JANOWSKI'S UNLUCKY BREAK

Polish racer Maciej Janowski believes he had resolved his 2023 problems – just days before his season was ended by a broken leg.

The former world No.3 lost his spot in Speedway GP after finishing 14th in the SGP World Championship, scoring 43 points from the eight rounds he contested and reaching just one semi-final.

Janowski thought he was back on the pace after racing to a maximum for Dackarna in their Bauhaus Elitserien play-off semi-final clash away to a star-studded Lejonen side on September 5.

But disaster struck on his Polish home track Wroclaw just five days later, when Janowski suffered a broken leg in a freak accident in the PGE Ekstraliga play-off semi-final, second leg against Torun on September 10.

This ended Janowski’s season, and the timing could not have been more unfortunate as the rider felt he was on the verge of getting back on form.

He said: “I sat with my team, and we talked about what mistakes we made. Towards the end of the season, we found something that was the main reason why we did not do so well.

“When we fixed that, we went to Sweden and I scored maximum points in Gislaved, where Lejonen has Bartek Zmarzlik, Dominik Kubera and Jarek Hampel – such a strong team.

“A few days later, I raced in the Ekstraliga semi-final in Poland. That started well. I had a 5-1 win in my first ride. In my second heat, I broke my leg.

“I was very happy when we found the problem towards the end of the season, but then I got an injury. I knew the problem we had fixed was the main reason why my bike didn’t have good speed from the start or on the track. 

“I am pretty sure this year will be good for us, and I will prove I am still among the top riders.”

Pushed on exactly what caused his dip in results, Janowski politely declined to go into details. “I will leave that inside my team,” he said. “I can only say that we have fixed it, and I am just waiting for the start of the season to show my skills again.”