TRULY.WORK Stal Gorzow have not raced together as a team since the last match of the Polish regular season in Round 14 on 23 August. It the meantime some of their riders have had great success - Anders Thomsen (in photo) and Peter Kildemand scored top points for Team Fjelsted when they took the Danish Metal League championship whilst juniors Rafal Karczmarz (POL) and Fredrik Jakobsen (DEN) both took part in the U21 World Championships. And who could forget that yesterday Bartosz Zmarzlik became only the third ever Pole to win the SGP World Championship.

ARGED MALESA TZ Ostrovia on the other hand have had a hectic post season where they won their semi-final only to lose the Nice 1 Liga final by six points against ROW Rynbik. Their Danish rider Nicolai Klindt was in the Metal League superfinal against Thomsen and Kildemand and has also been in post-season action in the UK when Poole Pirates were surprisingly knocked out by Ipswich Witches. Meanwhile, their Australian rider Sam Masters is still waiting for his Premiership semi-finals with Wolverhampton Wolves against Swindon Robins which has been repeatedly cancelled due to bad weather in Great Britain.

Gorzow's only wins during the season came at home, including being the only team to beat Lezsno at all this year. So, true to form, they went out full throttle from Heat 1 to crush the visiting wannabes. By Heat 4 the Ekstraliga club were already ahead by 16-8 and both Karczmarz and Krzysztof Kasprzak had won 5-1 heats victories.

But as the match went on the visitors found their lines and stabilizing things with a handful of 3:3 heats. However, they were never able to get any heat advantages over their rivals.

Ostrovia have been strong at home in the Nice 1 playoffs so knew that keeping it tight was their key to possible overall victory. Therefore, the end of the night was a total disaster for the visitors as they were taken apart by a strident Gorzow who scored a massive 23-7 in the final five heats.

Ostrovia's 43 year old Grzegorz Walasek gained five of those seven points on his way to 11 points whilst Dane, Klindt also put in a good performance with 11+1. These two riders scored two-thirds of the team's points on a soul-destroying meet for the visitors.

Gorzow won 60-30 which almost certainly will be enough to see them remain in the Ektraliga even though there is a return match to play in Ostrovia. It was, of course, Zmarzlik, who led the charge for the home team with a maximum 15 points whilst three more riders scored double figures - Syzmon Wozniak (12+2), Kazprzak and Thomsen (both with 11+2).

Next Sunday at 17:00 hrs Round 20 of the Ekstraliga will take place as Ostrovia will host Gorzow in the last match of the Polish national league season.

24 year old Polish rider Bartosz Zmarzlik took the Gold in Speedway’s GP series tonight in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Torun.

Although ahead of Russian Emil Sayfutdinov (Lezsno) by eight points beforehand, there was everything to win and everything to lose for Pole who admitted that nerves had effected his performance in the night’s earlier heats.

But as it turned out it was not the Russian but Danish rider, Leon Madsen (Czestochowa) who would be the biggest threat to the Gorzow/ Vetlanda rider.

Madsen was in third overall after his victory in the Cardiff SGP and he would score a perfect 21 points by winning all seven heats he competed in to win the Torun SGP and ultimately overtake Sayfutdinov to add World Championship Silver to add to his Bronze from the SEC.

But it would not be enough to displace Zmarzlik whose win in the second semifinal was enough to secure the victory for the 24 year old.

But there will be no rest day for the world champion tomorrow, he will be in action for Gorzow as they race to try to maintain their status in the Ekstraliga in the relegation/ promotion qualifier against Ostrovia.

A cold and rainy evening in Pardubice in the Czech Republic saw Polish 21 year old, Maksym Drabik (Wroclaw/ Lejonen) take Gold in the Fogo FIM Speedway U21 World Championship by four points.

Although he was third in the final, won by Russian Gleb Chugunov (Wroclaw/ Smederna), it was enough to take victory from compatriots Bartosz Smektala (Lezsno/ Västervik) and Dominik Kubera (Leszno/ Vetlanda).

Kubera started the competition one point ahead of Drabik, but a last place in Heat 15 meant he was last to choose his starting gate for the semi final. And from the outside wearing the yellow helmet he again scored 0, whilst Drabik won the first semi to clinch the U21 World Championship.

