The 24 year old will be able to look back at 2019 and see not only that he became the third Pole to win the coveted Speedway Grand Prix world championship, but excelled in almost every race he participated in.
And this was no flash in the pan victory, but the result of many years of hard work. In the last four years he has finished first, second, third and fifth in in the SGP series and no one will be surprised if there are more podium finishes to come.
Back in July in the Speedway of Nations competition Poland won the Silver medal in no small part due to the flying Zmarzlik who took 35 of the teams 47 points.
In the same month back home in the Ekstraliga, he won the Individual Championship (IMME). And by the end of the regular season he had come second in the overall table of riders with a more than impressive heat average of 2.410 - just 0.031 pts behind the leader, Leon Madsen of Chestochowa.
It was good for the Pole that he was able to take the IMME and receive a personal award as his team, Gorzow, really struggled this season. Coming second to last in the table they were forced into a two-leg race off against Ostrovia, who came second in the Nice 1 League. However, with help from Zmarzlik, who took a maximum in the home tie, Gorzow easily won and will continue in the Ekstraliga next season.
Another remarkable result that was the 24 year old's riding in the Elitserien for Vetlanda. He finished the season with a near perfect 2.791 P/H average.
To put that into perspective he won 76 of the 91 heats he rode in Sweden and never came last apart from one no-finish. By comparison fellow Pole, Maciej Janowski of Dackarna won just 25 of his 74 heats he competed in.
This year Zmarzlik has been the complete rider - whether riding for his country or as individual, in the league in Sweden or Poland, he has topped points tables and thrilled spectators with his great gating and “never say die” attitude as he wrestles with the bike and overtakes his rivals one by one. A worthy world champion and a great pleasure to watch, congratulations Bartosz Zmarzlik.
