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VOLUME 73 NUMBER 30 8 COPPERGATE MEWS, BRIGHTON ROAD, SURBITON, SURREY, KT6 5NE EDITORIAL Telephone: (020) 8335 1113 E-mail: star@pinegen.co.uk Editor: Andrew Skeels Assistant editor: Tony McDonald News and feature writers: Paul Burbidge, Peter Oakes and Phil Lanning Art editor: Mick Smith Production editor: Mark Frankham Front cover design: Jeff Davies CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions manager: Dave Fairbrother Telephone: (020) 8335 1113 (9 am-2.30 pm) E-mail: subs@pinegen.co.uk Or visit www.speedwaystar.net and click on the subscriptions link. SUBSCRIPTION RATES UK (52 issues): ......................................£128 UK (26 issues): ........................................£65 UK (13 issues): ........................................£33 EUROPE (52 issues): ............................£144 EUROPE (26 issues): ..............................£74 USA (52 issues):....................................£164 USA (26 issues):......................................£84 REST OF WORLD (52 issues) ................£174 REST OF WORLD (26 issues): ..................£89 DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS www.exacteditions.com/speedwaystar ADVERTISING Advertising manager: Mick Hooker Office: 01279 771125 Mobile: 07957 814639 E-mail: coveadv@gmail.com ACCOUNTS Accounts manager: Marina Abbott Telephone: (020) 8335 1104 E-mail: accounts@pinegen.co.uk Speedway Star is published by the proprietors Pinegen Limited. Printed by: Warners Midlands PLC Printers Distributed by: Seymour Distribution Ltd., 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper © copyright 2024 Pinegen Limited NEWSDESK ROBERT Lambert stormed to his maiden Speedway Grand Prix victory in Vojens last Saturday – and immediately set his sights on “bigger and better things”. The Norfolk star guaranteed himself a World Championship medal after seeing off Polish icon Bartosz Zmarzlik with a sublime start to win the Danish SGP final and surge into second place overall on 137 points. Lambert is now 10 clear of Sweden’s Fredrik Lindgren, who is on 127 ahead of the seasonclosing round at Torun on September 28. Should Lambert reach the final or take third place in one of the semis, he will replace 2023 silver medallist Lindgren as world No. 2. But he is already Britain’s third SGP podium finisher alongside triple World Champion Tai Woffinden and 2000 gold-medal winner Mark Loram. At 26, Lambert has a long future ahead of him on the biggest stage and while the two-time Speedway of Nations winner is keen to savour his maiden SGP win, he already wants more. He said: “Like Bartek said, the first win is always the best one. I am the kind of person who is never happy with where I finish. I’m happy for the moment but we obviously push for the next one now. “I have finally done it, I can tick that off in my career book and move on to bigger and better things. Winning another one would be awesome. Let’s start collecting them up. “I hope I go on to win more and more. It’s obviously a goal of mine to be in Bartek’s position one day. I’m going to keep pushing and fighting and doing all I can to be in that position. We don’t know what will happen in the future, so I can only act in the moment. We will work on it, keep pushing and the hunger will never go away. “Standing on the podium is going to be great. Whatever the medal is, I will be superhappy. Winning a medal was the goal of the season, so that’s ticked off. I will just fight in Torun and see what I can get. If I can get a level up from bronze, it would be amazing.” Lambert had to fight furiously to overhaul Poland’s Szymon Wozniak just to get a third place in his opening ride, so he was elated to peak at the perfect time. He said: “I didn’t think early on in the meeting that I was in the run for it. But we were changing a lot with the bike, making great decisions and LAMBERT WAIT moving in the right direction. That’s important, building up to the final. “You want to have the bike working perfectly for the final. That’s what I have been struggling with for a few meetings, when I’ve missed opportunities to win. I’m over the moon with my first win. Those emotions and how it played out are going to stick with me forever. “After the finish line, there were a few tears under my goggles. It has been a long time coming. I have put in a lot of hard work and there has been a lot of disappointment at coming so close so often before and not getting it. It comes as a relief to finally get it done and stop the talk going around about it – it was a hot topic about me not winning one. Now it’s finally done. “I’m so happy at the moment and this trophy is going nowhere. It’s going to stick with me for a long time.” Lambert jumped off his bike at the tapes before the final and was furiously stamping material into place to give himself the best possible start from gate two. The Torunbased star was determined to leave no stone unturned in his search for speed, with titlechasing Zmarzlik on his inside. He recalled: “I knew when ‘Magic’ walked up and took gate four that I only had the option of taking gate two. I knew I needed to get it across the World Champion and that’s no easy feat. “I was packing away at the start with any kind of dirt I could find for over a minute. The people watching would have seen my heartrate up to crazy heights. I was packing away and my leg was pumping. “I took a few deep breaths at the start and, when I dropped the clutch, the bike went forwards. I was kind of level with him and knew I needed to get across him and not leave him any kind of room. “I’ve been in the position before where I nearly got across Bartek and he has been tough on me, pushed me out and I lost that position. I needed to clamp him, get it on the line and exit the corner in front.” Lambert is now red-hot favourite to seal silver, especially with home-track advantage for the Torun finale. Bartek do POLISH hero Bartosz Zmarzlik dedicated his historic fifth Speedway GP World Championship triumph to his sons as he cemented his spot among the sport’s all-time greats in Vojens on Saturday. After matching Swedish legend Ove Fundin’s five world titles, Zmarzlik is now within touching distance of New Zealand icon Ivan Mauger and Swedish superstar Tony Rickardsson’s record haul of six. He also followed Mauger in becoming only the second rider in history to win three world titles in a row, matching the Kiwi king’s World Final hat-trick notched between 1968 and 1970. Zmarzlik now heads into 2025 hunting an unprecedented four in a row – and he could have been chasing seven on the bounce but for Artem Laguta’s title triumph in 2021. While these numbers are all very impressive, Zmarzlik admits he does everything for his family back home in Kinice – a village just over half an hour from his boyhood club Gorzow, where eldest son Antoni was 2 speedway star September 21, 2024
