JANOWSKI PRAGUE DOUBLE-HEADER

WORK IN PROGRESS FOR MAGIC Polish icon Maciej Janowski insisted “the hard work is in front of us” as he bids to turn a stellar start to 2021 into FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship gold. Janowski kicks off his title challenge at Friday and Saturday’s series-opening Anlas Czech Republic FIM Speedway Grand Prix double-header in Prague. The Wroclaw rider has enjoyed an incredible start to the year with his hometown club and is top of the PGE Ekstraliga averages in Poland on an astonishing 2.672 points per race. Janowski is yet to finish in the world’s top three and many are tipping him to rival defending champion Bartosz Zmarzlik, who is bidding to win the sport’s biggest prize for an historic third straight season. The Polish pair face stiff competition from the likes of triple world champion Tai Woffinden of Great Britain, Sweden’s Fredrik Lindgren, Danish racer Leon Madsen and Australia’s 2017 world champion Jason Doyle. But Magic knows he has plenty of work ahead as he bids to turn great form and great expectations into World Championship gold. He said: “I hear that many people are talking about this – they say to me ‘maybe this is your year to win gold.’  But the hard work is in front of us. Many people can say many things, but we need to do it on the track. Nobody gives it to you for free. “I know the GP is a very hard competition. I will test myself and see what I can get. I am very pleased and very happy with the journey we have made. I am just excited and happy about what is in front of us. It feels like we are going in a good direction to get better and better.” Asked the secret of his red-hot form, the rider smiled: “It’s a kind of Magic! What’s the secret? There is no secret – just hard work; hard work from my mechanics, tuner and my hard work. “I feel like we are all doing a great job and we know what to do and which direction we want to go in. At the moment, everything is going fantastically.” Janowski has benefitted from joining forces with his long-time mentor Greg Hancock. The four-time world champion has returned to Europe to coach Wroclaw and Magic is clearly benefitting from his input. The former World Under-21 champion received plenty of help from his boyhood hero in his younger days, before they competed as rivals in the SGP series. But Janowski admits he has never stopped learning from the master. He said: “We never stopped working together. Greg has always been helping me on many different lines. When I was younger, he helped me with my contracts. Now he helps me with many technical things – on my bike and with my starting technique and everything. “Greg has many good things in his head about speedway and he knows me very well. The way we work is perfect. Working together has been an amazing journey. We never stopped working together, but for sure now we have more time for that and we can focus more on this. “Of course we try everything Greg brings to my team. Sometimes not everything works for me that worked for Greg. But we try everything and I am prepared for hard work. “My mind is open for testing new stuff and everything we can try. We have had to do a lot of laps and training to get to where we are now, and I hope we will still work hard and keep this position.” Tickets for the Anlas Czech Republic SGP rounds are still available online – with a 20 percent discount for fans who book for both Friday and Saturday’s rounds. For more details and to buy, click here: https://bit.ly/3hyzInK. ANLAS CZECH REPUBLIC SGP ROUND 1 LINE-UP (in ranking order with rider numbers): 95 Bartosz Zmarzlik (Poland), 108 Tai Woffinden (Great Britain), 66 Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden), 71 Maciej Janowski (Poland), 30 Leon Madsen (Denmark), 69 Jason Doyle (Australia), 222 Artem Laguta, 89 Emil Sayfutdinov, 54 Martin Vaculik (Slovakia), 46 Max Fricke (Australia), 55 Matej Zagar (Slovenia), 105 Anders Thomsen (Denmark), 93 Oliver Berntzon (Sweden), 187 Krzysztof Kasprzak (Poland), 505 Robert Lambert (Great Britain), 16 Jan Kvech (wild card – Czech Republic), 17 Daniel Klima (first track reserve – Czech Republic), 18 Petr Chlupac (second track reserve – Czech Republic). ANLAS CZECH REPUBLIC SGP ROUND 2 LINE-UP (in ranking order with rider numbers): 95 Bartosz Zmarzlik (Poland), 108 Tai Woffinden (Great Britain), 66 Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden), 71 Maciej Janowski (Poland), 30 Leon Madsen (Denmark), 69 Jason Doyle (Australia), 222 Artem Laguta, 89 Emil Sayfutdinov, 54 Martin Vaculik (Slovakia), 46 Max Fricke (Australia), 55 Matej Zagar (Slovenia), 105 Anders Thomsen (Denmark), 93 Oliver Berntzon (Sweden), 187 Krzysztof Kasprzak (Poland), 505 Robert Lambert (Great Britain), 16 Jan Kvech (wild card – Czech Republic), 17 Petr Chlupac (first track reserve – Czech Republic), 18 Daniel Klima (second track reserve – Czech Republic).