#WROLES

On Friday nearly 14,000 people saw BETARD SPARTA Wroclaw's last home match of the season and they took on visiting FOGO UNIA Leszno in the first final of the 2019 season.

Leszno walked this game when the two teams last met in Wroclaw in Round 14 three weeks ago but the home team were not ready to let the visitors have it so easy this time. Instead Wroclaw had worked up a narrow four point lead with 5:1 and 4:2 heat wins in Heats 4 and 5 as the pairings of Maksym Drabik/ Maciej Janowski and Max Fricke/ Gleb Chugunov delighted the home fans in the early stages.

But Leszno are a team that has only lost one game all season and were keen not to let Wroclaw think they were there for the taking. They took three heat victories in a row in Heats 7-9 to take back the lead as Piotr Pawlicki, Emil Sayfutdinov and Janusz Kolodziej won for the visitors. Uncharacteristically, British triple world champion, Tai Woffinden, was on the receiving end with two last places in a in a row in Heats 7 and 9 as the visitors took a grip on the match, 25-29.

And those four points would be the difference between the two teams as the match finished 43-47 in favour of last year's champions, Leszno.

Kolodziej would finish with a perfect 15 for the visitors and Sayfutdinov with 13+1. For Wroclaw it was Drabik who would lead the team with an impressive 13, whilst Woffinden was out of sorts complaining about electrical problems with the bike and scored just 5+2.

Few expect Leszno to lose this match when they meet again for the final match of the season next week.

#CZEZIE

When these two teams met in the league in back to back meetings in June they won a home match each. But it was forBET WLOKNIARZ Czestochowa who won the bonus point by just two single points (92-88) because of a solid display at home when they collected 51 points.

So it was perhaps no surprise that on Sunday evening when they met in the 3rd/4th playoff match in Czestochowa that the home team were looking to dominate proceedings from the get go.

After Heat 5 visiting STELMET FALUBAZ Zielona Gora where already behind by 10 points as the home duo of Adrian Miedzinski and Fredrik Lindgren (pictured) won a 5:1 and 4:2 together in Heats 3 and 5 against no less opposition than SGP riders Martin Vaculik (9+1) and Michael Jepsen Jensen (7+1).

The Polish/Swedish pairing would strike again with another 5:1 victory in Heat 10 this time is was Zielona's Patryk Dudek (11) that would be found wanting by the unstoppable duo.

Leon Madsen did not put a foot wrong either for the hosts and scored a 15 maximum before the match was over. That would include 5:1 wins in Heats 13 and 15 with none other than Lindgren as his partner in crime. The Swede finished with a paid maximum of 12+3 on the night. Miedzinski and Matej Zagar would also score double figures on the perfect evening for Czestochowa who take an enormous 57:33 lead into next week's match in Zielona.

If Lindgren and Miedzinski can ride that well together for Eskilstuna Smederna when they meet Dackarna in the Swedish Elitserien final next week, it could be a third championship in a row for them too. Back in Poland, Zielona must come up with something special if they do not want to finish fourth this year.

Adrian J from Five One Racing was on site at Nyköping Motorstadion to see a great first match in the 2019 Allsvenskan final as Eskilstuna’s Team Rapid met Griparna on Thursday night.

A tight match, where nerves caused several riders to hit the dirt, contained six 3:3 heats and was decided more by mistakes in the end.

One of the most dramatic looking spills included Griparna’s Anton Karlsson who took a tumble just 10 metres from the finish line when he clipped the side wall. The same heat saw Oliver Berntzon steal second place in a true moment of speedway brilliance. He chased Team Rapid’s Daniel Henderson for over a lap-and-a-half being rewarded with an extra point just 10 metres from the line. Rapid’s heat winner Linus Eklöf crossed the line with Berntzon and Henderson less than a bike length behind him when seconds later Karlsson, in fourth, unexpectedly upended himself as his handlebars touched the wall.

Not just the riders, but the mechanics were also feeling the pressure. Two engine stops prevented Rapid’s Eklöf and Victor Palovaara collecting any points at all as they never left the start line. Eklöf still scored the most for the visitors with 11, but Palovaara had an uncharacteristically poor night with three last places. It was a miserable week for the Swede that saw his team, Elit Vetlanda, go out in the semi-finals against Eskilstuna’s Elitserien team, Smederna.

