ZMARZLIK WINS POLISH CHAMPIONSHIP OPENER

Double world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik made a victorious start to his Polish Championship defence as he topped the podium at round one in Grudziadz on Saturday.

Zmarzlik cruised straight through to the final after racking up 14 points in the heats to lead the scorechart. He then took the chequered flag ahead of Jaroslaw Hampel, Dominik Kubera and Patryk Dudek in the final.

The Speedway GP World Championship leader ended round one with a total of 18 championship points – 14 scored in the heats, three for winning the final and a bonus point for achieving the most race wins.

Former world No.2 Hampel followed Zmarzlik in earning direct qualification to the final, beating Kubera into the top two on countback after they tied on 12 points from five heats. Second place in the final saw him end the evening on 14 points overall.

Kubera secured his place in the final with victory in the last-chance race ahead of Speedway GP star Dudek, Janusz Kolodziej and Krzysztof Kasprzak, who was disqualified after moving at the tapes for the second time on the night. Kubera’s third place in the final saw him tally 13 overall.

Kolodziej collected 11 points from five rides, while Dudek notched nine. Kasprzak snatched the final spot in the last-chance race – forcing out Speedway GP star Maciej Janowski and Bartosz Smektala after they all tied on eight.

Speedway GP racer Pawel Przedpelski also fell short on six points – a total matched by SGP2 leader Mateusz Cierniak and Tobiasz Musielak. Reigning World Under-21 champion and SGP2 rider Jakub Miskowiak scored five.

GRUDZIADZ SCORES: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 18, 2 Jaroslaw Hampel 14, 3 Dominik Kubera 13, 4 Patryk Dudek 9, 5 Janusz Kolodziej 11, 6 Krzysztof Kasprzak 8, 7 Maciej Janowski 8, 8 Bartosz Smektala 8, 9 Mateusz Cierniak 6, 10 Pawel Przedpelski 6, 11 Tobiasz Musielak 6, 12 Kacper Woryna 5, 13 Jakub Miskowiak 5, 14 Norbert Krakowiak 5, 15 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 3, 16 Grzegorz Zengota 2, 17 Krzysztof Buczkowski 0, 18 Mateusz Szczepaniak 0.