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WHAT’S ON D Michelsen faces long recovery FIXTURES: SEPTEMBER 19-30 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 Sheffield v Belle Vue (Premiership Play-Off semi-final) 7.30 pm FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 Scunthorpe v Edinburgh (BSN Series semi-final) 7.30 pm Middlesbrough v Edinburgh (National Development League) 7.30 pm SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 Edinburgh v Leicester (National Development League) 7.00 pm SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 Oxford: British Under-19 Championship 3.00 pm Iwade: Eastbourne v Thurrock (Challenge)12.00 pm MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 TBC v TBC (Premiership Grand Final, 1st leg) THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 TBC v TBC (Premiership Grand Final, 2nd leg) MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 Birmingham v Cradley v Coventry v Wolverhampton (Alan Grahame Memorial Four Team Tournament) 7.30 pm Belle Vue v Scunthorpe/Sheffield (National Development League) 7.30 pm ANISH star Mikkel Michelsen hopes to hit the road to recovery soon after undergoing successful surgery following his seasonending spill in Riga. IT OVER Michelsen crashed with Polish star Bartosz Zmarzlik in his opening ride of the Latvian SGP in Riga on September 7, suffering a catalogue of injuries before being transferred to Poland for treatment. The European Champion underwent shoulder and humerus surgery last Thursday and doctors were happy with the outcome. Posting on Facebook on Monday, Michelsen set his sights on his rehabilitation quest. But not after some vital healing time. He posted: “Hey everyone, it has been a rough couple of days since the surgery on Thursday morning. I was discharged from hospital on Friday evening and have been trying to relax and recover since then. “The surgery went according to plan and the surgeon was happy with the results. I underwent a four-hour long procedure where he fixed my shattered humerus and shoulder joint. Now it needs time to heal before hopefully soon starting some rehab. But the Brit is taking nothing for granted. “The fractured elbow should heal on its own and, after scans on my foot, we found out that my heel is fractured as well. The road to recovery is long but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. He said: “I will just do the best I can in Torun. It’s my home track but everything is different for a GP. We will just focus, give 100 per cent and I’ll just ride and enjoy my bike. “Once again, thank you so much for all your get-well wishes, messages and calls. It means a lot. Kind regards, MM.” Despite his absence from the SGP stage, Michelsen is still in with a chance of earning automatic entry for 2025. He is sixth in the standings on 101 points – occupying the final qualification place ahead of Jack Holder on 97 in seventh and Dominik Kubera on 88 in eighth spot going into the final round at Torun on September 28. TV TIMES TV TIMES “It’s going to be great. There are a lot of home fans there and local sponsors as well. Family and friends are going to be there. It’s going to be incredible – whichever way it goes. I’m looking forward to it. Let’s finish off strong.” Holder needs just five points to overhaul his Danish rival but given that the Aussie has registered two in each of his last two SGP rounds, this is not a certainty. If they end up tied on 101, Michelsen will be ranked higher due to having two fifth places compared to Holder’s one. The pair have a win, a third and a fourth each. Compiled BY PHIL LANNING Meanwhile, Kubera needs to at least reach the final to leapfrog Michelsen and hope Holder endures another difficult night. Report: PAUL BURBIDGE oes it for his boys snapped on Instagram watching on TV with Zmarzlik’s wife Sandra, while their baby son Franciszek slept. Speaking with a tear in his eye after enjoying the champagne celebrations, an emotional Zmarzlik said: “Tomorrow I will tell my son Antoni that I have won! “This will be the best thing for me. Now I also have Franciszek, who will one day see me in the photos taking this title in the year he was born. “It is so emotional and important to me. I was not lucky enough to win gold in the year my oldest son was born but he can see me taking a hat-trick for himself. “It is so meaningful – whatever I do in speedway, I do it for my family, my kids. In return, they give me so much fun and support at the same time. Hearing your kids saying, ‘Dad won!’ is invaluable and I want to show them so much. They must be with me on the podium in Torun!” Zmarzlik also paid tribute to childhood sweetheart Sandra, who has supported him on his path to greatness. “She knows so much about speedway,” he said. “I do not need to explain anything to her. She always knows what the situation is. She allows me to work with my team, knowing how much time and effort must be put into it. “The crucial thing is that she gives me the opportunity to realise my dreams in speedway. At least she knows that when I am not home, she can find me in a workshop. It is not uncommon that we are there, cleaning the stuff together. Apart from that, without her, there would not be any children!” Zmarzlik’s older brother Pawel appeared nervous before Bartek’s final showdown, which saw him give Latvian Andzejs Lebedevs the slip on bend three to take the second spot needed to secure gold. “He puts so much work into our team,” Bartek added. “He probably takes everything more seriously than me. “It’s not only him but my whole team, including my mechanics Grzegorz and THE racing bonanza continues. After all the drama of six meetings in five days last week, the big nights just keep coming. First up is the decider in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership second semi-final between Sheffield and Belle Vue. That should be a humdinger. Then, once we know a winner to face Leicester, that Grand Final first leg will take place on Monday. The second leg is scheduled for just three days later. Seweryn. The best thing is that we all have gone through this hectic period recently together. They all had big motivation that kept me going to the end. They are like my family.” Zmarzlik’s extended family will now join forces in a bid to help him join speedway’s most elite club as he aims for a place alongside Mauger and Rickardsson in the pantheon of six-time world champions. BSN also have a plethora of big clashes to come. They have both legs of the Cab Direct Championship Grand Final, KO Cup Final and BSN Series Final but all those dates are still to be confirmed. All we do know is that Poole are through to all three finals. Please check BSN’s social media for updates of when they are broadcasting. LIVE SPEEDWAY THIS WEEK EUROSPORT/DISCOVERY+ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19: Sheffield v Belle Vue, ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Play-Off, Semi-Final, 2nd leg, 7.30 pm. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23: ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final, 1st leg, 7.30 pm. BRITISH SPEEDWAY NETWORK (watch.britishspeedway.co.uk) Check BSN social media for dates. CLUB STREAMINGS BIRMINGHAM: https://www.brummies.tv EDINBURGH: www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk/live-stream LEICESTER: www.leicesterspeedway.com/ Home/LionsTV OXFORD: https://livestream.oxfordspeedway.club POOLE: livestream.poole-speedway.com REDCAR: www.redcar-speedway.com SCUNTHORPE: tv.scunthorpe-speedway.com September 21, 2024 speedway star 3

