Welcome to a new era of Speedway!

EKSTRALIGA | MADSEN TOPS LIONS SCORE CHART IN KROSNO WIN

World No.2 Leon Madsen raced to 13 points for Czestochowa as they triumphed 49-41 away to Krosno in the PGE Ekstraliga on Thursday.Madsen raced to four wins from five rides to lead the Lions to victory. He was well supported by a nine paid 11-point haul from Kacper Woryna, with Maksym Drabik notching nine. Speedway GP star Mikkel Michelsen accrued eight.Aussie ace Jason Doyle led the Krosno score chart on 12 points, with Speedway GP first reserve Andzejs Lebedevs adding 11 and junior star Krzysztof Sadurski collecting a useful eight paid 10.For full details of the latest PGE Ekstraliga results, scorers and the latest league table, click here: https://speedwayekstraliga.pl/en/ 

Discover

MADSEN: HOLDING HIS HEAD HIGH

Danish racer Leon Madsen left Gorzow with his head held high after defying whiplash injuries to make it on to the KGHM FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Gorzow podium last Saturday.Keeping his head up at all was no easy task for Madsen, who crashed out of last Wednesday’s Danish Championship Final, spinning off as he tried to round Kenneth Bjerre, before falling awkwardly and sustaining neck injuries.The world No.2 considered withdrawing from the Gorzow showdown but fought on admirably – even hitting the front for three and a half laps of the final.Madsen looked set for his first Speedway GP win since his seven-ride maximum in Torun in October 2019. But Polish icon Bartosz Zmarzlik sent him wide on the final turn with a forceful move that allowed the triple world champion to claim his third win of 2023.Finishing second left Madsen, who is fifth in the championship on 60 points, with mixed feelings. He said: “On one side, I can be disappointed. But on the other side I can be very happy.“Coming into the meeting, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to race or not. In Slangerup, I hit the fence. I was trying to go around Kenneth Bjerre. It’s a strange corner and the fence catches you somehow after the gate. I spun around and knocked my head on the ground. That’s when I got the whiplash.“I don’t have any power at all in my neck. Every time I went out of the corner, the G-force was pulling my head. It was hard to keep my head upright. I taped up my neck and had some physio coming into the meeting. We did everything we could to make me feel more comfortable, but it wasn’t easy for sure. It was a hard battle all night.“I still got a second place, and I am still very happy about that. When I get back to full fitness in a few weeks’ time, hopefully I will be fighting for those GP wins. I was so close to winning, but still I have to remember that on Friday I didn’t know if I was able to race, so I am very pleased to get out of there with a second place.”Madsen admits starting the final three times further tested his stamina. Freddie Lindgren crashed on turn one at the first attempt and Jason Doyle was excluded after a tumble in lap two in the second staging of the race.The double European champion admits that didn’t help his chances of beating Lublin rider Zmarzlik on his boyhood track where the Pole represented Stal Gorzow from 2011 until 2022.He said: “After all those restarts in the final, I didn’t have more power in me. I gave it my all, but you need to be 100 percent to beat Bartek on his home track – I think we can still call it his home track.“I think he was a little bit faster than me. I tried to do some different lines. I could see on the big screen that he was catching me. I did my best, but I just didn’t have more power in me at the end.”

