ZMARZLIK OFFICALLY CROWNED 2022 WORLD SPEEDWAY CHAMPION

Poland’s triple world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik admitted, “racing is my life” as he refused to ease off the gas on the night he lifted the FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship trophy in Torun on Saturday.

The Pole finished second in the For Nature Solutions FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Torun, with his good friend and Gorzow team mate Martin Vaculik topping the podium on the night.

Zmarzlik was then joined on the Speedway GP World Championship rostrum by series runner-up Leon Madsen of Denmark, while Polish ace Maciej Janowski completed a breath-taking climb from seventh to third in one night to bag bronze – his first Speedway GP medal since he joined the series in 2015.

But the night belonged to his compatriot Zmarzlik who picked up the Speedway GP World Championship trophy he secured at the penultimate round in Malilla, Sweden on September 17.

Having won the title with a round to spare, some riders may have taken it easy in the final event. But Zmarzlik admits a love of racing ensures there’s no chance of that happening.

He said: “Racing is fun and I love to do this. I feel free and happy on the bike. Racing is my life. I want to do a good job on the bike because when I go to the track – it’s just me and the bike. It’s really nice.

“I am very happy about the whole meeting today. The whole season was so good. There were ups and downs, but I have been in the top five at every round, so that’s not so bad for me.

“I am very proud to have made it three gold medals and I do not know what to say now. It is an amazing time – three wins in four years.

“It’s a really nice feeling for me and I know how much work I do with my team to achieve all this. Now we have more of an understanding of what we have to do to achieve all this.

“I can’t take it all in now. But it’s a really nice feeling and I would like to say a very big thanks to the fans for all the support.”

Zmarzlik finished on 166 championship points from a possible 200 – an incredible 33 points ahead of his nearest rival Madsen. He now faces the challenge of defending his crown against a field bidding to close that gap.

But Zmarzlik refuses to put any pressure on himself to win title number 4 as he heads into 2023 with the mantle of world champion once again. He said: “I do not think ‘I must’, only ‘I can.’ That is my idea. I love racing and I do everything I can to get a good result.”

Madsen celebrated his second Speedway GP silver medal and also his second Speedway European Championship win this year. The delighted Dane is determined to take that momentum into next season. He said: “It was a very, very fine end of the season.

“I am very happy and proud of what I have achieved this year – a European Championship gold medal and now a World Championship silver medal. It has been a very good season for me – probably my best season. I am very happy. It has been a whirlwind in the second half of the season.

“I have been improving and hopefully we can continue that progress going into next season, be better and hopefully fight harder for that gold medal.”

Third-placed Janowski may have achieved his first-ever Speedway GP medal. But there were mixed feelings for the Wroclaw hero on a night he would have preferred to be standing on the top step.

Asked how he felt about winning bronze, he replied: “It’s hard to say – all of this hard work for that. I was thinking it would be a better feeling.

“I think the most important thing is the journey I am taking with my team. It’s fantastic what we have done this season. I am very happy about that. But it’s a bronze medal and I think we all fight for the gold. I would like to say congrats to my team. They have done a great job. They are still working with me, which means it isn’t that bad!

“It was a great season, but it was like a roller coaster with my riding and everything around. But I am very happy.”

After a campaign hampered by injury, Vaculik finished the season ninth in the championship, despite winning rounds in Prague and Torun.

He will now hope to receive one of the six permanent wild-places on offer from the SGP Commission for the 2023 season after Zmarzlik, Madsen, Janowski, fourth-placed Swedish star Fredrik Lindgren, Great Britain racer Robert Lambert in fifth and GB’s two-time Speedway GP winner Dan Bewley in sixth all booked their places for next season.

They are joined by FIM GP Challenge winner Kim Nilsson of Sweden and Australia’s Jack Holder, who was third in that meeting. Fourth-placed Max Fricke of Australia joins them after Bewley, who was runner-up at the Challenge, finished in this year’s SGP top six and qualified via that route instead.

Vaculik was pleased to end 2022 on a high and is determined to mount his own medal push as he joined For Nature Solutions FIM Torun Speedway GP runner-up Zmarzlik and third-placed Madsen on the night’s podium.

He said: “I am very happy to have finished the season with a first place. That’s always cool and I am very pleased with this result. With my team, I have worked very hard for this result and the speed we have now. This is good for us, and also for the future. I am very happy.

“I would like to congratulate the boys who have a medal. It’s amazing and I hope that maybe one day I will also have one. But the guys had a perfect season and I know how tough it is and how long the season is. Well done!”

SPEEDWAY GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 166, 2 Leon Madsen 133, 3 Maciej Janowski 106, 4 Fredrik Lindgren 103, 5 Robert Lambert 103, 6 Dan Bewley 102, 7 Patryk Dudek 102, 8 Tai Woffinden 93, 9 Martin Vaculik 91, 10 Jason Doyle 83, 11 Mikkel Michelsen 82, 12 Jack Holder 67, 13 Max Fricke 52, 14 Anders Thomsen 51, 15 Pawel Przedpelski 29, 16 Andzejs Lebedevs 26, 17 Rasmus Jensen 12, 18 Matej Zagar 11, 19 Kacper Woryna 8, 20 Mads Hansen 7, 21 Gleb Chugunov 7, 22 Kai Huckenbeck 7, 23 Oliver Berntzon 5, 24 Jakub Miskowiak 4, 25 Maksym Drabik 4, 26 Szymon Wozniak 3, 27 Krzysztof Lewandowski 1, 28 Tom Brennan 1, 29 Jan Kvech 1.

FOR NATURE SOLUTIONS FIM SPEEDWAY GP OF POLAND – TORUN SCORES: 1 Martin Vaculik 20, 2 Bartosz Zmarzlik 18, 3 Leon Madsen 16, 4 Maciej Janowski 14, 5 Mikkel Michelsen 12, 6 Fredrik Lindgren 11, 7 Andzejs Lebedevs 10, 8 Dan Bewley 9, 9 Kacper Woryna 8, 10 Jason Doyle 7, 11 Robert Lambert 6, 12 Tai Woffinden 5, 13 Jakub Miskowiak 4, 14 Jack Holder 3, 15 Patryk Dudek 2, 16 Krzysztof Lewandowski 1, 17 Pawel Przedpelski 0, 18 Mateusz Affelt 0.