Speedway Grand Prix: Martin Vaculik storms to victory in Prague, Bartosz Zmarzlik opens up championship lead

Martin Vaculik took a memorable second successive Prague GP win, capping off a breathless night of speedway.

In his de facto home grand prix, the Slovakian never stood out but turned it on when it really mattered, taking his first win of the night in the last heat and making a brilliant start to win the final.

It was a return to form for 2022 runner-up Leon Madsen, who entered the night 11th in the championship but finished the night in second.

And Jack Holder made his second successive final while Bartosz Zmarzlik moved into the outright championship lead ending the night in fourth.

It was a night that showcased the best of speedway with every gate offering the opportunity to win, and several battles running across all four laps of racing.

The straightforward final maybe belied that, but Vaculik won’t be complaining as he notched his sixth grand prix win to move up to fourth in the championship.

Freddie Lindgren dropped three points to Zmarzlik, while Jason Doyle maybe had the most disappointing night of all.

The Australian looked back to his best in the opening two rounds of the season but couldn’t find any form in Prague and missed the semi-finals.

Once again the British trio failed to turn good performance in the heats into a challenge for the win. Dan Bewley was the man to beat for most of the evening but lost out at the start of his semi-final, and couldn’t get past Holder despite throwing everything at the Australian.

Meanwhile Robert Lambert just allowed himself to be bullied by Zmarzlik in his semi-final while Tai Woffinden had an evening to forget, only scoring 4 points.

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