Compiled by WOJTEK SZOLTYSEK
• Nicki Pedersen is back on the injury list after his crash at
Grudziadz on Sunday. Picture: JAREK PABIJAN
THE top tier returned after a short break thanks to the Czech SGP in Prague but the seventh round of fixtures was marred by a bad crash involving Piotr Pawlicki and Nicki Pedersen in Grudziadz on Sunday.
They came together at the first corner of lap two, which resulted in a horrible-looking spill. Pawlicki was the guilty party and was sent sprawling towards the air-fence, while Pedersen remained on his bike and only managed to get off at the last moment. The impact was so severe that Pedersen was diagnosed with a hip injury and two fractures to his pelvis, while Pawlicki broke both shoulder blades.
The two sides had to regroup after the accident and it was Grudziadz’s reserve who made the difference as Norbert Krakowiak rose to the challenge and bagged paid 11 from six outings. Pawlicki’s absence proved too much of a handicap for Leszno to overcome and, to make matters worse, Jason Doyle also had a below-par afternoon.
The other Sunday fixture ended in an identical 50-40 scoreline in Lublin where maximum man Mikkel Michelsen top scored in the win over Wroclaw.
The visitors provided stiff opposition for most of the meeting, but the difference was Heats 11 and 12 in which the hosts claimed two 5-1s. The
BY THE NUMBERS n MIKKEL Michelsen was in stunning form for Lublin on Sunday. Not only did he score an 18-point maximum, but he also beat Maciej Janowski on three occasions and three of the fastest times of the day were set by the Dane as well. n GRUDZIADZ reserve Norbert Krakowiak had to take on extra responsibility after Nicki Pedersen’s Heat 3 crash last Sunday. His 10 point score was only his second double-digit return in the Extraleague – interestingly, it happened previously in a meeting in which Pedersen also crashed out in the first round of races! n ROBERT Lambert has been shining in the PGE Ekstraliga this season. The Brit has scored a minimum of 10 points in 11 consecutive meetings and the 2020 European Champion has scored in all of his last 37 races at the Motoarena. n APPROXIMATELY 237,000 people attended the 28 meetings in the first part of the PGE Ekstraliga season, which means the average figure per match is nearly 8,500. The record attendance for a single meeting belongs to Wroclaw (12,811) and they also hold the best average of 11,915. The lowest attendance figure is that of Leszno where each of their three home meetings so far has attracted less than 6,000 people.
latter was especially valuable with Maksym Drabik and Mateusz Cierniak returning to their best form after a couple of mediocre races.
Two days earlier, there was some good racing in Torun where the home side claimed a deserved win over Czestochowa in a meeting in which the gap between the sides was never more than six points – after Heats 5 and 10.
With five races left, it seemed as though the hosts had everything under control but two Czestochowa 4-2s followed. Robert Lambert produced two immaculate wins in Heats 13 and 15 to guide Torun home and the first was crucial as the Brit had to pass Fredrik Lindgren and Kacper Woryna to stop the Czestochowa tide.
The only fixture lacking in drama was at the Edward Jancarz Stadium where Gorzow stormed to an easy win over Extraleague newcomers Ostrow.
The home side’s domination was such that Bartosz Zmarzlik and Martin Vaculik were stood down to give reserve Wiktor Jasinski a couple of rides, enabling the SGP stars to begin preparations for the Grand Prix in Teterow the following day.
