Only two matches were played tonight in Sweden and both started one hour earlier than usual to allow for Sweden’s participation in football EURO 2020 at 21:00hrs. There will also two matches on Thursday 1 July as the government regulations change to allow up to 3000 people to watch the games live for the first time since 2019.

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Masarna 41:49 Lejonen

#MASLEJ

Antonio Lindbäck was not named in the Masarna squad for the match and the Avesta team also had to use Rider’s Replacement for Patrick Hansen. Meanwhile, Czestochowa’s U21 rider, Jakub Miskowiak, raced his first match in Sweden for Lejonen.

However, from Heat 5, where Oliver Berntzon and Miskowiak (9+1) combined for Lejonen’s first 1:5 of the match, it looked like Masarna were going to come away from the match defeated again.

The final score was 41:49 to Lejonen and it was Berntzon who top scored for the visitors with 10+1, whilst English speakers, Rohan Tungate (9+1) and Robert Lambert (8) also made a solid contribution.

The score looked much better for Avesta because the Pawlicki brothers took two 5:1s Heats 11 and 15. They were the team’s top scores with Przemslaw (pictured) scoring 14+2 and Piotr, 16+1.

You can see all the riders scores at Zuzelend.

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Västervik 50:40 Rospiggarna

#WMSKROS

Västervik’s three Ekstraliga riders showed their skills, whilst Rospiggarna, with just two riders from the Ekstraliga, never managed to get ahead of the hosts.

The difference between the teams can be seen in that Rospiggarna’s Patryk Dudek scored just 6+2, whilst Torun’s Adrian Miedzinski scored 8+1. By contrast, his teammate at Torun, Pawel Przedpelski scored a 15 points maximum whilst Leszno’s Jaimon Lidsey also scored a paid maximum.

Finnish rider, Timo Lahti, who races on a Swedish license for Rospiggarna, was their top scorer with 11.

You can see all the riders scores at Zuzelend.

Round 10 concluded in Poland’s top division today with two contrasting matches.

#ZIECZE

Visitors Częstochowa held a two point lead from a 2:4 heat advantage in Heat 2 all the way until Heat 13, when Zielona Góra’s Patryk Dudek (10) and Max Fricke (8) combined to take a 4:2 and level the scores at 33:33.

Then in Heat 14, the home team took the lead for the first time in the match Matej Zagar took the checkered flag first and Fricke was again on hand in third for a second 4:2 win.

But the home fans enthusiasm was soon dampened when Częstochowa woke up to the fact that they were about to lose this match when they finished with flurry of there own. Leon Madsen (13, pictured) and Kacper Woryna (7+3) were on hand to take a 1:5 for egg the guests and win by 44:46.

Fredrik Lindgren continues to appear out of sorts with a mediocre 5 pts, whilst Jonas Jeppesen only scored 2 pts from three rides for the eventual winners, Częstochowa.

#sWROLUB

Wroclaw won 51:39 at home over Lublin to maintain their unbeaten run and top of the league table.

Sunday afternoon in Poland and speedway fans were treated to two matches in the eWinner 1 league that both finished 51:39 to winning side.

#LODBYD

First on the menu was a mid table clash and Bydgoszcz were again without one of their best riders from the 2021 season, David Bellego.

The match was tight with just two points separating the sides for the majority of the game. So, by Heat 10 it was 31:29 to Łódź who had taken over the lead from Bydgoszcz after Heat 5.

But the final five heats took a completely different turn as Łódź turned on the style. Home fans were treated to four heat advantages in five heats with Alexandr Loktaev (pictured) doing the best with 5 points in his two heats on his way to high score for the home side with 12+1.

The final score an impressive 51:39 and it was the Ukrainian who high scored for the team with 12+1. But they also had Australian, Brady Kurtz (12) and American, Luke Becker (8+1) to help them to a 51:39 win.

Meanwhile, it was Vadim Tarasensko who was by far the best for visitors with 14+1 from seven starts, whilst Dane, Andreas Lyager will be, no doubt, disappointed with just 5+2 for the losers.

#RYBOST

Two of the teams vying for promotion this year met in Rybnik this afternoon when Ostrow came to visit.

