THOMSEN TAKES NOTHING FOR GRANTED

Danish racer Anders Thomsen insists he won’t get too comfortable on his Polish home track as he bids for back-to-back KGHM FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Gorzow wins on Saturday.

The sport’s best riders head to Edward Jancarz Stadium – one of the world’s finest purpose-built track racing stadiums for part two of an epic FIM Speedway double-header following Friday’s KGHM FIM SGP2 of Poland – Gorzow.

Stal Gorzow rider Thomsen raced to his first-ever Speedway GP victory at Edward Jancarz Stadium a year ago, leading an unforgettable one-two-three for the host club as Martin Vaculik finished second, and their then Gorzow teammate Bartosz Zmarzlik took third place.

While last season’s Stal Gorzow dominance of the podium places suggests their riders enjoy considerable home advantage at Edward Jancarz Stadium, Thomsen says he won’t assume the track will be the same as it normally is for a PGE Ekstraliga match.

He said: “The tracks are always different in the Grand Prix. It can be your home track, but in the Grand Prix, it can go the other way – where everything you normally use doesn’t work out. Being at home can be a big advantage, but it can be really bad as well.

“I am not looking at it like a normal meeting. If I prepare like it’s a normal league meeting, it’s not going to work out. The track is going to be different for sure.

“But I love to race here. I have been racing in Gorzow now for over four years and I know it pretty well. I know the setups that work out really well for me. When you have been racing here for many years, you know the good lines for passing. It’s a really great racing track.”

Thomsen missed the semi-final cut in the opening three Speedway GP rounds this season, scoring 12 points in total across the events in Croatia, Warsaw and Prague. But he reached the semi-finals, scoring 11 at the Wölk FIM Speedway GP of Germany – Teterow last time out on June 10.

He hopes to bring this momentum to Gorzow as he seeks a repeat of his heroic 2023 win. He said: “It’s special when you do it on your home track in front of your home crowd. That was a special night for me. It’s something I will never forget. Hopefully it will be special again on Saturday. 

“It will be a tough one, but I feel like I have a good rhythm at the moment. I can’t say too much. We will see what happens on Saturday.”

Triple world champion Zmarzlik returns to his boyhood club this weekend as a Lublin rider for the first time, having spent his entire career up to 2022 in Gorzow blue and yellow. He leads the Speedway GP World Championship on 70 points – 12 clear of second-placed Aussie star Jack Holder, who has 58, with 2017 world champion Jason Doyle in third spot on 54. 

Swedish international Fredrik Lindgren is fourth on 52, with Thomsen’s Gorzow teammate Vaculik fifth on 48.

Thomsen holds 12th place in the standings on 23 points and was pleased to find some form at round four in Teterow.

He said: “It’s a little bit late, but I feel like at the moment I have a good rhythm with myself and my team. I am enjoying my racing and I think that’s the main key for being good.”