For the eighth time this season, Grand Prix riders fought for the title of individual speedway world champion. This time, the host of the competition for the 16th time in history was the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław. Bartosz Zmarzlik approached this competition as the leader of the general classification with a 21-point advantage over Robert Lambert. Two weeks earlier, the Pole had only taken 11th place, breaking the streak of 51 Grand Prix starts with an advancement to the semi-finals.
Historic Grand Prix in Wrocław. Five Poles at the start
At the start of the Wrocław competition we saw five representatives of Poland, which is a historic event in the Grand Prix. In addition to the regular participants – Bartosz Zmarzlik, Dominik Kubera and Szymon Woźniak – in front of a 12 thousand audience, Maciej Janowski (the first reserve of the series) and Patryk Dudek (wild card) also competed.
From the very first series of starts the show was truly great. Competitors were overtaking each other, using the entire width of the track. Fredrik Lindgren and Maciej Janowski fought a great fight in the second race. The Pole had to settle for “second place”. Unfortunately, Bartosz Zmarzlik started the competition from zero. The four-time world champion lost to, among others, Patryk Dudek, who had six points after two series of starts. Only Martin Vaculik achieved the same. Maciej Janowski scored one point less. Unfortunately, both white-and-red competitors brought zeros in the third series.
Bartosz Zmarzlik, on the other hand, first added a “two” to his achievements, but a moment later he won the race for the first time, thanks to which he could breathe a sigh of relief, however, the speed of his motorcycle was still not overwhelming. With time, however, it was getting better and better. In the 18th race, there was a serious accident involving three Poles: Zmarzlik, Janowski and Kubera. Fortunately, nothing happened to anyone. Ultimately, Bartosz Zmarzlik managed to advance to the semi-finals from the second place with 11 points. The top eight of the regular round also included Maciej Janowski and Patryk Dudek – both with 10 points.
Unfortunately, the Poles were very unlucky in the semi-finals. First, Maciej Janowski had a failure on the first bend, and in the second semi-final, Bartosz Zmarzlik's chain fell off. Patryk Dudek came third and also said goodbye to the competition. – Literally, as soon as I released the clutch, I said “Jesus!”. I didn't know whether to continue riding at all, because I knew right away that I wouldn't be able to finish. I rode the first bend half-throttled. It's a pity, because apart from the first run, it was really good. I had a big appetite – Bartosz Zmarzlik explained in front of Eurosport cameras.
In the grand finale, the best jumper from the first field was the Slovak Martin Vaculik, who raced to victory in the entire competition. This was his second victory this season. Behind him were the Swede Fredrik Lindgren and the Briton Robert Lambert.
Final classification of the Grand Prix in Wrocław:
- 1. Martin Vaculik (Slovakia) – 17 points
- 2. Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden) – 15 points
- 3. Robert Lambert (Great Britain) – 13 points
- 4. Mikkel Michelsen (Denmark) – 11 points
- 5. Patryk Dudek (Poland) – 11 points
- 6. Daniel Bewley (Great Britain) – 10 points
- 7. Bartosz Zmarzlik (Poland) – 11 points
- 8. Maciej Janowski (Poland) – 10 points
- 9. Andrzej Lebiediev (Latvia) – 7 points
- 10. Leon Madsen (Denmark) – 7 points
- 11. Jack Holder (Australia) – 6 points
- 12. Dominik Kubera (Poland) – 6 points
- 13. Max Fricke (Australia) – 6 points
- 14. Kai Huckenbeck (Germany) – 4 points
- 15. Jan Kvech (Czech Republic) – 3 points
- 16. Szymon Wo¼niak (Poland) – 1 point