But six heat advantages in the first 8 heats gave the visitors a 12 point lead so that the home side were chasing the game from the get go.

Nicolai Klindt was in second place in both the 1:5s in his first two heats for Ostrovia, although he had a less impressive end to the match meaning he only went home with 5+3. Meanwhile, fellow Scandinavian, Oliver Berntzon took 9 points in his five rides for the victors.

Despite being at home, Rybnik was surprisingly underwhelming with only Rune Holta (16) and Sergei Logachev (11) scoring in double figures. Dane, Michael Jepsen Jensen struggled and finished the day off with just 6 pts as his side went down 39:51.

#RAWPOZ

Home team, Rawicz, took a commanding lead, 29:13, with five heat advantages in the first 7 heats at home at lunchtime on Saturday. Kacper Pludra (10), whom had raced in the Ekstraliga with Leszno yesterday, was one of the key riders for the hosts.

However, a 1:5 to Poznań in Heat 8 made the scores look more respectable. But with the lead established in the first half, 3:3s in all but the last heat were not enough to overturn Rawicz.

It was the visitors foreign riders who looked most likely to produce a comeback. Danish U21s Jonas Sierfert-Salk (11+2, pictured) and Marcus Birkemose (9) together with Germany’s Kevin Woelbert (9+1) fought valiantly. But without back up from the Polish riders, Rawicz’s lead was never in doubt and they ran out winners 50:40.

Australian, Keynan Rew scored just 2 pts from four starts for the winners.

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#LANWIT

Noon on Sunday saw the first meeting between the two German teams in eWinner 2 as Landshut hosted Wittstock. And the home team won easily against their rivals.

Whilst the clubs may come from the same country, the difference between the two was clear when the Devils won five 5:1s in a row between in Heats 9-14 to defeat the Wolves, 59:30.

Kai Huckenbeck was Landshut’s top scorer with 13+1, just missing out on a paid maximum whilst Wittstock’s Slovenian rider, Matic Ivacic was best with 9 pts.

When it comes to the TAURON SEC, Andzejs Lebedevs (Andrzej Lebiediew in Polish) is one of the most experienced riders in the competition, having appeared in six of the last eight events. And in 2017 the Latvian stunned the speedway world by winning his first ever European Championships. Although he did not win an individual round, he came to the final in all four events, including a second place in Güstrow, the next venue for this year’s competition.

The Latvian was signed with ROW Rybnik in Ekstraliga in 2020. But raced just 10 heats in the top league due to injury.

Now, in 2021, he is back and is in superb form.

His team, Wilki Krosno, are top of the table in eWinner 1 and the 26-year-old has clocked up an average of 2.135, putting him in 12th place on the individual rankings. That makes him the top scoring rider from League 1 who is taking part in the TAURON SEC, apart from the David Bellego.

We meet Lebedevs in a busy depot before the match between Eskilstuna Smederna and Motala Piraterna in Sweden’s Elitserien. It is a warm summer evening and the Latvian is in a relaxed mood, wearing his black Eskilstuna t-shirt and a pair of mirrored shades. It is just six days since his first TAURON SEC meeting in Bydgoszcz and since then he has raced in three different countries, including qualifying for the SGP Challenge meeting later this year.

“I’m a bit tired,” he admits honestly, “but that’s the job,” he says with a smile. And it is hardly a surprise when we hear that he raced in Russia on Friday, Croatia on Saturday, Poland on Sunday and now is in Sweden on Tuesday.

We get straight into discussing Round 1 of the TAURON SEC in Bydgoszcz, “I was very unlucky,” he tells us, “In four of my five heats, I was first out of the gate. But there was something wrong with the bike, I had no power. The same with my other bike, nothing”.

Despite those great starts the former champion picked up just 5 points and won only one heat.

“We did all we could with the bikes and I was feeling really good. We changed everything but, I guess, well, we were just unlucky,” he repeats still with an optimistic tone of voice.

“At Güstrow, we will do everything we can so that we can be happy with the performance. I hope it will go well,” he says before he gets ready for the track walkabout with the rest of the team.

Lebedevs finished the race with 8+1 as Smederna won to remain undefeated and top the table in Sweden after three matches. Now he will have a few days rest before travelling to Germany to face Europe’s best rider in Round 2 of the TAURON SEC.