Peter Ljung (pictured) also saw his Elitserien team Västervik eliminated on Tuesday when they were beaten in Målilla by Dackarna. But in Nyköping the 37-year-old did a captain’s job for Griparna excelling with three heat wins in four outings collecting 13 points in all.

Griparna will travel to Eskilstuna’s next Thursday with an eight-point advantage as the tie finished 49:41. It may just be enough to see them take a win from under the noses of the favourites, Team Rapid.

Last night, Tuesday 10 September, saw the return matches in this year’s Elitserien semi-finals decide who will go forward to the final next week.

For the second year in a row it will be Dackarna against Eskilstuna Smederna who both won in two closely fought matches.

DACKARNA 49 (95) vs VÄSTERVIK 41 (85)

In Målilla home team Dackarna came to the match with a slim two-point advantage from the first game in Västervik Speedway.

And the tie remained balanced on a knife edge all the way until Heat 11 when the home team pair of Jacob Thorssell and Patryk Dudek took a 5:1 heat victory over Västervik’s own Swedish/ Polish pairing of Peter Ljung and Bartosz Smektala. It was then 35-31.

Three heats later in the first nominations heat, Dackarna needed just three points to confirm their place in the 2019 final. And it was Piotr Pawlicki and Maciej Janowski who did the job in style taking a 5:1 to secure the victory.

It was a night where the Polish stars shone for both teams as Pawlicki dropped just one point with 14 on the night, whilst Dudek (11+3) and Janowski (8+3) showed their class for the winners and Smektala (11), Krzysztof Buczkowski (8+1) and Rune Holta (7+1) were the valiant losers.

VETLANDA 44 (88) v ESKILSTUNA SMEDERNA 45 (91)

Eskilstuna also came into the match with a two-point lead from the first fixture and the match would be even right up to the last heat.

Before Heat 15 began the home team had been pressed by the visitors so that Elit Vetlanda Speedway needed a 5:1 victory in the final heat to go onto the final, otherwise Smederna would triumph.

The visitors Russian youngster, Gleb Chugunov was too hot to handle and in no mood to give anything to Vetlanda or countryman, Artem Laguta who ended up in second behind the speeding 19-year-old as Heat 15 came to a close. These two would score highest for their teams only dropping a single point each with Chugunov taking 13+1 and Laguta 14. Both scored more than Danish SGP finalists Bartosz Zmarzlik (VET) with 13 and Fredrik Lindgren (ESK) with 10+2.

But it will only be Lindgren and Chugunov with their Smederna teammates that be going to the final in what will be the Swede’s last match for the club.

The final will see Polish Przemyslaw Pawlicki of Smederna face his older brother, Piotr from Dackarna with the Målilla club favourites to beat last year's champions.

The photo shows from left to right, Martin Vaculik (ZIE), Emil Sayfutdinov (LES) and Maciej Janowski (WRO) who all took part in today’s second and deciding semifinal matches in Poland’s Ekstraliga.

#LESCZE

Leszno 52 (104) v Czestochowa 38 (76)

forBET WLOKNIARZ Czestochowa had an uphill challenge when they travelled to top team FOGO UNIA Leszno on Sunday afternoon after going behind by 14 points in semi final 1 at home last week.

And despite the visiting team having two of yesterday’s Danish SGP finalists, Fredrik Lindgren (11) and Matej Zagar (6), not to mention 2018 SEC winner, Leon Madsen (14+1) they simply could not claw back the deficit.

Leszno at home are simply too strong. So whilst SGP riders Emil Satfutdinov (13) and Janusz Kolodziej (11) lead the team on points, it was another commanding performance from their second string riders, Piotr Pawlicki (9) and Jaroslaw Hampel (8+2) that means Leszno are in the final again.

#WROZIE

Wroclaw 56 (98) v Zielona 34 (82)

STELMET FALUBAZ Zielona Gora travelled to BETARD SPARTA Wroclaw with a slender lead of six points from their home fixture last week given both sides everything to play for in this deciding match.

In the very first heat Tai Woffinden (WRO) beat Martin Vaculik (ZIE) and both riders would excel for their teams scoring 14 on the night. The Brit also collecting a bonus point to finish the match with a paid maximum.

