With two victories in Wroclaw, the reigning world champion, Bartosz Zmarzlik, has seriously thrown himself into the World Cup match. For Poland, it is now similar to the situation Denmark had in the 1980s, where Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen dueled for the World Cup title. And this weekend, Poland will once again host two rounds, this time in Lublin.
By Ib Søby
Maciej Janowski or Bartosz Zmarzlik?
The speedway-happy Poland is divided into two camps, exactly like when I was a boy and all Danish children were divided between The Beatles or the Rolling Stones!
A look at the position says that it would of course be very unwise to overlook the two Russian "cosmonauts" Laguta and Saytfudinov.
On the other hand, it is clear that Lindgren, Madsen and Woffinden will have a great weekend in Lublin, while some of the top people flop.
Because on Saturday at ca. 21.30 we are already over halfway in this year's World Cup series.
The Danish champion Anders Thomsen has not met his own expectations. Not because 24 points in four races is bad for a first-season World Cup driver, but more because Thomsen knows he can do better, just like in the Polish League for Gorzow.
- Yes, the famous 10% teases a bit. I often feel like I do not have enough speed in the gear and we do not really know what we can do better in the team. However, I have had some good heat victories, both in Prague and Wroclaw, so I am definitely confident, said Anders Thomsen at Vojens Speedway Center, Wednesday night.
Thomsen is well aware that the chances of getting one of the four wildcards by 2022 hang in a very thin thread for him.
- Leon Madsen is safe - no matter what - and Mikkel Michelsen has qualified via his great European Championship title. Will the new organizers have three Danes in the series? I doubt that, says Anders Thomsen.
On 21 August, Nicolai Klindt will run the Grand Prix Challenge in Hungarian Zarnovica, and if he manages the top three there, there will certainly be no Danish wildcards in 2022.
Buy tickets for 2021 Danish FIM Speedway Grand Prix Sponsored By ECCO - September 11 at 19:00 at Vojens Speedway Center
For the Danish national coach Hans Nielsen, the weekend offers a nostalgic reunion with Poland's 9th largest city - Lublin. It was here that Hans Nielsen, as the first Western world champion in speedway history, got a contract in the Polish league.
That was in 1990.
Lublin is located with just under 340,000 inhabitants in the southwestern corner of Poland. The city and the area are bursting with Polish history, but became especially world famous when the Nobel Prize-winning author, Isaac B. Singer, in 1979 published the masterpiece The Wizard of Lublin.
It is about a Jewish magician who falls in love with a Catholic woman.
On the weekends, however, it is wizards on motorcycles who visit the city.
The position after 4 races out of 11:
1. Maciej Janowski, Poland 66
2. Artem Laguta, Russia 66
Bartosz Zmarzlik, Poland 63
4. Emil Saytfudinov, Russia 58
5. Frederik Lindgren, Sweden 50
6. Tai Woffinden, England 44
7. Leon Madsen, Denmark 44
..
12. Anders Thomsen, Denmark 24