ZMARZLIK WINS FIFTH EKSTRALIGA INDIVIDUAL TITLE IN LODZ

Four-time Speedway GP world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik raced to his fifth International Individual Ekstraliga Championship (IMME) in Lodz on Friday.

Zmarzlik saw off Speedway GP rivals Jason Doyle in second place and Fredrik Lindgren in third to win the final, with double SGP2 champion Mateusz Cierniak taking an impressive fourth place against a stellar field.

Zmarzlik topped the scorechart over five heats on 13 points to qualify automatically for the final, with Doyle following him on 12.

Slovak star Martin Vaculik just missed out on 10, forcing him to compete in the semi-finals, but world No.2 Lindgren, who scored eight in the heats, got the better of the world No.3 in semi one to take his place in the final. Emil Sayfutdinov and Dominik Kubera, who scored seven apiece in the heats, failed to finish the semi.

Cierniak qualified for semi two on nine and saw off Speedway GP first reserve Max Fricke, world No.4 Jack Holder and world No.5 Leon Madsen to take his place in the final. Fricke notched nine in the heats, with Holder scoring eight and Madsen seven.

In one of the most competitive meetings outside of Speedway GP, British racer Dan Bewley fell short of the semis on countback with seven points. 

Former Speedway GP world champion Artem Laguta missed out on six, along with Szymon Wozniak and Anders Thomsen. Mikkel Michelsen registered three points and wild card Luke Becker, who represented host club Lodz, bagged two.