It was the Russian youngster, Gleb Chugenov, who finished ahead of Woffinden in Heat 9 when the home team picked up a 5:1 win.

This was Wroclaw third heat win in a row giving them a 12 points advantage and, more importantly, a six point lead on aggregate. In fact, this was the first time Wroclaw had been ahead in the tie since Heat 8 of the first match.

It was the key turning point of the 30 heat semi finals- the home team, boosted by the crowd, suddenly believed they could win. At the same time, the away team suddenly seemed crushed and that the match was beyond them.

In the remaining six heats the score would be 23:13 to Wroclaw.

Zielona’s Michael Jepsen Jensen only scored six in the whole match finishing with four last places in a row. Likewise teammate Patryk Dudek scored just six with two fourth places in a row.

Meanwhile, behind Woffinden for Wroclaw, last weekend’s German SGP winner, Maciej Janowski scored 10+1 and young Pole, Maksym Drabik scored 11+2.

There are just two Rounds left to go as Leszno and Wroclaw meet in the first final on 13 September, whilst Czestochowa will take on Zielona in the 3rd/4th playoff on 15 September. A week later the season’s final matches will be played in Ekstraliga 2019.

Friday 6 September turned out to be the deciding night in the race for playoff places in the UK Premiership. The league has seven teams, but only the top four get to compete for the league trophy.

The table is very tight with just two points separating the top five teams!

But with Belle Vue Aces finishing their season on 41 points in fifth they cannot catch the teams above and will miss out this year for the first time since 2014.

Swindon Robins, Wolverhampton Wolves, Ipswich Witches, last year’s winners Poole Pirates are through and have games left to play, so the exact order and who will play who in the postseason could go down to the last heat of the last match.

Riders who are known in Sweden who will be in the playoff action include:

Jason Doyle (Swindon, SGP)

Jacob Thorssell (Wolverhampton, Scandinavian SGP wildcard, Dackarna)

Nicolai Klindt (Poole, Lejonen)

Jack Holder (Poole, Västervik)

Brady Kurtz (Poole, Vetlanda)

Niels Kristian Iversen (Ipswich, SGP)

David Bellego (Swindon, SEC)

So Belle Vue Aces’ SGP wildcard rider, Max Fricke will miss out on the postseason and will have to be content with his role for Wroclaw in Poland. Just like British three times champion, Tai Woffinden, who has chosen not to race in the UK.

Fricke currently lies in second behind fellow Australian, Jason Doyle, in the individual standings and both riders are the only ones in the Premiership with a match average greater than 9.0.

Likewise, SGP and SEC rider, Robert Lambert’s club, Kings Lynn Stars will not be involved in the postseason matches. He is pictured with Fricke when they were teammates at Rospiggarna in Sweden until the Brit moved to rivals Lejonen. He seems more settled there and has just signed a new contract for 2020 with the Gisveled club.

The postseason will start on 23 September and the final on 7 October in the UK.

A glitch in the Svemo webpage, the official site for Swedish speedway, meant than the nomination heats and final result were missing from the page for at least 18 hours.

But now everything’s online and we can see how the riders faired on the big night.

Team Småland 78 v Team Rapid 102

Top rider for the winners Team Rapid, was Victor Palovaara (picturedriding for Vetlanda). In the home leg he scored a paid maximum of 14+1 and in the 45-45 draw in Vetlanda he led with 11 from six heats.

Pontus Aspgren and Linus Eklöf, who also ride for Elitserien outfit Smederna based at the same ground in Eskilstuna, were also top scorers in these semifinals.

All three will be needed in the club’s fight for the Allsvenkan trophy.

Team Småland did the right thing in bringing in Filip Hjelmland (Vetlanda) for their playoff run. He was their top scorer with 9+2 in the away defeat that would eventually cost them the semifinals, whilst at home in Vetlanda he potted 10 points, just one behind Danish guest rider, Jonas Jeppesen.

All four of the Swedish riders named above will be featuring in the Elitserien semifinal match next week when Eskilstuna Smederna travel to meet Vetlanda.

Vargarna 88 v Griparna 92

Peter Ljung (Västervik) scored a 15 point maximum in the first semifinal for Griparna and lead the team with 13 points from six heats in the decider in Norrköping.

