MAGIC HOMECOMING FOR JANOWSKI

The Wroclaw-born icon lines up at the iconic Olympic Stadium for rounds three and four of the series on Friday and Saturday night, aiming to build on a dream start to SGP 2021.

Janowski topped the podium at Anlas Czech Republic SGP round one in Prague on July 16, before following up with a second place in round two on July 18.

He leads the SGP World Championship on 38 points – putting him six clear of Wroclaw team mate Artem Laguta in second and Emil Sayfutdinov in third, who both have 32.

Janowski realised a childhood dream in Wroclaw last summer, when he won round two of SGP 2020 on the track where he watched the sport’s greats as a young boy. Now he returns to his home city as World Championship frontrunner, but Janowski knows there is plenty of hard work ahead.

He said: “Many things are in front of us and there are still plenty of things to get. I will just keep working hard and that’s it. Everything is in our hands and we need to believe and work hard. Of course, I will do my best in Wroclaw. It doesn’t matter if it’s a GP or the Polish or Swedish league. When I am on the track, I do my best and give the fans the best I have got. That never changes.

“There will be 16 riders who want to win this weekend and we will see who will be the best.”

Janowski has enjoyed an incredible season in Poland’s PGE Ekstraliga and leads the average charts on an impressive figure of 2.667 points per race. But Magic insists such a successful start has been a team effort.

He said: “I train a lot and my mechanics have done a great job in the workshop and the pits. My tuner is making me great engines. We also rebuilt our bikes a little bit over the winter and every small part works together. It looks like this year is very good for me. I am very happy about that.”

One man who has contributed to Janowski’s success is his mentor and former SGP rival Greg Hancock, who has joined Wroclaw as a coach for this year.

Magic has been delighted to test out the four-time world champion’s many ideas as he bids to take those final steps to the top of the SGP podium.

He said: “I speak to Greg a lot and he has given me many tips during the season. We try everything Greg tells me and I also work on my stuff and what I need to change with my riding, what he thinks I can do better.

“We work on it all the time and this is a never-ending story. You can always be better and better and Greg has many good ideas. We try all of them.”

Another Wroclaw favourite in red-hot form is Laguta, who won Anlas Czech SGP round two to claim the second victory of his career – following up on his win at round one in Wroclaw in 2020.

Laguta’s blistering pace around the Olympic Stadium certainly helped Wroclaw’s decision to sign him for this year, and it’s a move that appears to be bringing the best out of the triple Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations world champion.

While the rider is enjoying life at the club, his manager Rafal Lewicki admits he may not have a huge home advantage this weekend.

He said: “Of course Artem likes the Wroclaw track very much. But it will be a different day, and it isn’t only Artem who likes it. A lot of other riders like it too. So we have to be ready for this weekend 100 percent.

“But Artem is very happy. It’s always nice to have good people around you and he feels very good at Wroclaw, so thanks to them. That gives him a little extra power and hopefully that will carry on through the rest of the season.

“He also has good support from his family, fans and sponsors, so we say thank you to them too.”

Tickets for round four on Saturday night are sold out, but seats still remain for round three on Friday. Book online here now: http://bit.ly/37Ux4kX.

BETARD WROCLAW SGP OF POLAND ROUNDS 3&4 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 Gleb Chugunov (wild card – Poland), 17 Tobiasz Musielak (first track reserve – Poland), 18 Bartlomiej Kowalski (second track reserve – Poland).

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Maciej Janowski 38, 2 Artem Laguta 32, 3 Emil Sayfutdinov 32, 4 Fredrik Lindgren 30, 5 Tai Woffinden 24, 6 Bartosz Zmarzlik 23, 7 Martin Vaculik 18, 8 Leon Madsen 17, 9 Jason Doyle 16, 10 Max Fricke 15, 11 Anders Thomsen 12, 12 Matej Zagar 11, 13 Robert Lambert 9, 14 Jan Kvech 7, 15 Krzysztof Kasprzak 5, 16 Oliver Berntzon 3.