LAGUTA’S TORUN WORLD-TITLE MISSION

FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship leader Artem Laguta heads into the eWinner Torun SGP double-header on the brink of history, but his manager Rafal Lewicki insists it’s business as usual on Friday and Saturday.

Laguta leads the standings on 158 championship points going into the final rounds of the season with reigning champion Bartosz Zmarzlik just a point behind on 157.

The stakes are high for both riders with Zmarzlik bidding to become the first rider in the SGP era since 1995 to win three straight world titles. 

He would also become only the second rider in history to achieve the feat, following in the tyre treads of New Zealand great Ivan Mauger, who triumphed in three consecutive World Finals from 1968 to 1970.

Meanwhile, Laguta is bidding to become the first rider representing the Motorcycling Federation of Russia to be crowned world champion. Originally from Bolshoy Kamen, a port town near Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan coast, he would also become speedway’s first Asian-born world champion.             

While he is in contention to rewrite the history books this weekend, Laguta has remained remarkably calm throughout his title quest.

Asked the mood in the camp, Lewicki admitted: “He’s not really talking about it that much. We knew before the first Grand Prix what this game is all about – it’s about getting as many points as we can and getting a world title.

“Nothing has changed since before Prague. Of course he can hear the voices about his racing, but it doesn’t change anything. We know there is still a job to do. But he is enjoying the racing and that’s the major thing. He’s just doing the best he can.

“Artem has said a few times this year that his dream has come true. When you are lifting the trophy on top of a Grand Prix rostrum, you feel that your dream has come true.

“But we are still on a mission. We are taking the mission step by step.Of course Artem has space to smile and be happy about it, but we know we are still on a mission.

“We will just try to be prepared for Torun. The way Artem is racing the bike, he is enjoying the racing and he’s doing brilliantly.

“We know what to do. I know what he is expecting of the bikes and as a team, we know what we should do to get the bikes done. He is still doing his training process as normal.

He races motocross and runs – just as he has done in the past as well. It’s not like we have found the magic formula or we have found something special.”

Laguta and Zmarzlik go into this weekend with four SGP wins each to their name. Only one rider in the sport’s history has won four rounds in a single season and fallen short of the world title.

Aussie star Jason Doyle saw his dreams dashed by injury in 2016, but either Laguta or Zmarzlik will be forced to settle for silver.

Lewicki is delighted with the level Laguta has reached this year, but admits a rider who has never previously finished higher than sixth would love to crown the season of his life with the sport’s biggest prize.

“This season in the Grand Prix has been very equal between Bartek and Artem,” Lewicki said.“They have shared the number of wins – four each. I think the number of finals they have reached is pretty equal too; Artem has one more. He has reached eight out of nine.

“We are just happy about where we are as a team. We have put the team at a high level to battle for the World Championship.

“It’s nice to see a lot of people talking about Artem. But we know this is him being paid back after all his hard work. He has been in the Grand Prix for a few years. This is the first year he has really got back what he was hoping for. But no matter how many rounds we win, and this is important and nice, this game is called the Speedway World Championship. Winning that is the goal.”

As well as the race for gold, the battle for bronze is set to be intense, with Emil Sayfutdinov third on 121 championship points – just two ahead of Fredrik Lindgren in fourth. Both men are seeking their third SGP bronze medal.

Meanwhile, the quest to qualify for SGP 2022 is also intensifying. Laguta and Zmarzlik have already guaranteed the top-six spot needed, while Sayfutdinov is just two points short and Lindgren is only four away.

But the race is on for the last two places with Great Britain racer Tai Woffinden fifth on 96 and Poland’s Maciej Janowski sixth on 95. Danish star Leon Madsen is seventh on 82 and bidding to break into the top six with a huge 40 points to race for over two nights this weekend.

Aussie champion Max Fricke has 77 points in eighth, but has already qualified for SGP 2022 by finishing second at the GP Challenge in Zarnovica on August 21. Doyle, who is ninth on 74, is seeking a last-ditch push for the top six as he bids to continue his proud record of always gaining automatic qualification.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Artem Laguta 158, 2 Bartosz Zmarzlik 157, 3 Emil Sayfutdinov 121, 4 Fredrik Lindgren 119, 5 Tai Woffinden 96, 6 Maciej Janowski 95, 7 Leon Madsen 82, 8 Max Fricke 77, 9 Jason Doyle 74, 10 Anders Thomsen 63, 11 Robert Lambert 60, 12 Martin Vaculik 53, 13 Dominik Kubera 44, 14 Matej Zagar 41, 15 Oliver Berntzon 20, 16 Krzysztof Kasprzak 19, 17 Mikkel Michelsen 9, 18 Gleb Chugunov 8, 19 Jan Kvech 7, 20 Aleksandr Loktaev 6, 21 Vadim Tarasenko 4, 22 Pontus Aspgren 1.

EWINNER TORUN SGP OF POLAND 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 Pawel Przedpelski (Poland – wild card), 17 Krzysztof Lewandowski (Poland – first track reserve), 18 Karol Zupinski (Poland – second track reserve).