#GNILOD

Whilst Tarnow are rooted at the bottom of EWinner 1 table, tonight’s match in Gniezno 6th and 7th teams in the league take on each other.

But the home team overwhelmed visitors, Łódź, who never got into the match, trailing by 8 points after Heat 7.

Both Start’s international riders and Polish brothers, Oskar Fajfer (10+1) and Kevin were on top form. And it was younger brother, Kevin who who top score with a 12-+3 paid maximum.

Finland’s Timo Lahti and Denmark’s Frederik Jakobsen scored 13 pts a piece and further good news for the team was that Peter Kildemand (pictured) was back after injury and took 7+1.

For the guests it was Luke Becker who top scored with 7+1, but that wasn’t enough to stop Łódź going down by an embarrassing, 59:31.

#GORGRU

Friday night’s first Ekstraliga match saw last year’s runners up host this year’s strugglers as Grudziadz travelled to Gorzow.

And Gorzow’s Szymon Wozniak (7) played an important part in the establishment of a lead that Grudziadz would never overcome.

He won his first two heats, 1 and 7 leading out two 5:1s for the team that created the winning margin of eight points as Gorzow won 49:41.

Grudziadz’s Nicki Pedersen (9) was the top scoring Dane in tonight’s match with teammate Kenneth Bjerre (5+2) and Gorzow’s Anders Thomsen (8+1) playing their part. Unfortunately, Marcus Birkemose was again unused at #8 for the hosts. However, with two unnamed riders in Poznań’s EWinner2 match tomorrow, the young Dane May race with them again.

#TORLES

Tonight’s final meet was also a case of top meets bottom as last year’s champions, Leszno, travelled to the newly promoted, Toruń.

The former champions came ready to race scoring three 2:4 heat advantages before the first track break. It was heat leaders, Janusz Kolodziej (7+1) and Jason Doyle (9+1) that won their respective heats for the guests to set up an early six point lead.

Heat 11 saw the home team finally take a 5:1 victory though their two established local riders as first Pawel Przedpelski (9+1) took the flag closely followed by Adrian Miedzinski (9+1).

But whilst that set up a “well maybe we can win” feeling among the home fans, the champions were not deterred and clinically finished Toruń off with a 2:4 victory to conclude the match 41:49. Perhaps surprisingly, the winner of Heat 15, and Leszno’s highest scorer on the night, was Piotr Pawlicki who won 4 out of 5 heats and took home 13 points.

The match contained no less than five English speakers.

Doyle LES 9+1

J Holder TOR 9+1

Lambert TOR 9+1

Lidsey LES 5

C Holder TOR 3+2

Four matches in Sweden tonight and in all four games it was decided in the last heat with no more than six points separating the teams.

PIRATERNA 43: 47 SMEDERNA (click for official highlights video)

With Gleb Chugunov injured yesterday in Poland, Smederna had to use Rider Replacement when they travelled to Motala tonight.

For the home team it was the first time that Danish rider, Thomas Jörgensen was in the team for 2021 after a successful 2020 season with the club in Sweden.

In the first three heats we saw three 3:3s, giving us a hint that the match was going to be close.

And it was the visitors who were the first to take a heat advantage as Michael Jepsen Jepsen took the checkered flag and Kacper Woryna picked up third place in Heat 4.

Smederna held that two points lead until Piraterna took their second 5:1 of the night. Oskar Fajfer was involved in both wins, the second of which was in Heat 10 alongside Polish teammate, Jakub Jamrog. That gave Motala the lead for he first time in the match, 31:29.

But the home fans were denied their first win of the season when Smederna took the last two heats with 2:4 heat advantages. Woryna chose the right time to get his first heat win of the night in Heat 14, supported by Andzej Lebedevs.

That led to 41:43 and a final heat decider.

And despite the range of foreign talent in both teams, it was Swedish rider, Pontus Aspgren (15+1, pictured) who won the heat and match for Smederna as well as being top scorer on the night.

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ROSPIGGARNA 48: 42 DACKARNA (click for official highlights video)

Dackarna travelled to Hallstavik without SGP star, Maciej Janowski, who was injured last week in Sweden. But at the last minute they also had to use Rider’s Replacement for Swedish champion, Jacob Thorssell who reported in sick with a high temperature.