Last year's winner, Smektala, started the evening in third place in the General Classification and had excellent qualifying heats coming either first or second to give him the first choice of gates in the semis. From the inside track he won the second semi to give himself a chance to steal the second place overall from Kubera.

The 2018 Junior World Champion needed to win the final to take the Silver, but instead was second behind a flying Chugunov who came from last place to first with some fantastic overtaking on the outside to take this Junior SGP race. The Russian would also finish fourth in the overall standings.

But that led to a dramatic Silver medal race off between the two Polish teammates from champions, Lezsno. Smektala started on the inside and Kubera chose to start as far away as possible from his rival, neatly tucked in by the fence. But it would be Smektala's race as he gated well and Kubera failed to find the necessary speed from the outside to overtake the older Pole.

So Smektala took U21 Silver to add to his fifth place in the SEC, sealing a Polish 1-2-3 as Drabik was crowned this year's Junior World Champion and Kubera, who is the only one of the trio who will be eligible to compete nest year, taking the Bronze.

This weekend is the last one on the international calendar for 2019 and will see both U21 and the senior World Champion crowned in the Czech Republic and Poland respectively.

The U21 Final, Pardubice, Friday 4 October

Two Polish riders, Dominik Kubera and Maksym Drabik, lead the competition separated by just one point and are ahead of last year's champion, fellow Pole, Bartosz Smektala.

Barring a disaster, it will be a two way fight for Gold as Kubera (Lesnzo/ Vetlanda) goes head-to-head with Drabik (Wroclaw/ Lejonen). Overall, Drabik has had the better season than his younger rival with a better Heat Average, over 2.1, in both Poland and Sweden as well as having the opportunity to be a wildcard in the SEC at Torun on Saturday.

But it is Kubera who is in the lead in the competition and he has the advantage of knowing that he will still be eligible to compete in the U21 category next year.

Smektala (Leszno/ Västervik) is unlikely to retain his Gold medal but is also in a winner-takes-all fight against the rising Russian star, Gleb Chugunov (Wroclaw/ Eskilstuna) who sits in fourth - just two points behind the Polish rider.

And in the wings, just a few points behind the Russian, are a handful of riders waiting to snatch the Bronze if these two have a bad day. They are Robert Lambert (GBR), who will be appearing in his last U21 race, Wiktor Lampart (POL) and Czech rider, Jan Kvech who will have the advantage of home crowd support. He is the only rider in the top seven to not ride in the Ekstraliga this year but at only 17 yrs has significantly less experience at this level. Then again, he and 18 year old Lampart have done exceptional well to get this far and have nothing to lose as they still have many years left at U21 level to gain a medal.

I am going for a Drabik, Kubera and Chugunov in the medal placings come Friday evening.

The SGP World Championship, Torun, Saturday 5 October

But the undisputed highlight of the Speedway season will be the final Round of the SGP series in Torun on Saturday.

Currently in the lead by eight points is Pole, Bartosz Zmarzlik (pictured) with Russian, Emil Satfutdinov behind him and just two points ahead of Leon Madsen.

Last year's Silver medalist and this year's IMME Ekstraliga champion, Zmarzlik, is definitely favourite and has shown no sign of weakness this season. By far the best rider in Swedish Elitserien with Vetlanda and the second best rider on points in Ekstaliga for Gorzow, it would be a fitting end to the season for him to win his first world championship.

In fact, he would be the first Polish winner of this title since 2010 and that may be the worst thing for the 24-year-old - coping with the pressure from himself, the Polish fans and press desperate for a homegrown world champion on their own turf in their national sport. However, I believe the eight point cushion should be enough to see him take Gold.

But behind him expect a battle royale between the Russian and the Dane for the Silver and Bronze medal.

Despite his injuries, Leon Madsen (Czestochowa) has had a truly remarkable season and showed a ruthless will to win when he beat Kacper Woryna in the SEC last week in the Bronze medal race-off between the two riders who both finished the season on 39 points at the end of the Round 4 in Chorzow.

