Speedway GP Round 5 as it happened – Follow all the action from the Edward Jancarz Stadium in Gorzow, Poland

That’s all for now!

Another thrilling night of racing with a fifth different winner from five races. Hat’s off to Anders Thomsen who topped the podium but with Zmarzlik reaching another final, the championship race looks to be heading in just one direction.

The next meeting is in Cardiff on August 13th when I hope you can join us once more.

CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER FIVE ROUNDS

• 1. Bartosz Zmarzlik (Poland) 78
• 2. Leon Madsen (Denmark) 60
• 3. Martin Vaculik (Slovakia) 53
• 4. Maciej Janowski (Poland) 53
• 5. Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden) 51
• 6. Tai Woffinden (United Kingdom) 50
• 7. Anders Thomsen (Denmark) 49
• 8. Patryk Dudek (Poland) 49
• 9. Robert Lambert (United Kingdom) 47
• 10. Jason Doyle (Australia) 44
• 11. Dan Bewley (United Kingdom) 44
• 12. Mikkel Michelsen (Denmark) 42
• 13. Max Fricke (Australia) 33
• 14. Jack Holder (Australia) 32
• 15. Pawel Przedpelski (Poland) 19
• 16. Matej Zagar (Slovakia) 11

GORZOW RESULTS

• 1. Anders Thomsen – 20
• 2. Martin Vaculik – 18
• 3. Bartosz Zmarzlik – 16
• 4. Patryk Dudek – 14
• 5. Dan Bewley – 12
• 6. Robert Lambert – 11
• 7. Leon Madsen – 10
• 8. Jason Doyle – 9
• 9. Mikkel Michelsen – 8
• 10. Tai Woffinden – 7
• 11. Jack Holder – 6
• 12. Frederik Lindgren – 5
• 13. Pawel Przedpelski – 4
• 14. Szymon Wozniak – 3
• 15. Maciej Janowski – 2
• 16. Max Fricke – 1

THOMSON TAKES THE WIN!

Anders Thomson is the winner in Gorzow! A fantastic ride to take his first win of the season. Vaculik is second and Zmarzlik takes the third podium place and extend his championship lead.

FINAL LINE-UP:

Dudek, Vaculik, Thomsen, Zmarzlik.

Dudek takes the red inside gate with Thomsen picking gate 2. Vaculik is on the outside in yellow and Zmarzlik coming off gate 3.

SEMI-FINAL 2: THOMSEN, ZMARZLIK, BEWLEY, DOYLE

Thomsen books his place in the final after a thrilling semi in which Zmarzlik’s stunning early surge saw him get the better of Bewley who can be proud of his efforts tonight

SEMI-FINAL 1: DUDEK, VACULIK, LAMBERT, MADSEN

Dudek eases to victory and is into the final. He is joined by Vaculik who was able to hold off a spirited Lambert.

SEMI-FINAL LINE-UP:

Semi-final 1: Dudek, Madsen, Lambert, Vaculik

Semi-final 2: Bewley, Zmarzlik, Thomsen, Doyle

Top 8 after qualifying heats

• 1. Martin Vaculik – 13
• 2. Dan Bewley – 12
• 3. Bartosz Zmarzlik – 11
• 4. Patryk Dudek – 11
• 5. Anders Thomsen – 9
• 6. Robert Lambert – 9
• 7. Leon Madsen – 8
• 8. Jason Doyle- 8

HEAT 20 – BEWLEY, DOYLE, LINDGREN, MICHELSEN

Bewley with a stunning, dominant performance to finish streets ahead of Doyle.

HEAT 19 – ZMARZLIK, VACULIK, PRZEDPELSKI, FRICKE

Zmarzlik wins his third race of the night in style after holding off Vaculik. Mind games between two of tonight’s potential winners?

HEAT 18 – WOOFINDEN, DUDEK, WOZNIAK, HOLDER

A great ride from the three-time former world champion Woffinden but is it too little, too late? Second-place is enough for Dudek to seal a semi-final spot.

HEAT 17 – MADSEN, LAMBERT, THOMSEN, JANOWSKI

Madsen stakes a claim for a semi-final place with a fine performance. Lambert takes a fourth second place finish of the evening while Janowski will be pleased to see the back of a nightmare meeting for him.

Vaculik happy to put slow start to the season behind him

Tonight’s current race leader spoke to Eurosport earlier this week and was fully confident ahead of the race in Gorzow.

Vaculik has clearly put his slow start to the season behind him.

