Zmarzlik wins SGP in Sweden, Doyle loses lead

Polish racer Bartosz Zmarzlik was elated to end his wait for an away win after continuing his surge up the standings with an epic Swedish Speedway Grand Prix success on Saturday, August 12.

Zmarzlik, 22, produced a breathtaking charge to snatch victory from Swedish hero Antonio Lindback on the final turn, with Freddie Lindgren finishing third from Macej Janowski.

Janowski is now 5pts clear of Jason Doyle in the standings – the Aussie finishing well pack down the pack in 12th position.

The 22-year-old Zmarzlik is no stranger to that track, having raced his entire career at the Edward Jancarz Stadium. So he was elated with a win on his travels, which puts him sixth in the standings on 70pts.

He said: “Winning the GP in Gorzow was a very special day for me. This is my second win, and I have won away. That’s something new and I am very happy.

“Winning here is very special for me. Winning at home is not easy, but you know the setup and how to react on the track. Now I have an away GP win.”

Zmarzlik showed sensational speed in the semis and final, getting the better of Lindback and Lindgren in jaw-dropping style in one of the all-time classic FIM Speedway Grand Prix finals.

The Vetlanda rider admits he had no choice but to take the daredevil line around the fence. He said: “The only line for me was the outside. Freddie and Antonio stayed on the inside and I didn’t have the drive because they were very fast there.

“I went to the outside and my bike was very fast there. I was thinking ‘come on, come on’ and I got the win just before the line.”

Zmarzlik was 10th in the standings just two rounds ago. But two consecutive final appearances in Cardiff and Malilla have blasted him up to sixth, and he’s now just 10pts short of Patryk Dudek in third and 18 behind leader Janowski as the title race opens up nicely.

Runner-up Lindback fell agonisingly short of his first home victory, but he was delighted to rack up 19pts out of a possible 21 in Malilla to leap from 14th place to ninth in the world championship in one night.

He said: “Today was a good day. We worked really hard and that showed out on the track. I’m happy with my points. I dropped two in the GP and it was a very good meeting.

“Of course I wanted to win the final, but it’s hard. Everybody is so fast out there. I’m happy with my second place.”

Doyle's compatriot Chris Holder was 10oth overall in Sweden, and he's 11th in the standings on 50pts.

Next up for the 2017 Speedway Grand Prix stars is Poland on August 26. The final round of the championship will be held at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on Saturday, October 28.

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SWEDISH SGP SCORES: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 15, 2 Antonio Lindback 19, 3 Fredrik Lindgren 18, 4 Maciej Janowski 13, 5 Tai Woffinden 14, 6 Emil Sayfutdinov 10, 7 Martin Vaculik 10, 8 Piotr Pawlicki 6, 9 Niels-Kristian Iversen 6, 10 Chris Holder 6, 11 Patryk Dudek 5, 12 Jason Doyle 5, 13 Peter Kildemand 4, 14 Matej Zagar 3, 15 Linus Sundstrom 2, 16 Martin Smolinski 1, 17 Kim Nilsson DNR, 18 Joel Kling DNR.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Maciej Janowski 88, 2 Jason Doyle 83, 3 Patryk Dudek 80, 4 Fredrik Lindgren 76, 5 Tai Woffinden 71, 6 Bartosz Zmarzlik 70, 7 Emil Sayfutdinov 68, 8 Martin Vaculik 59, 9 Antonio Lindback 55, 10 Matej Zagar 51, 11 Chris Holder 50, 12 Piotr Pawlicki 50, 13 Greg Hancock 45, 14 Niels-Kristian Iversen 44, 15 Peter Kildemand 26, 16 Vaclav Milik 13, 17 Nicki Pedersen 8, 18 Maksims Bogdanovs 8, 19 Kenneth Bjerre 7, 20 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 3, 21 Craig Cook 2, 22 Linus Sundstrom 2, 23 Josh Bates 2, 24 Martin Smolinski 1, 25 Nick Skorja 1.