Category: Speedway

Mikkel Michelsen took a shock victory in the third round of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix in Germany.

The Danish rider led the final from the front and fended off pressure from championship rivals Jack Holder and Bartos Zmarzlik.

Zmarzlik just pipped Holder for second to give him some vital championship points.

For three-time European Champion Michelsen it was his first FIM Speedway Grand Prix victory after a tough time at the sport’s highest level.

“It’s amazing, it’s been a long time coming,” said the 35-year-old. “It has been a rough year and a half for my team, working so hard and searching and fighting.

“I’m a bit emotional right now, I’m just so grateful to my sponsors who stuck behind me and my team for working so hard when it would have been easier to give up.

“I’ve had a never-give-up mentality. We all have our ups and downs. We don’t have the ups without the downs.

“We you are going through a rough patch, it just makes it feel so much better.”

Bidding for a fifth world title and a third in as many years, Zmarzlik now leads the overall championship sitting two points ahead of Holder.

“I’m very happy because tonight I found a good set-up for good speed,” said the Polish world champion.

“I’m really happy and proud of my team and second is not such a bad result.”

Australian rider Holder had to win his final heat to qualify for the semi-final finals after a slow start to the meeting before placing third in the final.

“If you’d have offered me this halfway through the meeting I’d have taken your arm off,” added Holder.

“The boys (mechanics) worked hard and we were scratching our heads all night. I definitely wasn’t the fastest.

“I had to win that last heat and I was third at one point. I used my head and got to the front. I had last choice (of lanes) in the semi-final and then the final.”

Meanwhile, Jason Doyle came into the third round in Germany as championship leader but suffered mechanical problems in his final heat and semi-final resulting in an eighth-place finish on the night, dropping vital world championship points.

The FIM Speedway Grand Prix continues with round four in Prague, Czech Republic on June 1 before moving onto Malilla, Sweeden, two weeks later.

Every FIM Speedway Grand Prix round features 16 riders, racing each other over 20 heats.

The winning rider in each heat scores three race points, with two for second place, one for third and zero points for last place, being disqualified or failing to finish.

The eight riders with the most race points progress to the semi-finals.

The riders placed first and second in each semi make it through to the final.

Eurosport and discovery+ will show live coverage of every round of 2024 Speedway Grand Prix action.

Eurosport.com will provide live coverage, reaction and video highlights of every single meeting.

Good evening and welcome to LIVE coverage of the third round of this year’s FIM Speedway Grand Prix from the OneSolar Arena in Landshut, Germany

The third round of Speedway Grand Prix action of the 2024 season comes from Germany with Landshut’s OneSolar Arena hosting a meeting for the first time since 1997.

Holder sits in second in the overall standings level on points with reigning world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik who is looking to make it three titles in a row this year after wins in 2022 and 2023.

Madsen heads out then returns to the pits after putting on the wrong helmet colour. He returns with seconds left on the clock and then runs into the start tape. Madsen is excluded and told to leave the track after missing the start. Madsen is replaced by Kowalski.

Woffinden starts with a bang and has a clear advantage as the rest fight for the remaining points behind. The British rider wins ahead of Bewley in second and Lebedevs in third.

Every FIM Speedway Grand Prix round features 16 riders, racing each other over 20 heats.

The winning rider in each heat scores three race points, with two for second place, one for third and zero points for last place, being disqualified or failing to finish.

The eight riders with the most race points progress to the semi-finals.

The riders placed first and second in each semi make it through to the final.

Eurosport and discovery+ will show live coverage of every round of 2024 Speedway Grand Prix action.

Every meeting, including qualifying, will be broadcast in full and will be accessible live-on-demand on discovery+ and Eurosport’s digital platforms.

Eurosport.com will provide live coverage, reaction and video highlights of every single meeting.

Bewley starts quickly around the outside, behind Wozniak gathers pace and then passes Bewley with a lap remaining. The home crowd go wild as Wozniak takes the win ahead of Bewley in second and Lindgreen in third

Some big names in this third heat. World champion Zmarzlik starts like a rocket from the outside gate diving across the rest to take a clear lead. Woffinden gathers speed as the heat develops but has nothing to stop Zmarzlik, while Holder finished third.