“So yeah, I feel very good and so far. I’m pretty happy with how we how fixed the trouble from the beginning of the season. And now I think we are on a good flow for the rest of the season.”

Top 8 after 16 heats

• 1. Martin Vaculik – 11
• 2. Patryk Dudek – 9
• 3. Dan Bewley – 8
• 4. Anders Thomsen- 8
• 5. Bartosz Zmarzlik – 8
• 6. Mikkel Michelsen – 7
• 7. Robert Lambert – 7
• 8. Jack Holder – 6

HEAT 16 – THOMSEN, HOLDER, ZMARZLIK, DOYLE

Doyle issued a warning after moving too quickly at the start. At the second attempt, Thomsen takes the front but all eyes are on the battle for second as Zmarzlik and Holder joust with the Australian able to hang on for a vital two points.

LIND-GONE!

HEAT 15 – DUDEK, BEWLEY, JANOWSKI, FRICKE

Dudek powers his way into contention after holding off Bewley in a thrilling little battle. Janowski and Fricke continue their respective disappointing nights.

HEAT 14 – VACULIK, MICHELSEN, LAMBERT, WOFFINDEN

The Slovak rider consolidates his place at the of the leaderboard with a dominant win. Michelsen is an impressive second ahead of the two Brits.

HEAT 13 – MADSEN, WOZNIAK, PRZEDPELSKI, LINDGREN

Madsen gives himself a slim chance at a semi-final place with an impressive win. Wild card Wozniak claims second at the expense of Przedpelski and Lindgren.

Top 8 after 12 heats

• 1. Martin Vaculik – 8
• 2. Dan Bewley – 7
• 3. Bartosz Zmarzlik – 7
• 4. Patryk Dudek – 6
• 5. Jason Doyle – 6
• 6. Robert Lambert – 6
• 7. Anders Thomsen – 5
• 8. Mikkel Michelsen – 5

HEAT 12 – VACULIK, DOYLE, JANOWSKI, WOZNIAK

Vaculik wins comfortably ahead of Doyle and another somewhat disappointing effort from Janowski.

HEAT 11 – LINDGREN, LAMBERT, FRICKE, HOLDER

Lindgren gambles and it pays off as he powers past Lambert to eventually take the win despite flying off his bike at the finish. Fricke is finally among the points after finishing third.

HEAT 10 – BEWLEY, WOFFINDEN, PRZEDPELSKI, THOMSEN

Stunning stuff from Bewley who claws back Woffinden who had started brilliantly and looked on course for victory. The 23-year-old is looking good tonight.

HEAT 9 – ZMARZLIK, DUDEK, MADSEN, MICHELSEN

Pressure? What pressure? Zmarzlik wins in style to the cheers of the home crowd. Fellow Pole Dudek finishes second as Madsen edges Michelsen for the final point.

Top 8 after 8 heats

• 1. Martin Vaculik – 5
• 2. Anders Thomsen – 5
• 3. Mikkel Michelsen – 5
• 4. Bartosz Zmarzlik – 4
• 5. Jack Holder – 4
• 6. Dan Bewley – 4
• 7. Jason Doyle – 3
• 8. Maciej Janowski – 2

HEAT 8 – DUDEK, LAMBERT, DOYLE, PRZEDPELSKI,

Dudek gets the home crowd on their feet again but there will be concern for Przedpelski after he came off his bike in the final lap.

HEAT 7 – THOMSEN, MICHELSEN, WOZNIAK, FRICKE

Doulde Danish delight with a Thomsen-Michelsen 1-2, Wild card Wozniak picks up his first point of the night while Fricke will have it all to do to make the semis after a second heat without scoring.

HEAT 6 – ZMARZLIK, JANOWSKI, LIDGREN, WOFFINDEN

The first big roars from the home crowd as Zmarzlik powers to victory and Janowski takes second on the line from Lindgren.

HEAT 5 – HOLDER, VACULIK, BEWLEY, MADSEN

A thriller of a heat sees Holder… erm, hold on to victory after nearly surrendering his lead in a choatic final lap.

HEAT 4 – VACULIK, THOMSEN, DUDEK, LINDGREN

Winner in Prague in round three, Vaculik takes the win ahead of Thomsen and Dudek for the points. Lindgren draws a blank.

HEAT 3 – MICHELSEN, PRZEDPELSKI, HOLDER, JANOWSKI

Michelsen, who literally limped into the Edward Jancarz Stadium after a crash earlier this week put injury concerns to one side to take the heat. Przedpelski pips Holder to second but there was disappointment for Janowski who will look to improve as the night goes on.