EKSTRALIGA RESULTS FRIDAY, JUNE 3 REGULAR SEASON: ROUND 7 GORZOW 55 Szymon Wozniak ............3 3 1 2 - - - 9 Anders Thomsen ............3 2* 3 2* 2 - - 12+2 Martin Vaculik ................1 3 3 3 - - - 10 Patrick Hansen ..............1 2* 1 0 1 - - 5+1 Bartosz Zmarzlik ............3 3 3 3 - - - 12 Oskar Hurysz ..................2* 0 0 - - - - 2+1 Mateusz Bartkowiak ......3 0 0 - - - - 3 Wiktor Jasinski ..............2 0 - - - - - 2 Team manager: Stanislaw Chomski OSTROW 35 Oliver Berntzon ..............2 1 1* 2 1 1 - 8+1 Tomasz Gapinski ............0 2 0 3 0 - - 5 Rider replacement – Grzegorz Walasek Matias Nielsen................2 0 2 1 2 - - 7 Chris Holder ....................2 1 2 3 0 3 - 11 Jakub Krawczyk ............F 1* 0 - - - - 1+1 Sebastian Szostak..........1 0 1 - - - - 2 Tim Sorensen ................0 1* - - - - - 1+1 Team manager: Mariusz Staszewski Referee: Piotr Lis
FRIDAY, JUNE 3 REGULAR SEASON: ROUND 7 TORUN 48 Pawel Przedpelski..........2 3 1 3 0 2* - 11+1 Robert Lambert ..............3 3 1 2 3 3 - 15 Patryk Dudek..................0 3 2* 1 2 3 - 11+1 Rider replacement Jack Holder ....................2* 1 2 3 0 0 - 8+1 Denis Zielinski ................1* 0 0 - - - - 1+1 Krzysztof Lewandowski 2 0 0 - - - - 2 Zach Cook ......................dnr Team manager: Robert Sawina CZESTOCHOWA 42 Leon Madsen..................3 3 2 3 1 - - 12 Bartosz Smektala ..........0 2* 0 3 1* - - 6+2 Fredrik Lindgren ............1 1 3 1 1* 2 - 9+1 Jonas Jeppesen ............1* 0 - - - - - 1+1 Kacper Woryna ..............1 2 2 2 0 - - 7 Jakub Miskowiak ..........3 2 1 0 - - - 6 Mateusz Swidnicki ........0 0 1 - - - - 1 Kajetan Kupiec ..............dnr Team manager: Lech Kedziora Referee: Michal Sasien
SUNDAY, JUNE 5 REGULAR SEASON: ROUND 7 GRUDZIADZ 50 rzemyslaw Pawlicki ......1* 2 3 2 2 1* - 11+2 Krzysztof Kasprzak ........2 2* 1 2 3 2 - 12+1 Frederik Jakobsen ........2 1* 1* 3 3 - - 10+2 Rider replacement Nicki Pedersen ..............N - - - - - - 0 Kacper Lobodzinski........3 0 0 - - - - 3 Kacper Pludra ................2* 1 0 1 - - - 4+1 Norbert Krakowiak ........3 2 3 F 0 2* - 10+1 Team manager: Janusz Slaczka LESZNO 40 Jason Doyle ....................3 1 0 1 1 - - 6 Janusz Kolodziej ............2 3 3 3 2 3 - 16 David Bellego..................0 3 1* 1* 0 - - 5+2 Jaimon Lidsey ................3 0 2 3 2 0 - 10 Piotr Pawlicki..................X - - - - - - 0 Damian Ratajczak ..........0 1 0 - - - - 1 Hubert Jablonski ............1 1 0 - - - - 2 Antoni Mencel ................0 - - - - - - 0 Team manager: Piotr Baron Referee: Pawel Slupski
SUNDAY, JUNE 5 REGULAR SEASON: ROUND 7 LUBLIN 50 Jaroslaw Hampel ..........3 2 2 0 2* 1 - 10+1 Fraser Bowes ................dnr Maksym Drabik ..............X 0 1* 1* 3 0 - 5+2 Rider replacement Mikkel Michelsen ..........3 3 3 3 3 3 - 18 Wiktor Lampart ..............3 0 0 - - - - 3 Mateusz Cierniak ..........2* 0 2* - - - - 4+2 Dominik Kubera ............3 1* 2 2 F 2 - 10+1 Team manager: Jacek Ziolkowski WROCLAW 40 Tai Woffinden..................1 2 2 3 1 0 - 9 Daniel Bewley ................2 1* 2 1 1 1 - 8+1 Gleb Chugunov ..............2 0 1* 0 1 - - 4+1 Rider replacement Maciej Janowski ............1* 3 3 3 2 3 2 17+1 Bartlomiej Kowalski ......1 1* 0 0 - - - 2+1 Michal Curzytek ............0 0 - - - - - 0 Team manager: Dariusz Sledz Referee: Artur Kusmierz
40 speedway star June 11, 2022