Bartosz Zmarzlik stormed to victory in Malilla this weekend, ending his wait for an away win at the Teng Tools Swedish FIM Speedway Grand Prix. He pulled out a stunning victory from home hero Antonio Lindback on the final lap of the last heat, just as it looked to be Lindback’s win.
Fredrik Lindgren finished the event in third, after taking six heat wins and Maciej Janowski rounded out the top four, moving him five points clear of Jason Doyle at the top of the overall Championship standings.
This weekend’s victory was Zmarzlik’s first since becoming the youngest Speedway GP winner at Gorzow in 2014, and thanks to his solid points haul in Cardiff teamed with his Malilla victory, he shot up to sixth in the overall standings with seventy points. He’s now just ten points behind Patryk Dudek in third, and eighteen points behind leader, Janowski. Speaking of his recent win, he said:
“Winning the GP in Gorzow was a very special day for me. This is my second win, and I have won away. That’s something new and I am very happy.
“Winning here is very special for me. Winning at home is not easy, but you know the setup and how to react on the track. Now I have an away GP win.”
In the final, Zmarzlik took the outside line to get the better of Swedish team mates Lindback and Lindgren, in a move that was risky but paid off. He said:
“The only line for me was the outside. Freddie and Antonio stayed on the inside and I didn’t have the drive because they were very fast there.
“I went to the outside and my bike was very fast there. I was thinking ‘come on, come on’ and I got the win just before the line.”
It was a big night for Lindback too. Although he didn’t take the win, his nineteen point haul saw him go from fourteenth to ninth in the Championship. He spoke of his delight, saying:
“Today was a good day. We worked really hard and that showed out on the track. I’m happy with my points. I dropped two in the GP and it was a very good meeting.
“Of course I wanted to win the final, but it’s hard. Everybody is so fast out there. I’m happy with my second place.”
Lindgren was also content with his performance, saying:
“What a night for myself and for Swedish speedway. Me and Anton were really on fire tonight. I’m so pleased with my own performance.
“Of course when you’re in the final, you want the win. But overall, I’m very happy and very happy to be on the box at this place.”
The FIM Speedway Grand Prix next heads to MIB Nordic Gorzow SGP of Poland on August 26th.
Points from the Teng Tools Swedish FIM Speedway Grand Prix
1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 15, 2 Antonio Lindback 19, 3 Fredrik Lindgren 18, 4 Maciej Janowski 13, 5 Tai Woffinden 14, 6 Emil Sayfutdinov 10, 7 Martin Vaculik 10, 8 Piotr Pawlicki 6, 9 Niels-Kristian Iversen 6, 10 Chris Holder 6, 11 Patryk Dudek 5, 12 Jason Doyle 5, 13 Peter Kildemand 4, 14 Matej Zagar 3, 15 Linus Sundstrom 2, 16 Martin Smolinski 1, 17 Kim Nilsson DNR, 18 Joel Kling DNR.