HEAT 2 – BEWLEY, LAMBERT, ZMARZLIK, WOZNIAK

Bewley showed his qualifying display was no fluke as he flies to victory ahead of fellow Brit Lambert. Early struggles for championship leader Zmarzlik saw him locked in a battle with wild card Wozniak to snatch third.

HEAT 1 – DOYLE, WOFFINDEN, MADSEN, FRICKE(DNF)

A stunning move from Doyle sees the Aussie charge to the front from the first corner and retains his advantage ahead of Woffinden and Madsen. Doyle’s compatriot Fricke unfortunately fails to finish after suffering an issue with his bike

Here we go!

Thankfully it wasn’t a long delay and the riders are at tapes for Heat 1

Rain!

Well, we have a slight delay as the heavens have opened. A welcome relief for everyone basking in the 30+ degree heat in Gorzow but unfortunately means the riders won’t be out for a while.

‘They’re putting a lot of water into the track’

Max Fricke sizes up the track ahead of the action…

Paluch eyes place in history books

Reserve rider Oskar Paluch could make history tonight if called upon as at just 16-years old, will be the youngest rider ever to contest a Speedway Grand Prix race.

Wiktor Jasinski is the other reserve rider.

Pole Position

The fans in Gorzow will have five Polish riders to get behind tonight. Bartosz Zmarzlik will be hoping to use home advantage to extend his championship lead but right on his tail will be compatriot Maciej Janowski who will look to rubber-stamp his title credentials.

Patryk Dudek will be looking for back-to-back wins after victory in Teterow, while Pawel Przedpelski will want to kickstart his own campaign in front of his home supporters after a slow start to the campaign.

Wild card Szymon Wozniak will be hoping to spring a surprise at the Edward Jancarz Stadium.

“They can be very passionate about it. I think there is a love of speedway that is passed down from generation to generation. There’s a saying here in Poland that the people don’t have blood running through their veins. Instead of blood, it’s fuel that circulates. That’s just the way it is.”

Bewley posts fastest time in qualifying

Championship ahead of fifth round

Here is the current state of play in the Speedway Grand Prix as the riders gear up for another thrilling night of race action.

• 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik (Poland) 62
• 2 Maciej Janowski (Poland) 51
• 3 Leon Madsen (Denmark) 50
• 4 Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden) 46
• 5 Tai Woffinden (United Kingdom) 43
• 6 Robert Lambert (United Kingdom) 36
• 7 Martin Vaculik (Slovakia) 35
• 8 Patryk Dudek (Poland) 35
• 9 Jason Doyle (Australia) 35
• 10 Mikkel Michelsen (Denmark) 34
• 11 Max Fricke (Australia) 32
• 12 Dan Bewley (United Kingdom) 32
• 13 Anders Thomsen (Denmark) 29
• 14 Jack Holder (Australia) 26
• 15 Pawel Przedpelski (Poland) 15
• 16 Matej Zagar (Slovakia) 11

Hello and welcome

We’re at round five of the 2022 FIM Speedway Grand Prix with the latest race live from the Edward Jancarz Stadium in Gorzow..

Patryk Dudek was the winner last time out in Teterow but a second place finish for championship leader Bartosz Zmarzlik in Germany keeps him to of the tree ahead of the race in his native Poland.

Bewley stars to top qualifying in Gorzow, Zmarzlik fifth

Dan Bewley topped the timesheets in qualifying to secure starting number advantage at the FIM Speedway Grand Prix in Gorzow, Poland.

It marked a return to form for Bewley, who had faded in the championship battle since impressive showings in the opening two rounds.

The Englishman exploited a wider line and peak track conditions to clock 13.944secs and become the only rider to crack the 14-second barrier.

Bewley amusingly asked the race organiser which draw he should take as first pick, quickly deciding to side with the man on the microphone and select No. 5.

Martin Vaculik (14.036s) and Jason Doule (14.055) took second and third respectively, with championship leader Bartosz Zmarzlik in fifth (14.148s) on his home track, as they earned the right for favourable draws.

How to watch?

RACE FORMAT

• Each round will feature 16 riders racing against each other in 20 heats, every heat consisting of four riders completing four laps of the track.
• The winning rider in each heat will be awarded four points, two points for second, one for third and zero for fourth.
• The eight riders with the most points at the end of the heats stage then move on to two semi-finals, with the top two from each of these semis then facing off in the final.

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