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WHAT’S ON

D Michelsen faces long recovery

FIXTURES: SEPTEMBER 19-30

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 Sheffield v Belle Vue (Premiership Play-Off semi-final) 7.30 pm FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 Scunthorpe v Edinburgh (BSN Series semi-final) 7.30 pm Middlesbrough v Edinburgh (National Development League) 7.30 pm SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 Edinburgh v Leicester (National Development League) 7.00 pm SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 Oxford: British Under-19 Championship 3.00 pm Iwade: Eastbourne v Thurrock (Challenge)12.00 pm MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 TBC v TBC (Premiership Grand Final, 1st leg) THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 TBC v TBC (Premiership Grand Final, 2nd leg) MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 Birmingham v Cradley v Coventry v Wolverhampton (Alan Grahame Memorial Four Team Tournament) 7.30 pm Belle Vue v Scunthorpe/Sheffield (National Development League) 7.30 pm

ANISH star Mikkel Michelsen hopes to hit the road to recovery soon after undergoing successful surgery following his seasonending spill in Riga.

IT OVER

Michelsen crashed with Polish star Bartosz Zmarzlik in his opening ride of the Latvian SGP in Riga on September 7, suffering a catalogue of injuries before being transferred to Poland for treatment.

The European Champion underwent shoulder and humerus surgery last Thursday and doctors were happy with the outcome.

Posting on Facebook on Monday, Michelsen set his sights on his rehabilitation quest. But not after some vital healing time.

He posted: “Hey everyone, it has been a rough couple of days since the surgery on Thursday morning. I was discharged from hospital on Friday evening and have been trying to relax and recover since then.

“The surgery went according to plan and the surgeon was happy with the results. I underwent a four-hour long procedure where he fixed my shattered humerus and shoulder joint. Now it needs time to heal before hopefully soon starting some rehab.