Lambert and Michelsen battle for the bottom line away from the gate with the former making his move stick. The early move results in Lambert taking the victory with Michelsen in second and Kvech in third.

A crash in the opening heat results in a re-start but no punishment for Jason Doyle who looked to have caused Andzejs Lebedevs. Doyle hits the front as Huckenbeck almost hits the barrier, the Australian then stretches his lead as they fight for places behind. The experience of former world champion Doyle proves pivotal as he wins ahead of Huckenbeck in second and Vaculik in third.

Good evening and welcome to LIVE coverage of the second round of this year’s FIM Speedway Grand Prix from PGE Narodowy stadium, Warsaw in Poland

The FIM Speedway Grand Prix is back for 2024 with 11 rounds of thrilling action to come over the course of another nail-biting, high-speed campaign.

With back-to-back titles under his belt, four-time champion Bartosz Zmarzlik will attempt to become the first competitor in SGP history to win three consecutive world titles this year but the rest of the field will be hoping to spring an upset.

Veteran Swedish rider Fredrik Lindgren pushed Zmarzlik all the way in 2023 with the title only being decided in the final heat of the final round in Torun, which will be an encouraging sign for anyone hoping to dethrone the dominant Pole.

Watch and stream the 2024 Speedway Grand Prix season on Eurosport and discovery+.

Jack Holder became the first winner of the 2024 Speedway Grand Prix season with an excellent display in Donji Kraljevec.

The Aussie dominated the event, coming through the heats as number one, and continued that form in the semi-final and final. Jason Doyle was second with Fredrik Lindgren completing the podium.

Defending world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik got out of shape on the opening lap of the final and had to settle for fourth. “I just made history for the Holder family, we’re the first brothers to win,” Holder said post-race. “Massive monkey off my back, I’ve been wanting this one for so long.

“My partner, she’s back home in England, she’s got our son in her belly, so she can’t travel anymore, so that one was for her and I can’t wait to get home. And the whole Holder crew – we did it, baby!

“It was a pretty technical track out there, there were a few big, big holes, but you know, I was just trapping. Trapping for fun, just logging my laps and got to that chequered flag first.”

Holder started the night with three wins and a second place in the heats to top the standings and have the first gate choice for the semi-finals. He looked untouchable from there, taking the lead at tapes up in both the semi-final and final and storming to the win.

It was a very different story for Doyle who just snuck through into the semi-finals after a slow start to the Grand Prix. Forced to start from the dreaded Gate 4, which had produced no winners and the least amount of points through the evening, he had a decent getaway and battled wildcard Kai Huckenbeck for second, gradually edging away to secure a spot in the showdown.

Fighting Zmarzlik for second at the start of the final, Doyle stood firm while the defending champion got out of sorts and brought the podium spot home.

“What a couple of days we’ve had – a terrible one in Poland last night and then coming here, going into qualifying and getting 18th in the timing, and then standing on the rostrum is … yeah, what a night!,” the Aussie said.

“I can’t thank my mechanics enough, they’ve worked so hard in the last week and I really appreciate all the fans here, what an amazing atmosphere. I’m cheering!

“[Lindgren] and I know how vital it is to get into the semi-finals and points come when you get into the final, so we’re going to dig deep, show these boys that we’re not over – the old boys are still in it for the long run.”

Indeed, Lindgren too had to hope he had done enough to reach the semi-finals until the very end, having failed to win a single heat. The Swedish veteran prevailed from Gate 4 in the second semi-final, finishing second behind Zmarzlik to progress to the final.

“It was hard work again for me today and I kept working hard,” Lindgren admitted. “I threw away a couple of points early on in the heats when I’ve had good starts and made things hard for me. My mechanic said before the semi ‘you know what to do’ and I said ‘I got to pull the rabbit out of the hat. I managed to do that and I’m very happy to finish on the podium.”

Defending world champion Zmarzlik had looked in decent form all evening, but eventually had to settle for fourth after a small error in the final that he could not recover from.