Meanwhile, Emil Sayfutdinov (Leszno) has not shown the form that meant he won the Swedish SGP in Hallstavik earlier this year, but consistency across the year puts him in with a great chance of a medal. He will need to show a killing instinct in Torun if he is to beat the Dane, who will be out after his third SGP win in this, his first ever season in the competition.

I'm going to go for Zmarzlik, Madsen and Sayfutdinov to take the 1-2-3 on Saturday evening.

Rain caused havoc with fixtures in the UK last week but between downpours the Ipswich Witches and Poole Pirates managed to find a couple of dry hours on Thursday and Saturday to complete their semi final match.

The Pirates were favourites to get through to the final, but they started their home fixture in disastrous style already down 18-30 by Heat 8.

But in a remarkable game of two halves, the Pirates' Australian contingent of Brady Kurtz, Jack Holder and Josh Grajczonek as well as Swedish new signing Tomas Jonasson saved the home side to finish off the race ahead, 50-40. Ipswich's top scorer was another Australian, reserve, Jake Allen with 9.

So, the Pirates travelled to Ipswich on Saturday with a 10 point lead and the psychological advantage of coming from behind to take the first match. But sadly, one of their top riders from the first game, Jack Holder crashed in Heat 6 of this return match and was unable to take part in the rest of the fixture.

It was another remarkable match as everyone of the first 10 heats ended with a 5:1. By which stage Ipswich were leading 34-26.

So that when Jake Allen and Danny King took a 4:2 for the home side in Heat 11, the score was level on aggregate, 78-78, leading to a dramatic winner-takes-all final four heats.

After a 3:3 in Heat 12 it was Ipswich's captain, King, and SGP rider Niels Kristian Iversen (pictured) who took two Heat advantages with a 5:1 and 4:2 in Heats 13 and 15 to lead Ipswich to a surprise win, 54-36. Therefore Poole will not be defending their title in the final as many had expected.

Ipswich's opponent's have yet to be decided as the remaining semifinal between Swindon Robins and Wolverhampton Wolves has yet to be played. The match due to start on 30 September has already been cancelled and the games are currently due to be played on 3 and 7 October - the latter date being when the first final was due to be start in the rain delayed UK Preimership.

The Tauron SEC championship 2019 finished in the most highly dramatic possible way - with not one, but two, race offs for the final medal places.

Danish Mikkel Michelsen won Round 4 of the competition in Chorzów, Poland. But more importantly for the whole championship, Russian Grigorij Laguta did not make it to the final. Whilst he had a four point lead over the Dane before the match tonight in Chorzow, Michelsen's final win gave both competitors a total of 47 points. That meant the Gold had to be decided in a race off between the two riders.

And even though Laguta gated better and had the lead in the race off, he made a mistake and over-cooked the second turn as he roared through on the inside. As he slowed and caught his balance, Michelsen was able to overtake and never let the lead slip.

But as if that wasn't enough, another Dane, Leon Madsen and the Pole Kacper Woryna also had a race off for the Bronze.

It was won by the Dane, who has had a perfect season, apart from his injury which almost certainly denied him a second European championship in a row.

But you cannot help feeling sorry for Woryna who finished fourth. He was leading the race off against Madsen with the home crowd shouting him on, when suddenly his bike started to smoke and then slow dramatically until it stopped leaving the Dane to fly past him with ease and collect the Bronze.

The fourth and final round of the 2019 Speedway European Championship (SEC) will take place in Chorzow, Poland on 28 September.

The competition is so close the winner could be decided in the final turn of the final heat with the top five riders separated by just five points.

The favourites

Russia’s Grigorij Laguta (pictured) and Denmark’s Nicki Pedersen are two of the most experienced riders in the competition, but only Pedersen has won the SEC before and that was back in 2016.

However, Pedersen’s injury means there will be no repeat success for the Dane as he will be unable to compete in Chorzow.

That leaves 35-year-old Laguta four points clear of his nearest competitors. All he has to do is better, or equal, his rivals he has a chance to win the most prestigious competition of his career.

The hopefuls

Three rising stars of the Speedway world are out to steal the day from the Russian.

