POLISH TITLE TREBLE FOR ZMARZLIK

Triple world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik is now a three-time Polish champion after sealing his third national crown on the bounce in Lodz on Monday.

The Lublin rider raced to the top of the heat score chart on 14 points and, despite being beaten in the final by former Speedway GP rider Janusz Kolodziej, Zmarzlik carried off the crown with a huge 50 points from three rounds.

Zmarzlik admits he has little time to celebrate the victory as he heads to Sweden for Lejonen’s Bauhaus Elitserien play-off semi-final, first leg away to Malilla club Dackarna on Tuesday.

But he told Canal+: “I am very happy that I managed to win another gold medal in the Polish Championships and that I did it for the third time in a row. It was very nice to ride here because it was my first time here in Lodz.

“Every day is different. Today was great from the beginning, practically until the very end, because even in the last run I felt good. Speedway is specific, but I am happy that, regardless of my good or bad condition, I was able to achieve good results.”

Speedway GP star Patryk Dudek scored nine points in the heats to book a place in the semi-final, finishing second behind fellow former world No.2 Jaroslaw Hampel to line up in the final.

Third place in the final ahead of Hampel was then enough to see Dudek end the night on 10 championship points, forcing a run-off for second overall with Speedway GP rival Maciej Janowski after they tied on 35.

Janowski, who just missed the semi-final cut on eight, did enough to seal the silver medal by beating Dudek in the extra race.

Hampel finished fourth on the night, scoring 11 points – enough for fourth overall on 30. Kolodziej’s huge 17-point haul in Lodz saw him take fifth place on 28. Had he not failed to score at the opening round in Rzeszow, the four-time winner may have taken a rostrum spot.

An 11-point haul in Lodz saw Gorzow star Oskar Fajfer take sixth place on 25 – finishing level on points with 2024 Speedway GP qualifier Szymon Wozniak, who was placed seventh after he scored eight on the night.

FINAL POLISH CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1. Bartosz Zmarzlik 50, 2. Maciej Janowski 35+3, 3. Patryk Dudek 35+2, 4. Jarosław Hampel 30, 5. Janusz Kołodziej 28, 6. Oskar Fajfer 25, 7. Szymon Woźniak 25, 8. Kacper Woryna 23, 9. Krzysztof Buczkowski 19, 10. Przemyslaw Pawlicki 17, 11. Dominik Kubera 15, 12. Wiktor Lampart 14, 13. Piotr Pawlicki 14, 14. Wiktor Przyjemski 14, 15. Wiktor Jasiński 11, 16. Mateusz Cierniak 10, 17. Jakub Miśkowiak 6, 18. Marcin Nowak 6, 19. Adrian Gala 2, 20. Mateusz Swidnicki 1, 21. Bartlomiej Kowalski 1, 22. Hubert Legowik 0.

LODZ POINTS: 1. Janusz Kołodziej 17, 2. Bartosz Zmarzlik 16, 3. Patryk Dudek 10, 4. Jarosław Hampel 11, 5. Oskar Fajfer 11, 6. Kacper Woryna 9, 7. Maciej Janowski 8, 8. Szymon Woźniak 8, 9. Przemyslaw Pawlicki 8, 10. Krzysztof Buczkowski 7, 11. Wiktor Lampart 6, 12. Jakub Miśkowiak 6, 13. Dominik Kubera 4, 14. Wiktor Jasiński 4, 15. Piotr Pawlicki 2, 16. Mateusz Swidnicki 0.