But the Brit is taking nothing for granted.

“The fractured elbow should heal on its own and, after scans on my foot, we found out that my heel is fractured as well. The road to recovery is long but there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

He said: “I will just do the best I can in Torun. It’s my home track but everything is different for a GP. We will just focus, give 100 per cent and I’ll just ride and enjoy my bike.

“Once again, thank you so much for all your get-well wishes, messages and calls. It means a lot. Kind regards, MM.”

Despite his absence from the SGP stage, Michelsen is still in with a chance of earning automatic entry for 2025.

He is sixth in the standings on 101 points – occupying the final qualification place ahead of Jack Holder on 97 in seventh and Dominik Kubera on 88 in eighth spot going into the final round at Torun on September 28.

TV TIMES

TV TIMES

“It’s going to be great. There are a lot of home fans there and local sponsors as well. Family and friends are going to be there. It’s going to be incredible – whichever way it goes. I’m looking forward to it. Let’s finish off strong.”

Holder needs just five points to overhaul his Danish rival but given that the Aussie has registered two in each of his last two SGP rounds, this is not a certainty. If they end up tied on 101, Michelsen will be ranked higher due to having two fifth places compared to Holder’s one. The pair have a win, a third and a fourth each.

Compiled BY PHIL LANNING

Meanwhile, Kubera needs to at least reach the final to leapfrog Michelsen and hope Holder endures another difficult night.

Report: PAUL BURBIDGE

oes it for his boys snapped on Instagram watching on TV with Zmarzlik’s wife Sandra, while their baby son Franciszek slept.

Speaking with a tear in his eye after enjoying the champagne celebrations, an emotional Zmarzlik said: “Tomorrow I will tell my son Antoni that I have won!

“This will be the best thing for me. Now I also have Franciszek, who will one day see me in the photos taking this title in the year he was born.

“It is so emotional and important to me. I was not lucky enough to win gold in the year my oldest son was born but he can see me taking a hat-trick for himself.

“It is so meaningful – whatever I do in speedway, I do it for my family, my kids. In return, they give me so much fun and support at the same time. Hearing your kids saying, ‘Dad won!’ is invaluable and I want to show them so much. They must be with me on the podium in Torun!”

Zmarzlik also paid tribute to childhood sweetheart Sandra, who has supported him on his path to greatness.

“She knows so much about speedway,” he said. “I do not need to explain anything to her. She always knows what the situation is. She allows me to work with my team, knowing how much time and effort must be put into it.

“The crucial thing is that she gives me the opportunity to realise my dreams in speedway. At least she knows that when I am not home, she can find me in a workshop. It is not uncommon that we are there, cleaning the stuff together. Apart from that, without her, there would not be any children!”

Zmarzlik’s older brother Pawel appeared nervous before Bartek’s final showdown, which saw him give Latvian Andzejs Lebedevs the slip on bend three to take the second spot needed to secure gold.

“He puts so much work into our team,” Bartek added. “He probably takes everything more seriously than me.

“It’s not only him but my whole team, including my mechanics Grzegorz and

THE racing bonanza continues. After all the drama of six meetings in five days last week, the big nights just keep coming.

First up is the decider in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership second semi-final between Sheffield and Belle Vue. That should be a humdinger.

Then, once we know a winner to face Leicester, that Grand Final first leg will take place on Monday. The second leg is scheduled for just three days later.

Seweryn. The best thing is that we all have gone through this hectic period recently together. They all had big motivation that kept me going to the end. They are like my family.”

Zmarzlik’s extended family will now join forces in a bid to help him join speedway’s most elite club as he aims for a place alongside Mauger and Rickardsson in the pantheon of six-time world champions.

BSN also have a plethora of big clashes to come. They have both legs of the Cab Direct Championship Grand Final, KO Cup Final and BSN Series Final but all those dates are still to be confirmed. All we do know is that Poole are through to all three finals.

Please check BSN’s social media for updates of when they are broadcasting.

LIVE SPEEDWAY THIS WEEK EUROSPORT/DISCOVERY+ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19: Sheffield v Belle Vue, ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Play-Off, Semi-Final, 2nd leg, 7.30 pm. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23: ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final, 1st leg, 7.30 pm. BRITISH SPEEDWAY NETWORK (watch.britishspeedway.co.uk) Check BSN social media for dates. CLUB STREAMINGS BIRMINGHAM: https://www.brummies.tv EDINBURGH: www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk/live-stream LEICESTER: www.leicesterspeedway.com/ Home/LionsTV OXFORD: https://livestream.oxfordspeedway.club POOLE: livestream.poole-speedway.com REDCAR: www.redcar-speedway.com SCUNTHORPE: tv.scunthorpe-speedway.com

September 21, 2024 speedway star 3

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