Zmarzlik gets title defence off to perfect start despite heat exclusion at Speedway Grand Prix of Croatia

Bartosz Zmarzlik overcame a shocking early exclusion to take victory in an entertaining first Grand Prix of the season and get his world championship defence off to the best possible start in Gorican.

The riders had to wait a little longer than expected to get the 2023 season underway as rain delayed the start by 20 minutes, in what proved to foreshadow an unpredictable Grand Prix of Croatia.

Heading into the semi-finals it had been a fantastic night for British speedway with Robert Lambert, Tai Woffinden and Dan Bewley the top three riders on the night, but only Lambert made it to the final and was forced to start off the unfancied gate two.

With Zmarzlik on the inside and Jason Doyle looking for his fourth win from four races on the outside, all was set for a titanic clash at the first corner of the final and the Australian looked set for victory before he span out into the barriers, handing Zmarzlik the victory.

Lambert scored second place as the wait for his first Grand Prix victory goes on, while Frederik Lindgren took an unlikely podium. The Swede only reached the semi-finals after a lengthy countback and was forced to go off a gate three that had been useless all night, but caught Woffinden napping in the second semi-final before taking advantage of Doyle’s misfortune.

In a turbulent opening night Croatia, race director Phil Morris had to work as hard as the riders with track conditions always under the microscope as rain showers continued to blow over the Milenium Stadium but following the early delay there were no more issues.

After a disappointing 2022 season, Tai Woffinden looks back to his best though as he rode out the changing conditions in supreme fashion to finish second after the heats.

However, as one goes up, one must come down and it was a torrid night for Leon Madsen, last year’s runner-up scored just four points to finish 13th on the night after he also struggled in qualifying, he’ll hope to bounce back in two weeks in Warsaw.

Standings after Round 1

• 1 – Bartosz Zmarzlik – 20 points
• 2 – Robert Lambert – 18
• 3 – Fredrik Lindgren – 16
• 4 – Jason Doyle – 14
• 5 – Tai Woffinden – 12
• 6 – Mikkel Michelsen – 11
• 7 – Den Bewley – 10
• 8 – Martin Vaculik – 9
• 9 – Jack Holder – 8
• 10 – Max Fricke – 7
• 11 – Patryk Dudek – 6
• 12 – Anders Thomsen – 5
• 13 – Leon Madsen – 4
• 14 – Maciej Janowski – 3
• 15 – Kim Nilsson – 2
• 16 – Matej Zagar – 1

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