Martin Vaculik takes victory in Cardiff as Bartosz Zmarzlik extends championship lead, heartbreak for Tai Woffinden

Vaculik won the at the British Speedway GP at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

Martin Vaculik proved the surprise winner with a sensational final performance ahead of Jack Holder, while Bartosz Zmarzlik defied all the odds to extend his championship lead after earlier heartbreak for Tai Woffinden.

Freddie Lindgren’s semi-final victory looked like it had re-opened the title race with Zmarzlik strangely off-form for most of the evening, but the Pole proved why he’s got one hand on the trophy with his own superb semi-final– his first win of the night.

That overshadowed a superb night from Holder, the Australian required hand surgery after sustaining an injury at the World Cup and missed the Riga GP.

Holder was top after the heats but did very well to outbattle Zmarzlik in the final and took a very well-deserved second. He could do nothing about Vaculik though, the Slovakian took his second grand prix of the season with a perfect start in the final – again from the unfancied gate three.

It was a disappointing night for the three Brits, Woffinden looked on top form but hit the deck hard battling Zmarzlik in heat 16 and broke his hand, seemingly fighting back tears as he saluted a gutted home crowd in the Principality Stadium.

Last year’s winner Dan Bewley’s night was effectively over when he touched the tapes in his last heat leaving him stranded on seven points, while Robert Lambert was second after the heats but never looked like progressing from his semi-final.

Woffinden may well need a wildcard entry for next year’s speedway grand prix as he looks set to miss the last two rounds of the season – almost certainly the upcoming Danish GP – sitting tenth in the championship.

Zmarzlik now leads Lindgren by 24 points meaning the Swede will need to gain four points on the leader in Vojens to keep the title battle alive for the final round of the season.

Guest wildcard Steve Worrall couldn’t make any real impact on his first-ever grand prix appearance, picking up just three points, but Kim Nilsson and Patryk Dudek both boosted their chances for 2024 with semi-final appearances.