That meant they had to rely on their inexperienced Swedish riders, Avon Van Dyck (18 yrs) and Max Bogdanowicz (23 yrs) who both have a 0.500 average.

The home team also were without their top Polish rider, Zielona Gora’s Patryk Dudek. But were still able to put out a strong team with two other SEC riders, Kai Huckenbeck and Timo Lahti in their side.

Even so, Dackarna led after in the first four heats, in part thanks to Australian SGP rider, Jason Doyle who won his first two heats of the night on his way 14+1, the highest scoring rider from Målilla today.

But in the end the home fans were treated to a close fought victory with 5:1s in Heat 12 and 15 won by the pairing of Lahti and Huckenbeck. In fact, the German scored a 15-point maximum on the night as his team beat the Målilla side.

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LEJONEN 46:44 VÄSTERVIK (click for official highlights video)

In Gislaved the home team led from the first heat as Robert Lambert and Mattias Thörnblom brought home a 4:2 victory.

And Lejonen would hold a two-point advantage all the way to Heat 12. But that heat was the first three 5:1 heats in a row as the match swung wildly as both Västervik and Lejonen fought to takehome the tie.

But in the end it was heat wins for the hosts through Thörnblom (Heat 13) and Lambert (Heat 15) that meant that Lejonen ran out winners 46:44.

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VETLANDA 43: 47 INDIANERNA

Vetlanda came to this match having won both their games this season and Indianerna lost their first two matches.

So, whilst the home team were favourites in many people’s eyes before the start, they were without the double World Champion, Bartosz Zmarzlik. And the visitors from Kumla were determined to take full advantage of the fact that Vetlanda were missing their star rider.

By Heat 7 they had won four heat advantages and were leading by 16:26 with Danes, Andreas Lyager and Jonas Jeppesen alongside Australian, Chris Holder doing the damage.

But the home side began to try to fight their way back into the tie, and it was Rune Holta who would lead Vetlanda’s attack. He won four of five heats and was just two points from a maximum on his home track for 2021. That included the final heat, but by that stage it was too late and Indianerna surprised everyone with a 43:47 victory away from home, their first in Vetlanda for eight years.

You can find individual scores for each match at Speedway Nyheter

#LUBGOR

Two of the contenders for winning the Ekstraliga this year met in Lublin tonight with Gorzow unlikely to lose their bonus point after a 58:32 win at home.

But this time it was Motor Lublin who took control of the match from the start whilst Stal seemed to need time to get into the tie.

5:1s in Heats 2 and 5 where U21 rider Wiktor Lampart (7+1) took 5 points set up a cushion for Lublin, forcing Gorzow to chase.

And whilst Bartosz Zmarzlik (16) could do no wrong, Szymon Wozniak (7+3) and Anders Thomsen (8) looked like they might undo all the World Champion’s hard work. But when the pair finally got in together to gain a 1:5 in Heat 9, then Wozniak combined with Martin Vaculik (10+1) for another 1:5 two heats later the score was 34:32, the boisterous crowd were silenced and it felt like anything could happen.

Drama ensued in Heat 13, when the downed Vaculik was excluded after being hit by his own teammate, Zmarzlik instead of the Pole going back to the depot. Then in the re-run Mikkel Michelsen (6+2) was deemed to have gone inside the chalk with both wheels leading to his exclusion. That led to a nail biting 39:38 with just the nomination heats to go.

Heat 14 was a Poland/ Denmark duel with the home team’s
Dominik Kubera (9+1) and Michelsen taking on the Gorzow’s duo of Wozniak/ Thomsen. And it was the Lublin pairing who gained a 4:2 leaving everything down to the final heat 43:40.

Few would have bet against the Gorzow’s SGP pairing of Zmarzlik and Vaculik failing to get a heat advantage- but would it be enough to actually win the tie?

But then, after a quiet meeting where he had scored 6 pts from 4 rides, Russian Grigori Laguta (9, pictured) came flying around the outside to take his first three points of the evening and sending the fans wild with a 46:43 win.

A great advert for speedway with many in-heat battles, controversial decisions and a last minute surprise victory.