Robert Lambert was the top Brit in Croatia after a strong performance in the heats, going through to the semi-finals in third. However, he just missed out against a resurging Lindgren and it was sixth overall.

The other Brits in the mix, Dan Bewley and Tai Woffinden, meanwhile struggled throughout the heats and could not exceed five and three points respectively.

World number three Martin Vaculik too missed the cut to the semi-finals, having failed to score points in the first two sets of heats.

Jack Holder became the first winner of the 2024 Speedway Grand Prix season with an excellent display in Donji Kraljevec.

The Aussie dominated the event, coming through the heats as number one, and continued that form in the semi-final and final. Jason Doyle was second with Fredrik Lindgren completing the podium.

Defending world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik got out of shape on the opening lap of the final and had to settle for fourth.

“I just made history for the Holder family, we’re the first brothers to win,” Holder said post-race. “Massive monkey off my back, I’ve been wanting this one for so long.

“My partner, she’s back home in England, she’s got our son in her belly, so she can’t travel anymore, so that one was for her and I can’t wait to get home. And the whole Holder crew – we did it, baby!

“It was a pretty technical track out there, there were a few big, big holes, but you know, I was just trapping. Trapping for fun, just logging my laps and got to that chequered flag first.”

Holder started the night with three wins and a second place in the heats to top the standings and have the first gate choice for the semi-finals. He looked untouchable from there, taking the lead at tapes up in both the semi-final and final and storming to the win.

It was a very different story for Doyle who just snuck through into the semi-finals after a slow start to the Grand Prix. Forced to start from the dreaded Gate 4, which had produced no winners and the least amount of points through the evening, he had a decent getaway and battled wildcard Kai Huckenbeck for second, gradually edging away to secure a spot in the showdown.

Fighting Zmarzlik for second at the start of the final, Doyle stood firm while the defending champion got out of sorts and brought the podium spot home.

“What a couple of days we’ve had – a terrible one in Poland last night and then coming here, going into qualifying and getting 18th in the timing, and then standing on the rostrum is … yeah, what a night!,” the Aussie said.

“I can’t thank my mechanics enough, they’ve worked so hard in the last week and I really appreciate all the fans here, what an amazing atmosphere. I’m cheering!

“[Lindgren] and I know how vital it is to get into the semi-finals and points come when you get into the final, so we’re going to dig deep, show these boys that we’re not over – the old boys are still in it for the long run.”

Indeed, Lindgren too had to hope he had done enough to reach the semi-finals until the very end, having failed to win a single heat. The Swedish veteran prevailed from Gate 4 in the second semi-final, finishing second behind Zmarzlik to progress to the final.

“It was hard work again for me today and I kept working hard,” Lindgren admitted. “I threw away a couple of points early on in the heats when I’ve had good starts and made things hard for me. My mechanic said before the semi ‘you know what to do’ and I said ‘I got to pull the rabbit out of the hat. I managed to do that and I’m very happy to finish on the podium.”

Defending world champion Zmarzlik had looked in decent form all evening, but eventually had to settle for fourth after a small error in the final that he could not recover from.

Robert Lambert was the top Brit in Croatia after a strong performance in the heats, going through to the semi-finals in third. However, he just missed out against a resurging Lindgren and it was sixth overall.

The other Brits in the mix, Dan Bewley and Tai Woffinden, meanwhile struggled throughout the heats and could not exceed five and three points respectively.

World number three Martin Vaculik too missed the cut to the semi-finals, having failed to score points in the first two sets of heats.

Here is how things are lining up tonight:

Robert Lambert says he is “pushing hard” for “big things” this season in the 2024 Speedway Grand Prix ahead of the campaign opener. The Brit is still without an SGP win to his name so far but is optimistic about his prospects.

“The first goal is to obviously be in the top six and qualify myself for the following season. But now I think it’s time I’m pushing for that medal and even beyond that.

“I’m definitely pushing for big things this season. Definitely to get my first Grand Prix win. That’s been on the cards for the last couple of years. It just hasn’t happened and hasn’t fallen into place. So something that I’m definitely pushing hard for this season.