In third is SEC Denmark’s winner, Mikkel Mikkelson, and behind him the on equal amount of points the 2018 U21 World Champion, Bartosz Smektala and the ever consistent, Kacper Woryna. This Polish pair are only five points behind the leader.

24-year-old Dane, Mikkel Michelsen is having the season of his of life for both Motala Piraterna in Sweden and SPEEDCAR MOTOR Lublin in Poland. He is scoring above 2.0 per heat in both leagues for the first time in his career. But can he repeat his Vojens victory without the support of his home fans?

Bartosz Smektala is growing with every race and will have just turned 21 years when the SEC comes to Chorzow. Last place in the semi-final in Vojens cost him dearly, but if he can make it to the final this time it could pave the way for his first senior international title.

Kacper Woryna has been keeping a low profile and is probably the least well known of the top five contenders. In the national leagues he is still riding with his home town club, ROW Rybnik who will start next season in the Ekstraliga. In Sweden he is at the same club as SEC rivals Robert Lambert and Jaroslaw Hampel - Gislaved Lejonen.

More importantly for the SEC, the 23-year-old came second in the final in Vojens. If he repeats that performance in Chorzow he could be crowned European champion and the speedway world would be treated to one of the great surprises of 2019.

The outsiders

In sixth and seventh place are two Danes, Michael Jepsen Jensen and Leon Madsen. Statistically, they could win the whole SEC with great results in Chorzow. However, they would also need to rely on a poor showing from those above them, especially Laguta.

Jepsen Jensen has just won the Swedish championship with Eskilstuna Smederna and is just seven points behind Laguta.

But perhaps a greater threat is seventh placed Madsen. Just eight points behind the leader, he was unable to participate in Vojens due to injury. But, whilst clearly suffering, the 28-year-old is still producing fantastic results such as winning the penultimate SGP in Cardiff last week.

It really is a open race and with both the prestige of winning the Round and the possibility of becoming the European champion at stake, you won’t want to miss a great night of speedway in Southern Poland on Saturday.

Chorzow in southern Poland is not a permanent speedway venue like Vojens or Torun but a stadium where large events, like concerts, are also held throughout the year.

Until the SEC last year, the Slaski Stadium had not been used for speedway for many years. That means that relatively few of the riders have ever experienced the track or the electricity of hearing 55,000 fans scream and shout you around your four laps.

Chorzow’s past: The 2002 and 2003 World Championships

But one of those who has been here before is the Dane, Nicki Pedersen. In 2002 he was a relatively unknown 25-year-old who surprised everyone by winning his first ever World SGP race in Chorzow.

2002 also saw the Polish 20-year-old, Jaroslaw Hampel, racing his second SGP of the year as a wildcard collecting four points.

A year later the SGP would return to Chorzow and Swedish legend Tony Richardsson would win. Pedersen would come second that night, but then go on that year to win the first of three world titles (2003, 2007 and 2008) and become a household name for speedway fans across the world.

Chorzow 2018: SEC’s first visit

Now let’s fast forward to 15 September 2018 when the TAURON Speedway Euro Championship visited the Slaski Stadium for the first time.

A number of this year’s competitors got their first ever taste of this special venue with Leon Madsen, Kacper Woryna, Antonio Lindbäck, Mikkel Michelsen, Jaroslaw Hampel, Robert Lambert, Peter Kildemand, Vaclav Milik and Kai Huckenback all on the grid that night.

2018 SEC champion Madsen dominated that night, not losing a single heat in qualifying, whilst Woryna and Michelsen also showed their class only dropping three points in the five qualifying rounds.

But the semi-final would see Michelsen defeated by Hampel who was back on the Chorzow track after a 16-year break.

In the final Madsen went out from Gate 1 on full gas going first through the corner and he was unstoppable after that taking the Round and the Championship in style.

But behind him Lindbäck and Woryna went head-to-head for second place.

Woryna led coming off the first turn and was chased hard by Lindbäck on the outside. But try as he might the Swede could not overtake him.

The Pole was still leading as they went through the second turn, but as soon as they were onto the straight again the Swede ducked to the inside and just managed to come first into the third corner ahead of Woryna.