The 37 year old is having the season of his life in Elitserien and Poland’s Nice 1 and even got to wear national colours at the Speedway of Nations finals. The Nyköping club will need him to ride at this level if they are to defeat favourites Team Rapid in the final.

Oliver Berntzon (Dackarna) also played a key role for Griparna in both matches with 11 in Nyköping and 11+1 away from home. 11 years younger than Ljung he is also having his best ever season which has been his first full season in Nice 1. This is also his first year in the Elitserien with Dackarna where Ljung is his rival in the semifinals which will conclude next week.

And finally, Kim Nilsson (Masarna) was in top form for Vargarna leading the team by scoring 15 in both matches. In the first match in Nyköping he dropped just two points, while at home last night in Norrköping he scored a maximum winning all five heats he competed in.

This has also been an exceptional good season for the 29 year old, but now he will a chance to put his feet up as all three clubs he represented in Sweden and Poland have finished for the 2019 season.

Griparna will take on Team Rapid in the two final matches on 12 and 19 September.

On Thursday the second leg of the semifinals in the Speedway Allsvenskan took place as Norrköping Vargarna hosted neighbours Nyköping Griparna and Eskilstuna's Team Rapid travelled to Vetlanda to take on Team Småland.

Both the home teams in the first meeting, Griparna and Team Rapid, had substantial leads from the first fixture where they had scored over 50 points each.

And just as in the first leg, it was the home team that won the tie. However, both were sufficiently far behind from the first match it means that the finalists will be Griparna and Team Rapid.

Vargarna 50 (88) - Griparna 40 (92)

Kim Nilsson, Vargarna top rider, scored a full maximum of 12*. But it was not enough as Griparna scraped into the final by the narrowest of margins - just four points. Peter Ljung (pictured) led the way for the Nyköping team with 11*.

Team Småland 45 (78) - Team Rapid 45 (102)

This year Team Rapid have only lost one match and when the two team's met last week in Eskilstuna they scored 57 meaning that home Team Småland needed a win by 13 or more points to get through to the final.

It was simply too much for the Vetlanda club, who can be proud that they took the regular season champions to only their second drawn match of the season meaning the Eskilstuna club are have not won 3 of their 12 outings this year.

Finals will start next Thursday 13 September.

* N.B. at time of writing about this match, the official website of Swedish Speedway, Svemo, is only showing the results from the first 13 Heats and these are figures used.

The second division of Swedish speedway, Allsvenskan, has it’s second semifinals matches tonight.

And both the home teams have a mountain to climb if they want to make through to the finals to be played on 9 and 16 September.

That because of large wins of over 50 points for both the home teams last week:

Team Rapid (Eskilstuna) 57 - 33 Team Småland (Vetlanda)

Griparna (Nyköping) 52 - 38 Vargarna (Norrköping)

Team Rapid won the regular season with only one defeat and will be favourites to take the title.

Although this year there will be no physical promotion to Elitserien but the league is an excellent training ground for Sweden’s own riders and the best in this division almost always ride in an Elitserien team.

So, in Norrköping tonight you will see the top Swedes in Elitserien behind Freddie Lindgren go head to head for their Allsvenskan teams as Peter Ljung (Griparna/ Västervik) meets Kim Nilsson (Vargarna/ Masarna, in photo above).

They were in 15th and 19th place in the Elitserien, scoring similar heats averages of 1.788 and 1.750.

But in the Allsvenskan that improves but almost a Point per Heat as they both scored above 2.60 in the regular season putting them in second and third in the individual competition.

Their quality can be shown in that they both scored 15 points in last week’s match in Nyköping and will be expected to perform at this level if either team are to get through to the finals tonight.

Last night’s semifinal first leg matches in Västervik and Eskilstuna left everything to play for in next week’s concluding game before the finals start on 24 September.

Västervik Speedway v Målilla Dackarna

Last year’s finalists Dackarna came to Västervik as favourites with the home team weakened by an injury to their top rider, Nicki Pedersen.

So, as expected, the visitors took the match to the home team winning 8 of the first 10 heats with only Australian, Jack Holder able to salvage two heat wins for the host team.

After Heat 10 the score stood at a convincing 23:37 to the team from Målilla. But instead of capitulating, the home side launches a remarkable comeback to keep their final chances alive.

The east coast team won the last four heats and took three 5:1 heats as Australian Holder (14), Swedish Peter Ljung (11+4) and the young Pole Bartosz Smektala (11) dominated proceedings.