This Sunday was one of those rare occasions where all eight of the teams in League 1 played on the same day meaning that we have four matches to look at.

#GDAKRO

33 degrees C in Gdańsk and for the first time this season, league leaders, Wilki Krosno were made to look ordinary by the impressive home side.

With limited opportunities for overtaking on the dry track, Gdańsk gated well taking three 5:1s throughout the match which laid the foundation for a 50:40 win.

Wiktor Kulakov (13) and Jakub Jamrog (11) lead the way with Dane, Rasmus Jensen back to his best with 9 pts from four heats as the hosts gave German U24 rider, Lukas Fienhage (2) three heats.

Tobiasz Musielak (12, pictured) continued to impress for the league leaders.

#TARRYB

This meeting took place at exactly the same time as the Gdańsk meeting and was the second time the teams have met in 9 days.

And for sadly for bottom of the table Tarnow the result was almost exactly the same as they lost by 14 pts to Rybnik. The visitors therefore also picked up the bonus point.

The winless hosts have very few matches where three riders have scored in double figures. Today was no exception as only Rohan Tungate (13) and Dawid Lampart (10) high scored. Sweden’s U21 WC representative, Alexander Woentin scored only 1 pts, for example.

But contrast, Rybnik had three riders who scored 11 pts or above including Russian, SEC contender, Sergei Logachev (11). Dane, Michael Jepsen Jensen also was in the mix with 8 pts as they ran out winners, 38:52.

#GNIBYD

Visitors Bydgoszcz looked to have the match under control when they were 10 points ahead in Gniezno after Heat 9. Adrian Gala (14) was the chief architect of the lead dropping just one point up to this point and would goon to top score for the visitors.

But in Heat 10 Gniezno’s top two riders in this meet, Timo Lahti (12) and Oskar Fajfer (15) took a 5:1 and and then each rider led a 4:2 in Heats 12 and 13 to bring the scores up to 38:40 with just the nomination heats left to go.

But in the end it was too little, too late and with the teams exchanging 4:2s in the last two heats the match finished 44:46 to the visitors.

Gniezno’s Danish rider Frederik Jakobsen (9+1) scored better than his compatriot, and rival Andreas Lyager (5+1) tonight but it was a disappointing start for Sweden’s Peter Ljung in his new club. He scored 0 pts in his two heats and was replaced later on.

#OSTLOD

Three 2:4 heats advantages in the last three heats turned defeat into a 45:45 draw when Łódź travelled to Ostrow tonight.

Selected scorers

Ostrovia 45

Klindt 9

Berntzon 7+1

P Hansen 5+1

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Lodz 45

Kurtz 11

Becker 10

#WITRAW

Another disappointment performance from the German side, whose only saving grace was youngster, Ben Ernst, who top scored for the home team with 13 pts.

But they were no match for the visitors, Rawicz, who are vying for promotion. Young Australian, Keynan Rew scored 7 pts as they ran out winners by 36:54.

#POZOPO

This weekend’s second league match in Poznań also resulted in a convincing win for the guests, this time Opole.

Young Dane, Marcus Birkemose started his first match in eWinner 2 for Poznań after a difficult start to his Polish career where he has struggled in the Ekstraliga with Stal Gorzow. However, he still found the going tough with just 4 pts whilst compatriot Jonas Seifert Salk scored 8 pts.

But with the home team scoring just 36 pts as a whole they were easily overpowered by Opole. Their Danish rider who will join Seifert Salk in the U21 World Championship, Mads Hansen took home 10 pts whilst his Swedish teammate, Jacob Thorssell (pictured) took 7 pts from just four heats.

Opole now lead the lead by 2 pts over Rawicz, but have played one more match than the second placed team.

#RZELAN

Three 5:1s in Heats 1, 3 and 10 paved the way for a home win for Rzeszow when Germany’s Landshut came for a visit.

The visitors kept plugging away at the deficit, Frenchman, Dimitri Berge (16) leading the way beside Germans, Kai Huckenbeck and Martin Smolinski with 9 pts.

But it was not enough to overhaul the home side who had an all round good team performance with Australian, Sam Masters (8) and Dane, Tim Sørensen (8) okaying their part in a 48:42 victory.