MAGIC BREAKS ZMARZLIK'S GRIP ON GOLDEN HELMET IN OPOLE

Speedway GP star Maciej Janowski ended his 10-year wait for a Polish Golden Helmet win as he dashed world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik’s bid for a fourth straight victory in Opole on Saturday.

Janowski topped the podium on 14 points – one ahead of runner-up Zmarzlik on 13, while Magic’s Wroclaw teammate Piotr Pawlicki took third place on 12 to seal his spot in the Speedway GP qualifiers along with Dominik Kubera, Bartosz Smektala and Przemyslaw Pawlicki.

Zmarzlik zoomed to three straight Golden Helmet victories in 2020, 2021 and 2022, with Janowski last winning the prize in 2013. But Magic came out on top over the straight 20-heat showdown this year.

The result comes as a huge boost ahead of the Orlen FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Warsaw at PGE Narodowy next Saturday. No Polish rider has ever topped the podium in Poland’s biggest speedway event, with Janowski coming closest – finishing second in both 2017 and 2018.

The prestigious Golden Helmet has been won by the greats of Polish speedway and plays a key role in deciding the country’s entrants for the FIM Speedway Grand Prix qualification rounds.

Janowski and Zmarzlik have confirmed they will not contest the qualifiers and will instead focus on their quest for Speedway GP World Championship gold this year, with a top-six finish enough to guarantee them a place in the competition for 2024.

But Piotr Pawlicki will bid to return to the Speedway GP series for the first time since 2017, with his elder brother and 2018 Speedway GP rider Przemyslaw also chasing a World Championship comeback after finishing sixth on nine points.

Orlen FIM Warsaw Speedway GP wild card Kubera took fourth place on 11 in Opole and also enters the SGP qualifiers, along with his former Leszno teammate Smektala, who took fifth spot on nine. Neither rider has been a full-time Speedway GP star, but Kubera reached back-to-back FIM Lublin Speedway GP finals at the 2021 double-header on his current home track.

Former Polish champion Szymon Wozniak just missed the Speedway GP qualification cut on eight points, with former FIM Czech Speedway GP winner Janusz Kolodziej and Kacper Woryna falling short on seven.

But they could be in contention for one final wild card place in the Speedway GP qualifiers, which will be allocated by Polish team manager Rafal Dobrucki.

Former world No.2 Jaroslaw Hampel scored six along with 2022 SGP2 champion Mateusz Cierniak and Wiktor Przyjemski, while Speedway GP star Patryk Dudek and Pawel Przedpelski scored five apiece.

It was a tough day for former world No.2 Krzysztof Kasprzak and former World Under-21 champion Jakub Miskowiak, who ended on one point each.

POLISH GOLDEN HELMET SCORES: 1 Maciej Janowski 14, 2 Bartosz Zmarzlik 13, 3 Piotr Pawlicki 12, 4 Dominik Kubera 11, 5 Bartosz Smektala 9, 6 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 9, 7 Szymon Wozniak 8, 8 Janusz Kolodziej 7, 9 Kacper Woryna 7, 10 Jaroslaw Hampel 6, 11 Mateusz Cierniak 6, 12 Wiktor Przyjemski 6, 13 Patryk Dudek 5, 14 Pawel Przedpelski 5, 15 Krzysztof Kasprzak 1, 16 Jakub Miskowiak 1.