The visitors’ collapse was perhaps due to the thought they had the match won, or maybe that their top riders Maciej Janowski and Patryk Dudek were tired after an intensive weekend with SGP and Polish semi finals. Whatever the reason, they lacked the killer touch when it counted and let a 15 point lead slip to just two, so that match finished 44:46.

Dackarna will still be favourites to win on their home track in Målilla but they have received a major warning - do not to take Västervik likely if you want to make it to their second Elitserien final in a row.

Eskilstuna Smederna v Vetlanda Speedway

Rain delayed the start by over an hour, but when it was finally underway fans were treated to a tight speedway match. As soon as one squad appeared to take the lead the other countered, so that at the end of heats 5, 6, 13 and 14 the teams were equal on total points.

We’ve waited all season for it, but for the first time this year, Vetlanda’s Bartosz Zmarzlik scored 0 in a heat, when he was disqualified from Heat 4 as both wheels were judged to have crossed the inside line. But otherwise it was business as usual for the joint SGP leader as he dropped only one point in his next four heats finishing with 11.

Eskilstuna can thank a great Heat 15 performance from Russian Gleb Chugenov and Polish Piotr Pawlicki which saw them take a 4:2 win that gives them a two point advantage going into the return match next week. Otherwise the team’s top performance was the Latvian Andzejs Lebedevs who had a great night scoring 12+2 (he is pictured, above, racing against Vetanda’s Dominik Kubera in last night’s match).

Vetlanda may have the mental edge going into next week’s home fixture, but you would be foolish to count out Smederna, who will be looking to secrete their third ESS final in a row.

Today is the first leg of the Elitserien semis finals which will conclude next Tuesday 10 September.

Västervik Speedway will host the winners of the regular season, Målilla Dackarna, whilst last year’s champions Eskilstuna Smederna will be at home against Vetlanda Speedway.

All four times these teams met earlier this year the home side has won, so this year’s finalists could well be the team that is strongest away from home.

Västervik v Dackarna

Although Västervik won last time these two teams met in the city, there are two crucial differences in the line up.

First, is that the home team are without the legendary, Nicki Pedersen. As good as his replacement Rune Holta is, no one can replace the fiery three times world champion.

Secondly, when the teams met in Västervik, this weekend’s German SGP winner, Maciej Janowski was not in the Målilla. He is a truly world class rider and alongside Polish teammates Patryk Dudek and Piotr Pawlicki, I think Dackarna’s top riders are much stronger than injury hit Västervik.

There’s no doubt that the home side’s Peter Ljung, Jack Holder, Peter Kildemand and Bartosz Smektala will do their best to take the win as they did against Kumla in the quarterfinals. But without something exceptional I think we will see Dackarna win both matches this week and take themselves to their second final in a row.

Smederna v Vetlanda

This is a re-run of the 2017 final which saw Eskilstuna win the first of two championships in a row. But this will be no walkover- in both matches there was less than 10 points between them with Vetlanda taking the bonus by just 5 points.

So don’t be surprised if we have to wait for the nomination heats in Vetlanda next Tuesday before we know who will be in the final.

Everyone knows that Vetlanda’s top rider will be Polish Bartosz Zmarzlik. Currently joint leader in the SGP series with Leon Madsen after coming second in the German SGP, he does not know how to lose in Sweden. The Småland team have the fire power to win in Syzmon Wozniak, Artem Laguta, Brady Kurtz and Dominik Kubera. But consistency over two matches for these riders will be the difference between a final place and the end of their season.

Smederna will need to cash in on home advantage to put pressure on Vetlanda in the return match. Score more than 50 tonight and they have made one step into their third final in a row.

Scandinavian duo Fredrik Lindgren and Michael Jepsen Jensen will be leading the way for Smederna.

But a win will be most likely for the home team if the second string riders - Polish Adrian Miedzinski, Latvian Andzejs Lebedevs (in yellow in the photo above, from the 2017 final) and the young Russian, Gleb Chugenov - can take those valuable 2 and 1 points in every heat they race.

I’m going to stick my neck out and say it will be a Vetlanda win because of their stronger roster, but the only way to know is see how the points add up by 21:00hrs on Tuesday 10 September in what should be a thrilling series!