“I think it’s more about like the mindset around the semi-final and the final. I think I add a little bit too much pressure on myself and maybe want it too much and get that first Grand Prix win. I’m trying to focus more on just taking race by race. There’s nothing different about the semi-final or the final. It’s just another race. I can beat all the guys there. I’ve proven to myself that I belong in the Grand Prix series. And yes, just take it as another race. And when that happens, it will happen and I believe it will be happening this year.

“I think I’ve been very good at being consistent in the Grand Prix series. Last year I got into the semi-finals the most, but the big points, how the point structure is, is gained in the final and even if I get to the final and come third or fourth in all of them, then that’s guaranteed a medal by the end of the season. I think getting into the finals is definitely the key for that, so just trust myself and trust the process but also at the same time, give 110% and everything else around behind the scenes as well.”

Ahead of the season opener, Leon Madsen said 2024 will be his best chance to win the first Speedway Grand Prix world championship of his career. The 35-year-old won SGP silver in 2019 and 2022 but is yet to go the distance and win gold.

“Mark my words: if I am going to win the world championship, it’s going to be in 2024. We just have to step up, be better and not have any off-days. That’s really the main key to it; being consistent all the way through the season.

“You have to be really, really, really good to win the world championship, even without Bartosz [Zmarzlik] in it. There is a lot of hard competition and a lot of good riders in it. It’s not only Bartosz. But with Bartosz in the GPs, you have to be extremely good to beat him and win the title.

“We finished [2023] off on a high, I plan to take that with me into the new season. I am continuing with the same equipment that we know is working. We were testing a lot last year and trying to maybe develop the template with the engines, and it just went in the wrong direction. We kept trying to make it work for too long. Then you start to get the bad results and it affects your confidence. It went as low as it could get in Cardiff. After that, I knew it was time to make some big changes. We did that coming into Vojens and we saw the results of that.

“I moved on to Torun and, again, it was a good result. That gives me a lot of confidence, knowing the equipment is working. I believe in that and with the mental state I am in, I believe I will be up there in the top mix.”

Defending champion Bartosz Zmarzlik insists his focus is on racing, not records this weekend. The Polish rider can break the all-time Speedway GP win total with a victory in Croatia, surpassing Aussie icon Jason Crump’s total of 23, which he matched in the final event of 2023.

“I am very happy and really very proud about this. Jason also has 23, and he is a big name for me, I remember when I was very young and watching Speedway GP. He was always a big star – along with people like Greg Hancock, Tony Rickardsson and Tomek Gollob. He is a big hero in my eyes and now I am at the same level maybe. I have the same number of GP wins as Jason. This is important, but I am not noting in my book how many points or podiums I get – it’s more the other people around me that talk about this.

“I always look at myself and just do everything I can to make everything the best it can be this year. How many wins or points I get; we will see after the season. I am just thinking about what I can do to be the best from day to day. Tomorrow when I wake up, I am thinking about what I can do to improve as a person and a rider. That’s my focus.

“I am very happy about what I have done for the last five years, but I am always looking to the future. Every year is different, and I make different preparations with the bike. Now I feel ready for everything, and I am fully focused for the whole series. It’s always important to focus on what worked well last season that we need to do the same. But motorsports can be different every week sometimes. It’s possible that you will get different results because everything is so open. I must find what I like and what works for me. I find mistakes sometimes and work on everything with the bikes, my technique, my control, my focus and I want to try everything to make me the best I can be.”

Dominik Kubera set the pace in the qualifying practice earlier today, just edging out Kai Huckenbeck. Robert Lambert was the fastest Brit in fourth while defending champion Bartosz Zmarzlik was seventh.

• 1. Kubera
• 2. Huckenbeck
• 3. Vaculik
• 4. Lambert
• 5. Lebedevs
• 6. Madsen
• 7. Zmarzlik
• 8. Wozniak
• 9. Kvech
• 10. Holder

Good evening and welcome to our live text coverage of the Speedway Grand Prix from Donji Kraljevec. This is it, the new season is finally upon us and we’re once more kicking things off in Croatia.

_________________________________________________________________

The FIM Speedway Grand Prix is back for 2024 with 11 rounds of thrilling action to come over the course of another nail-biting, high-speed campaign.