Lindbäck accelerating hard coming out of turn three creating daylight between him and Woryna so that the Swede was able to secure second by the time they hit the chequered flag. Woryna had to be content with third, well ahead of compatriot Hampel.

Chorzow 2019: Who can win this year?

Mikkel Michelsen, Kacper Woryna (pictured) and Leon Madsen have all done well at this track before and should be able to use their experience of the Slaski Stadium to put in another good result. They are all less than eight points behind the leader, Grigorij Laguta, who has not raced on this track before.

So even without the triple world champion, Nicki Pedersen, we could well see a Dane winning the Round again or even taking the whole championship victory in 2019 or will a home victory for Poland or a first ever international championship win for the Russian?

Join us on Saturday to find out!

Lindbäck: I want to be 100% for Chorzow

In Heat 11 of the SEC in Vojens, Denmark the experienced Swede Antonio Lindbäck was involved in a crash as he collided with Peter Kildemand from the host nation.

Lindbäck probably would have been able to continue had it just been that incident, but unfortunately, he was hit from behind by another Dane, Fredrik Jakobsen, who was in last place. The Swede was taken from the arena via ambulance and damaged muscles in his right shoulder.

“This was a new injury for me”, he said, “and I’m working hard on rehabilitation to get back full movement so I can race as I want”.

Lindbäck had a fantastic opening round in Gustrow, where he collected 11 points when he got through to the final. “It is not really a track that suits me”, he said, “but I got a good start and it just went from there”.

In Torun he had high hopes, “but I haven’t been 100% well this year so it did not go as I wanted. Perhaps I put too much pressure on myself,” he reflected.

In Round 3 the Swede said he felt the bike was in top condition but his body was tired. “And just when I finally started in Gate 1”, he said, “I ended up on the floor,” and that put an end to his night in Denmark.

The 34-year-old is looking forward to riding in Chorzow, “but I need to race as much as possible beforehand to do it justice”.

Lindback had hoped to ride for Grudziadz in the last match of the season in Ekstraliga. But instead he had to wait for the Cardiff SGP where he had a great boost winning the very first heat of the evening.

The dreadlocked Swede, who was born in Brazil, will be looking to go one better than his second place in Chorzow last year when the last Round of the SEC starts on Saturday night.

David Bellego: I’m here to win!

Frenchman, David Bellego, is 26 years old and has raced all over Europe this season, which is also his first in the SEC competition.

But in Round 2 of the SEC in Torun he broke his collarbone. We caught up with him as he started his comeback almost a month after his accident.

First we asked him how a man from a country more well known for football and cycling got into motorsports.

“Speedway is not famous in France, for sure,” he said, “But I started racing when I was 16 on a 500cc as my Dad got me into it”.

10 years later and has had his first season in Sweden when he signed with Alvesta Masarna, the same club and SEC rival, Antonio Lindbäck. Bellego has enjoyed this new experience, “I like to ride against the top riders to keep progressing and improve,” he said about his 12 matches in Elitserien.

And when it comes to the European Championship, the Frenchman has clear aims, “I worked hard to get into SEC series and my goal was to make the top five. Of course, now it won’t happen due to the injury,” he added disappointedly.

He had a fantastic opening Round in Gustrow when he scored eight points, the same amount as Nicki Pedersen and Kacper Woryna who are in the top five after Round 3 in Vojens. But the crash in Torun changed all that.

“I went back to France and I had to try to not move my arm too much so the collarbone could heal up fast, but of course after 10 days I went back running and exercising it so I did not lose too much strength”, said the 26-year-old about his recovery.

But now, thankfully, it is back to the business of racing, “I know what I can do a bike and I am working hard on my side, plus I have good equipment and good engines. I work a lot with my mechanic to get better every time we get on the track,” he revealed.

Despite the injury, Bellego was the top rider in the Polish Liga 2 division with an incredible heat average of 2.473 with his team PSZ Poznan.

He enjoys racing in Poland and has not been at Chorzow before, “but the track looked really good on TV so I’m looking forward to racing there”.

And his aim? “In the league we are teammates but at the individual meetings there’s no friends. We all are here for same thing - to win!”