MADSEN WINS SEC OPENER AS MICHELSEN TOPS STANDINGS

Danish star Leon Madsen stormed to victory at the opening Speedway European Championship round as reigning champion Mikkel Michelsen roared to the top of the standings in Rybnik on Saturday evening.

The winner of the four-round Speedway European Championship earns automatic qualification for the 2023 Speedway GP series.

Competition for that spot looks set to be fierce as Madsen – currently second in this season’s Speedway GP series – triumphed in the final ahead of Poland’s Janusz Kolodziej in second and SGP rival Patryk Dudek in third.

Michelsen took fourth place, but his 14-point haul across the heats, which put him straight through to the final alongside Kolodziej, still leaves him top of the standings on championship points and by virtue of having a superior ranking to Kolodziej.

Former Speedway GP regular Kolodziej is also on 14 after tallying 12 in the heats and adding two in the final, while Madsen is third overall on 13.

The 2019 SGP silver medallist won the last-chance race to reach the final after registering 10 in the heats, before going on to top the podium on the night to add another three championship points.

Dudek qualified for the final with second spot ahead of Piotr Pawlicki and Bartosz Smektala in the last-chance race. The former world No.2 raced to 11 across his five heats, with his point for third spot in the final leaving him on 12 in total and fourth in the SEC standings.

Smektala scored 11 points in the heats and is fifth, with Pawlicki making the last-chance heat cut on 10. Swedish champion Oliver Berntzon also collected to 10 points, but missed out on countback. French international Dimitri Berge fell just short on nine points.

The next round of the SEC series takes place at German track Gustrow on August 6.

RYBNIK SCORES: 1 Leon Madsen 13, 2 Janusz Kolodziej 14, 3 Patryk Dudek 12, 4 Mikkel Michelsen 14, 5 Bartosz Smektala 11, 6 Piotr Pawlicki 10, 7 Oliver Berntzon 10, 8 Dimitri Berge 9, 9 Kacper Woryna 8, 10 Kai Huckenbeck 7, 11 Dominik Kubera 6, 12 Rasmus Jensen 5, 13 David Bellego 3, 14 Adam Ellis 2, 15 Andzejs Lebedevs 1, 16 Vaclav Milik 1.

SEC STANDINGS: 1 Mikkel Michelsen 14, 2 Janusz Kolodziej 14, 3 Leon Madsen 13, 4 Patryk Dudek 12, 5 Bartosz Smektala 11, 6 Oliver Berntzon 10, 7 Piotr Pawlicki 10, 8 Dimitri Berge 9, 9 Kacper Woryna 8, 10 Kai Huckenbeck 7, 11 Dominik Kubera 6, 12 Rasmus Jensen 5, 13 David Bellego 3, 14 Adam Ellis 2, 15 Andzejs Lebedevs 1, 16 Vaclav Milik 1.