGE Narodowy, but he also had to contend with a broken chain that left him at the back in his second race, before he hit a rut and fell in his final heat. But Zmarzlik also got into trouble in semi-final one, allowing Lindgren to sweep through and capture second spot, which took him into the last four. He said: “I was fighting in every heat for every point and I got a bit lucky in the semi-final, to be honest. But I was in the final to get on the podium and that’s the way it is sometimes. “My chain came off when I was in second position in heat seven. I hit a rut and it put me in a must-win situation to get back into the meeting. Then you have to go out and execute it. I had to do it in my third one and fourth rides.” Lindgren relished the rostrum celebrations in Warsaw as Speedway GP’s big-stadium rounds return under new global promoter Discovery Sports Events for 2022. “I really tried to enjoy this moment,” he said. “We don’t have many events like this; Cardiff and Warsaw are the two big ones for us. This is such a nice stadium and the fans here make an absolutely tremendous atmosphere. I was happy to be part of it.” One of Lindgren’s biggest fans was soaking up the atmosphere at trackside as his one-year-old daughter Millie-Li witnessed her first Speedway GP. “I think she was pretty excited,” Lindgren admitted. “She was really excited a couple of weeks ago when she was at a Polish league match. She seems to enjoy motorsport.”
MADSEN WINNING FITNESS FIGHT
Danish racer Leon Madsen insisted “I am slowly getting my fitness back” after defying a recent bout of flu to close on top spot in Speedway GP. Madsen defied the illness to register a useful 12 championship points at the season-opening FIM Speedway GP of Croatia – Donji Kraljevec on April 30. After having two weeks to recovery, he stepped things up again in Warsaw last Saturday, finishing second in the final behind Max Fricke to claim 18 championship points. He’s now just two behind series leader Bartosz Zmarzlik going into the Prague FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic on Saturday, May 28. Madsen, who won the 2019 Warsaw event, was delighted with his result at PGE Narodowy as he heads to Marketa Stadium with top spot in his sights and his health improving. He said: “It’s nice to finally start to feel a little bit better. It hard been hard for the last month with flu and stuff like that, but I am slowly getting my fitness back. “It was crazy last Saturday and it is always crazy in these indoor meetings. The races go just like that – in such a short amount of time. You don’t always have time in the pits to affect your races, so it is really stressful and so crazy. “I am happy to come second and be up there at the top in the classification – second place and only two points short of the leader. It’s good to be back and I am happy about that.” Madsen and Danish rival Mikkel Michelsen clashed in the Warsaw final, with the European champion hitting the deck and being excluded from the re-run by referee Krister Gardell. Madsen caught his rival coming off turn two, but feels Michelsen was leaning on him going into the third bend. “We went down the straight side by side,” he said. “I really tried to avoid turning left and I also knew that if I took him off, I would probably be excluded. “First we clashed a little bit, but then he got off me. Then you can see him leaning left again. I tried to avoid it, but he just leaned on me and put the bike down. “He got excluded, but I didn’t try to take anyone off. Sometimes we are just racing hard. It’s the best riders in the world and you have to give 100 percent when it’s like that. I am just happy I didn’t get excluded and I made it to the podium. I also want to say that I am happy Mikkel is okay.”
WOFFY NAMES STELLAR LINE-UP FOR WROCLAW TESTIMONIAL
An incredible 10 Speedway GP stars line up in triple world champion Tai Woffinden’s Wroclaw testimonial as he toasts 10 seasons at the Olympic Stadium on June 16. The Great Britain ace has been granted the event by the PGE Ekstraliga champions and has revealed a star-studded field for his big night. Woffinden is joined by double world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik, Wroclaw team mate Maciej Janowski, Great Britain colleagues Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley, European champion Mikkel Michelsen, Swedish champion Freddie Lindgren, Slovak star Martin Vaculik, Danish champion Anders Thomsen and Polish racer Patryk Dudek. Former world champion Chris Holder is also on the bill, along with former World Under-21 champion Jaimon Lidsey, Gleb Chugunov, Francis Gusts, Bartosz Kowalski and Matias Nielsen. The event will also feature some hot laps by four-time world champion Greg Hancock, who is part of the Wroclaw coaching team. The meeting will consist of 20 heats and a final, with a Monster Energy Rig Riot beforehand and an after party, open to all spectators, following racing. Tickets are available now via https://bilety.wts.pl/.
sgp News
21/05/2022
FRICKE: BUSY IS BEST
20/05/2022
EKSTRALIGA | MICHELSEN INSPIRES LUBLIN AWAY WIN
20/05/2022
LINDGREN'S ROSTRUM LIFT
20/05/2022
MADSEN WINNING FITNESS FIGHT
19/05/2022
WOFFY NAMES STELLAR LINE-UP FOR WROCLAW TESTIMONIAL
19/05/2022
PEDERSEN IN HOSPITAL AFTER DANISH CRASH
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PRZEDPELSKI STRIKES BACK
17/05/2022
ELITSERIEN | LINDGREN VICTORY EARNS VASTERVIK DRAW
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AUSSIE CHAMPIONSHIP SET FOR DECEMBER RETURN
16/05/2022
ZMARZLIK'S SEMI-FINAL FRUSTRATION