NO PRESSURE ON ZMARZLIK AFTER LATVIAN GP WIN

Polish icon Bartosz Zmarzlik insists he doesn’t feel pressure to add to his terrific trophy haul after closing on Speedway GP World Championship number five with victory in Latvian capital Riga on Saturday, September 7.

Zmarzlik triumphed in the OlyBet FIM Speedway GP of Latvia – Riga, seeing off title rival Fredrik Lindgren of Sweden, who was second, with Great Britain star Dan Bewley third and Australia’s Max Fricke placed fourth.

The Lublin and Lejonen star is now 17 points clear of Lindgren at the top of the Speedway GP World Championship. He could seal his fifth gold medal if he leaves next Saturday’s penultimate round – the Deluxe Homeart FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens – leading the standings by 21 points or more.

But having extended his all-time record tally of Speedway GP wins to 25 as he reigned in Riga for a second straight season, Zmarzlik insists his historic trophy collection means there is no extra weight on his shoulders as he makes the trip to Vojens Speedway Center for another date with destiny.

Asked if he felt under any added pressure after seeing a 27-point advantage eroded to 15 over the previous two rounds, Zmarzlik replied: “Really, how is there pressure? I am really not thinking, ‘I must’, only ‘I can.’ I am still young, and I love racing. I do the best I can all the time.

“Sometimes I get good results; sometimes not. But I still always want to fight, and I have four titles already. I am very happy about this because I am 29 and I have won a lot of medals. I love seeing on Instagram how many rounds I have won.” 

Zmarzlik crashed with Danish rival Mikkel Michelsen in their opening race, heat four – an incident which saw the European champion withdraw from the event, before being taken to hospital for further checks.

The Pole finished third in the re-run but hit back with a win in his second outing, before running a last place in heat 10. Five points from his remaining heats saw Zmarzlik into the semis and he followed Lindgren home in semi-final one to reach the last four.

Having been forced to battle for his victory, Zmarzlik was delighted to turn his night around. He said: “I am feeling amazing now. The start of the meeting was really hard because I wasn’t feeling perfect in my body.

“I am happy, though, because I was really focused today. I wanted to do it, and I am really happy because the last rounds were not so easy for me. It’s a nice feeling to be the winner again.” 

Zmarzlik ended his night with a grand gesture. The speedway community across Poland has been working hard to fund a vital hip operation for nine-year-old Torun child Kuba Byra, who suffers with cerebral palsy.

The operation costs 130,000 PLN (around €30,000), and another 40,000 PLN (around €9,350) was required to reach the total. But Zmarzlik pledged at the post-event press conference that “I will transfer the amount that is missing by the end of the collection.” This will ensure Kuba’s operation can go ahead as planned on October 2.

In the meantime, Zmarzlik takes his title fight to Vojens next Saturday. Asked about the prospect of sealing title number five at the legendary venue, Zmarzlik knows he isn’t the only rider with big ambitions for Denmark’s biggest speedway event. He said: “Everyone will 100 percent want to win the GP. I also want to do a good job and stay in front.” 

Runner-up Lindgren insists he will push Zmarzlik as hard as he can in Vojens as he bids to take the Speedway GP World Championship race to the final round – the DeWalt FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Torun on September 28.

He said: “For me, it would be a positive if I can do that. But I don’t really think about it that way. I am going to go out and do the best I can do. Whatever happens, happens.

“Overall, it was a good night in Riga. I started off very well. I had plenty of speed in my bike and I was making good starts. Then something happened midway through the meeting and the track changed a bit. I had a long pause between my fourth race and last heat. In my last main heat, it was terrible. I was last. Riding the bike was like a rodeo ride. It was not nice.

“We had to make some big changes before the semi-final, which paid off and we made it to the final. I would have been able to win it, but Bartek [Zmarzlik] rode a superb heat in the final and I had to settle for second place. Overall, it was pretty good. But I have to chase being the best of the rest, I guess.” 

Third-placed Bewley is pleased to have reached his fifth Speedway GP final – even if it was the first time he missed out on the victory after incredible four SGP finals and four wins.

He said: “Bartek [Zmarzlik] has 25 wins, and Freddie is pretty high up on the total win list too with seven. Obviously, they have won a few GPs, but the reason they are so high up the standings is that even when they are not winning, they are in the final. I just want to be up there more consistently. 

“If the win is there, you take it, but if not, you have to remember I have a lot more points than I would have got, had I missed the final.”