Zmarzlik wins British Speedway Grand Prix
The showpiece SGP round in Cardiff wasn’t a good one for the Aussie connection, especially world champion Jason DoylePolish star Bartosz Zmarzlik raced to British Speedway Grand Prix glory at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday, July 21, topping the podium ahead of home hero Tai Woffinden and fellow Polish international Maciej Janowski.
Zmarzlik finished the night round with a huge 19-point haul, moving himself up to fifth in the championship standings at the halfway mark.
Chris Holder was the best of the Aussies in Cardiff with his ninth place finish – just missing a spot in the semi-finals – while reigning world champion Jason Doyle was a lowly 14th – which included a massive crash in his final heat after he came into contact with British rider Robert Lambert. He was taken to hospital but has now been released with a few minor fractures.
“I feel so very good because I won my first GP in Cardiff and this is the third time I have won a GP,” said Zmarzlik.
“I’m very happy because my team has worked so very hard all year. They have worked for me and today we got a good result, and that’s for the team – not just for me. The whole team wanted it so badly.
“It has been hard all season for me. I had a little bit of a problem at the start of the GP series. The Polish league and Swedish league were no problem, but sometimes the engines are different for the GP. I didn’t have the right setup. It can be very different with the setup in the GP and I don’t know why. But all the time I am learning with every meeting I do.”
Zmarzlik has 55 points after round five of 10, behind runaway leader Woffinden (81), Fredrik Lindgren (61), Maciej Janowski (59) and Emil Sayfutdinov (56).
Doyle is ninth on 40 points, one spot ahead of Holder (38).
Round six will be held in Sweden on Saturday, August 11.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Tai Woffinden 81, 2 Fredrik Lindgren 61, 3 Maciej Janowski 59, 4 Emil Sayfutdinov 56, 5 Bartosz Zmarzlik 55, 6 Greg Hancock 53, 7 Artem Laguta 47, 8 Patryk Dudek 46, 9 Jason Doyle 40, 10 Chris Holder 38, 11 Matej Zagar 34, 12 Nicki Pedersen 31, 13 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 24, 14 Craig Cook 18, 15 Niels-Kristian Iversen 9, 16 Martin Vaculik 7, 17 Krzysztof Kasprzak 7, 18 Andreas Jonsson 7, 19 Vaclav Milik 6, 20 Michael Jepsen Jensen 4, 21 Maksym Drabik 2, 22 Bartosz Smektala 2, 23 Robert Lambert 1, 24 Mikkel Michelsen 1.
BRITISH SGP SCORES: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 19, 2 Tai Woffinden 16, 3 Maciej Janowski 12, 4 Greg Hancock 12, 5 Patryk Dudek 10, 6 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 10, 7 Craig Cook 9, 8 Emil Sayfutdinov 8, 9 Chris Holder 7, 10 Fredrik Lindgren 7, 11 Matej Zagar 6, 12 Artem Laguta 6, 13 Nicki Pedersen 6, 14 Jason Doyle 5, 15 Martin Vaculik 3, 16 Robert Lambert 1, 17 Dan Bewley 0, 18 Jason Garrity DNR.
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