Discover

LINDGREN WINS SWEDISH TITLE NO.3 AS THORSSELL BOOKS MALILLA SPEEDWAY GP SPOT

Speedway GP star Fredrik Lindgren stormed to his third Swedish Championship crown as runner-up Jacob Thorssell booked his place in the FIM Speedway GP of Sweden – Malilla on July 15.Lindgren and Thorssell tied on 14 points at the top of the score chart to earn automatic qualification for the final, along with 2022 Swedish champion and FIM Speedway of Nations hero Oliver Berntzon, who advanced on 11.Finnish international Timo Lahti, who rides on a Swedish licence, also scored 11 and won the semi-final to take the last spot in the final showdown.With the winner guaranteed a return ticket to Malilla for the FIM Swedish Speedway GP showdown, the stakes were high in the final. But it was Lindgren – the only finalist already guaranteed a place in Sweden’s biggest speedway event – who got the verdict, adding to his 2018 and 2021 national titles.With 2019 and 2020 Swedish champion Thorssell taking the all-important second place, he earns the FIM Swedish Speedway GP wild card as the highest-placed non-SGP rider, with Lahti finishing third and Berntzon fourth.Speedway GP regular Kim Nilsson took second place in the semi-final after qualifying on nine. Despite missing out on the final, last year’s FIM GP Challenge winner joins Lindgren and Thorssell in Malilla next month.Daniel Henderson scored 11 points over his five rides, before finishing third in the semi-final, with KGHM FIM SGP2 of Poland finalist Casper Henriksson placed fourth in the semi after scoring eight in the heats.Long-time former Speedway GP rider Antonio Lindback – the only rider to defeat Lindgren on the night – fell short of the semis on seven points, while Jonathan Ejnermark, Joel Andersson and Ludvig Lindgren all missed out on six.SWEDISH FINAL HEAT SCORES: 1 Fredrik Lindgren 14, 2 Jacob Thorssell 14, 3 Oliver Berntzon 11, 4 Timo Lahti 11, 5 Daniel Henderson 11, 6 Kim Nilsson 9, 7 Casper Henriksson 8, 8 Antonio Lindback 7, 9 Filip Hjelmland 6, 10 Jonathan Ejnermark 6, 11 Joel Andersson 6, 12 Ludvig Lindgren 6, 13 Victor Palovaara 5, 14 Anton Karlsson 3, 15 Jonatan Grahn 2, 16 Ludvig Selvin 1.SEMI-FINAL: Lahti, Nilsson, Henderson, Henriksson.FINAL: Lindgren, Thorssell, Lahti, Berntzon.

Discover

SWEDISH WILD CARD UP FOR GRABS IN MALILLA TONIGHT

Fredrik Lindgren and Kim Nilsson both go for Swedish Championship gold in Malilla tonight as the FIM Speedway GP of Sweden wild card is decided at the Skrotfrag Arena.World No.4 Lindgren bids to build on third place in last Saturday’s KGHM FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Gorzow as he goes for what would be his third Swedish title on his former Elitserien home track.Meanwhile, Rospiggarna racer Nilsson is hoping to win his first in the same month he achieved his first-ever Speedway GP race win, semi-final and final, finishing fourth at the Wölk FIM German Speedway GP in Teterow on June 10.The stakes are even higher for the non-Speedway GP riders in the event, with the highest-placed star other than Lindgren and Nilsson handed the No.16 wild-card race jacket for Sweden’s biggest speedway event, the FIM Swedish Speedway GP, which also takes place in Malilla, on July 15.Last year’s Swedish champion Oliver Berntzon will be one of the stars hoping to book a return ticket to Malilla, along with double Swedish champion Jacob Thorssell, former Speedway GP star Antonio Lindback and KGHM FIM SGP2 of Poland – Gorzow finalist Casper Henriksson.SWEDISH FINAL LINE-UP: 1. Jacob Thorssell, 2. Joel Andersson, 3. Kim Nilsson, 4. Jonatan Grahn, 5. Daniel Henderson, 6. Casper Henriksson, 7. Ludvig Lindgren, 8. Antonio Lindback, 9. Oliver Berntzon, 10. Ludvig Selvin, 11. Fredrik Lindgren, 12. Victor Palovaara, 13. Filip Hjelmland, 14. Jonathan Ejnermark, 15. Timo Lahti, 16. Anton Karlsson. RESERVES: 17. Alexander Liljekvist, 18. Johannes Stark.

Discover

SURGERY FOR BECKER

American racer Luke Becker has undergone successful surgery after breaking a bone in his left hand during Zielona Gora’s Polish First Division trip to Bydgoszcz on Sunday.Falubaz rider Becker clashed with Bydgoszcz’s Olivier Buszkiewicz during heat six and took no further part in the action at the Polonia Stadium.Posting on Twitter this afternoon, Falubaz confirmed: “Luke Becker is out of surgery now. The procedure was successful, and the patient is feeling well. Now the American is facing rehabilitation. We keep our fingers crossed for a quick return to the track. Luke thanks all the fans for their words of support.”According to a previous tweet from Zielona Gora, Becker’s break from the track “may last about a month.”The injury comes as a further blow to a rider who suffered a broken leg at the Slovakian Open Championship in Zarnovica on April 2, and sidelines him for Falubaz, Sport Insure Premiership club Wolverhampton and his Swedish team Rospiggarna.

Discover

EKSTRALIGA | MADSEN TOPS LIONS SCORE CHART IN KROSNO WIN

MADSEN: HOLDING HIS HEAD HIGH

LINDGREN WINS SWEDISH TITLE NO.3 AS THORSSELL BOOKS MALILLA SPEEDWAY GP SPOT

SWEDISH WILD CARD UP FOR GRABS IN MALILLA TONIGHT

SURGERY FOR BECKER