EKSTRALIGA | ZMARZLIK STUNS GORZOW IN WINNING RETURN WITH LUBLIN

Triple world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik marked his Gorzow homecoming with a 14 paid 15-point maximum for new club Lublin as the PGE Ekstraliga champions triumphed 48-41 on Friday.

Zmarzlik heads into Saturday’s Tehnix FIM Speedway GP of Croatia on a high after a flawless performance led Lublin to victory.

It came just 24 hours after Zmarzlik only managed seven as Lublin lost their opening home match 46-44 to 2021 champions Wroclaw, who were inspired by 10-point contributions from Tai Woffinden, Maciej Janowski and Artem Laguta on Thursday.

Zmarzlik’s Lublin teammate and Speedway GP riva Lindgren raced to 10 paid 11 points in Gorzow – following up an 11-point haul against Wroclaw – while Jack Holder bagged eight paid nine on Friday and five paid seven on Thursday evening.

Slovak star Martin Vaculik was Gorzow’s top performer on Friday with 11 points while Szymon Wozniak notched nine paid 10 and Speedway GP rider Anders Thomsen scored seven.

In Friday’s other meeting, Polish star Janusz Kolodziej continued his red-hot start to 2023 by bagging 10 paid 11 points as Leszno won 49-41 at home to Torun. Kolodziej was aided by 10 points from Aussie racer Jaimon Lidsey, nine paid 10 from Bartosz Smektala and eight paid nine from Grzegorz Zengota.

Former world No.3 Emil Sayfutdinov stormed to a sensational 16 for Torun, while world No.5 Robert Lambert tallied 10 paid 11 and Patryk Dudek collected four points. The club also paid a special tribute to club legend Chris Holder, who now races in Leszno colours, as he faces over two months on the sidelines with a spinal injury.

Torun’s defeat came just a day after they also went down 50-40 away to newly promoted Krosno. Aussie ace Jason Doyle led their victory charge on 12 points, with Krzysztof Kasprzak registering 11 paid 13 and Vaclav Milik accruing eight paid 11.

In-form Sayfutdinov roared to 16 paid 17 points for Torun, with Dudek collecting eight points and Lambert registering two.

For full details of the PGE Ekstraliga results and the latest league table, click HERE (link in Polish).