Hubert Legowik is a 26 year old Polish rider who races with Rzeszow in the Polish League 2, the club of Australian veteran, Sam Masters and Danish U21 World Championship representative in 2020, Tim Sörensen.
But this year he has also raced in Sweden in Allsvenskan, the country's second division. Legowik has been part of Smålänningarna, a new outfit that is the development team shared by both Målilla Dackarna and Gislaved Lejonen, but formerly based at the latter club (see picture).
We catch up with him as the regular season comes to an end in both Poland and Sweden and neither of his clubs will be playing the post-season.
The Pole tells us that he found it hard going when the season kicked off in the spring, "It was difficult season for me, 'cause before it I change everything in my equipment. I sold out every engine and all my stuff to buy a new one. I had to find new setups and understand how it works".
But his results seem to prove the process, though hard, was a success. In Poland he finished with a heat average of 1.900 (including bonuses) which put him in 18th position on the individual rankings. In Sweden, however, he took 2.231 (excluding bonuses) placing him in tenth, just 0.30 points behind Sörensen, who raced for rivals, Norrköping Vargarna.
The experience of riding in Sweden was one of his highlights of 2021, "I believe this league is, for me, a chance to show my ride for more people," he says with an upbeat tone, "Riding in Sweden is so nice. Tracks are grippy like I love, not slick like in Poland. We can make great races and, for sure, it is a more chill atmosphere," he says about his season with Smålänningarna, "It is a priority for me to be in Bauhaus Ligan next year and maybe Denmark too," he reveals.
In Poland, Rzeszow finished the season on the same amount of points as Lokamotiv Daugavpils. However, the Latvian club finished in fourth and get to go to the playoffs whereas Stal have finished their season by coming fifth. That's because they lost the last match of the season in Daugavpils.
"The team was not regular as the start of the season and we lost three bonuses for this reason," but, he tells us, personally, he has finished the season with a smile on his face, "I think it was a good season for me. I rode regular and I was one of the [heat] leaders for the team," he says satisfied.
Of course, many foriegn riders dream of racing in Poland. But for Legowik who has grown up there, he can also see the advantages in other countries, "in Poland there is too many things to remember, but in Sweden speedway and races is on first place -it should be like that everywhere!" he concludes.
The 26 year old has made a great contribution to his teams' season in both Poland and Sweden. And if he gets his way, we should be seeing a lot more of the Polish rider in Scandinavia in the years to come.