With back-to-back titles under his belt, four-time champion Bartosz Zmarzlik will attempt to become the first competitor in SGP history to win three consecutive world titles this year but the rest of the field will be hoping to spring an upset.

Veteran Swedish rider Fredrik Lindgren pushed Zmarzlik all the way in 2023 with the title only being decided in the final heat of the final round in Torun, which will be an encouraging sign for anyone hoping to dethrone the dominant Pole.

Robert Lambert has said Bartosz Zmarzlik is “not unbeatable” and is confident he can challenge the defending Speedway Grand Prix world champion when the 2024 campaign begins in Croatia this weekend.

Polish star Zmarzlik has won the last two titles in a row and four in the last five years ahead of his latest defence.

Speaking to Eurosport ahead of the opening meeting in Donji Kraljevec, Lambert hailed his rival as “one of a kind” and suggested working hard off the track as well as on it would be needed to usurp Zmarlik from his throne.

“It’d be to be faster than him. As simple as that,” Lambert joked about how to beat the Pole. “But no, I think he’s one of a kind in this generation of speedway.

“So you need to do everything you can behind the scenes, that I know, that I’m doing a little bit extra than he is, and have that confidence in myself.

“He’s not unbeatable. I’ve beat him many times. So this is obviously possible. It’s just doing it on a regular occasion.”

Lambert, still chasing a first SGP win, came closest in last season’s opening race but was beaten into second place by Zmarzlik.

Aside from Lambert, several other riders will be looking to challenge Zmarzlik, including a number of fresh faces to the permanent rider line-up.

Andzejs Lebedevs (Latvia), Kai Huckenbeck (Germany), Dominik Kubera, Szymon Wozniak (both Poland), Jan Kvech (Czech Republic) all make their debuts as permanent riders in a big shake-up to the 2024 roster.

Lambert welcomes the new additions and believes they will make an impact on this year’s SGP campaign.

“I think it’s great there’s some new blood coming in,” he said. “Obviously, we’ve got the boys who finished in the top four last year who obviously fight and fight strong and then we’ve got some new guys coming in. So I think that’s going to be hard for them.

“But I think that adds a little bit of a balance to the series because it was a very close, tight race last year. So I think that evens things out a little bit.

“You can’t underestimate any of the new guys who are coming in because they’re there for a reason. And they’re very good riders and can perform well on the day.

“I think in some areas it is making the lineup stronger, and it can make it also a little bit varied in the races, which is great entertainment for everybody.”

Another rider hoping to be in the mix is Dan Bewley, Lambert’s compatriot who he races alongside for Great Britain in events such as the Speedway of Nations and the Speedway World Cup.

Lambert admitted that although the two have a great relationship as friends, they are still fiercely competitive on the tracks and will always try to outdo one another in the pursuit of glory.

“We’re good mates obviously,” he said. “We come together every year and need to be in sync with each other and race for our country and we’ve done that in the past very well. And also raced in a team with him in Sweden so we know each other very good and we’ve got a bit of banter going on.

“But there’s always this unspoken rivalry which obviously you feel and you want to beat each other and I’m sure he feels exactly the same.

“The Grand Prix is an individual series so you can’t be worrying about your teammate then. You’re just looking for yourself and looking for that win. I think we’re on a good level and good mates the same as the rest of the Team GB boys.

“[But] with every rider, there’s this unspoken, you know, ‘animosity’ to each other that you want to kind of do one-up and do one better than them.”

Lambert also revealed the tracks he is looking forward to racing at the most this season, including performing in front of his own fans later in the summer.

“Definitely Warsaw and Cardiff,” he said of his favourite venues on the calendar. “Two great stadiums where the atmosphere is electric and definitely ones where you feel that energy a little bit extra and gives you that buzz. So I’m looking forward to them the most.

“Wroclaw is another great track where I’ve had success as well. So yeah, I’m looking forward to a few of them, but just looking forward for this series to get underway.

“I’m super excited, I have had a few meetings already and in Poland, and I’m just really happy and in loving life riding on the bike.”