DUDEK PLANNED FOR GERMAN GP WIN

Polish racer Patryk Dudek says he was set up for success after storming up the FIM Speedway Grand Prix standings with victory in the Wölk FIM Speedway GP of Germany – Teterow on Saturday.

Dudek started the night 14th in the World Championship standings on 15 points, having scored five points in each of the opening three Speedway GP rounds.

But he left the Bergring Arena with the top prize of 20 points to surge up to eighth place after defeating series leader Bartosz Zmarzlik, Sweden’s Fredrik Lindgren and Great Britain racer Robert Lambert in the final.

It was Dudek’s first semi-final appearance since August 31, 2019 – the last time Speedway GP visited Teterow.

The result is some turnaround for the 2017 Speedway GP World Championship runner-up, and Dudek admits a series of good decisions in the pits delivered a dream result.

He said: “I had a tough start to the season and those first three rounds were not good for me. But today everything was working okay. It was good to be back on the podium and I have some more points now. I am back in the game.

“We changed many things on the bikes with the setup ahead of every heat and the engines were working well.

“I had good starts today and I think the starts were very important. We made good decisions in the pits with my team. Everything we changed on the bikes worked well in the race after.

“I just won the starts, took a good line and that’s speedway. It’s good to be back on the podium and the points are good for me. I was nearly last before this round, but I am higher now, so that is good.”

Double world champion Zmarzlik leads the Speedway GP standings on 62 points – putting him 11 clear of nearest rival Maciej Janowski.

He was content with 18 championship points, but he was gutted to miss out on victory in Teterow again as he recorded his third second-place finish at the Bergring Arena.

The Gorzow star said: “I have had a lot of second places here. I never seem to win in Teterow. But I am very happy with this because a final is a final and it is always a good feeling to be in the final. You always sleep better after the meeting!”

Next up is the FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Gorzow on June 25 and excitement will be huge in the city ahead of Zmarzlik’s home event. But the local hero is determined not to look too far ahead.

He said: “We will see what happens in Gorzow. I have many meetings before the next GP and I am focused on the next meeting – that’s what matters for me. I am taking it step by step.”

Third-placed Lindgren was delighted with the rapid reactions at the tapes, which propelled him to his second podium in four rounds.

He said: “I am really glad to have executed some good starts and ridden some good lines. I made sure I got the points to get into the semi.

“I gave it everything I had in the semi and the final. But congratulations to Patryk on his win and Bartosz; they rode well on a challenging track. I am happy to be back on the podium.”

SPEEDWAY GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 62, 2 Maciej Janowski 51, 3 Leon Madsen 50, 4 Fredrik Lindgren 46, 5 Tai Woffinden 43, 6 Robert Lambert 36, 7 Martin Vaculik 35, 8 Patryk Dudek 35, 9 Jason Doyle 35,10 Mikkel Michelsen 34, 11 Max Fricke 32, 12 Dan Bewley 32, 13 Anders Thomsen 29, 14 Jack Holder 26, 15 Pawel Przedpelski 15, 16 Matej Zagar 11, 17 Kai Huckenbeck 7, 18 Maksym Drabik 4, 19 Jan Kvech 1.

TETEROW SCORES: 1 Patryk Dudek 20, 2 Bartosz Zmarzlik 18, 3 Fredrik Lindgren 16, 4 Robert Lambert 14, 5 Dan Bewley 12, 6 Tai Woffinden 11, 7 Leon Madsen 10, 8 Jack Holder 9, 9 Maciej Janowski 8, 10 Kai Huckenbeck 7, 11 Martin Vaculik 6, 12 Anders Thomsen 5, 13 Jason Doyle 4, 14 Pawel Przedpelski 3, 15 Max Fricke 2, 16 Mikkel Michelsen 1, 17 Norick Blodorn 0, 18 Lukas Baumann 0.