Speedway GP Łódź: Robert Lambert wins – the title race is wide open again

The title race in the Speedway World Championship is wide open again following the opening round at the track in Łódź, Poland, and could even develop into a three-way battle in the remaining three Grands Prix. This is primarily due to the fact that world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik got off to a poor start to the evening’s racing. Having scored just one point from his first two heats, he only began to improve after switching to what was actually his third bike. The change paid off, as the Pole scored seven points in his remaining three heats, though he often had to push himself to the limit. After being knocked out in the first Last-Chance Qualifier, the Szczecin rider failed to reach the final for the first time this season, giving his rivals the chance to close the gap on the points table.

Zmarzlik’s closest rival, Brady Kurtz, also switched to a spare bike after two heats, but had already scored three points by that stage. On his second bike, the Australian scored enough points to secure direct qualification for the final alongside top scorer Patryk Dudek, who had picked up 13 points in the heats. Dudek and Kurtz were joined by Michael Jepsen Jensen, who had only just scraped through to the Last Chance heats and made the most of his opportunity by qualifying for the final in the first qualifier. Robert Lambert, who had secured direct entry to the final in Malilla with a maximum score but failed to win there, made it into the evening’s top four for the third time in a row in Łódź.

The final was particularly thrilling in the first lap: Jepsen Jensen took the lead from the outside starting position, but Lambert overtook the Dane on the back straight to take the lead. Both Patryk Dudek and Brady Kurtz were also overtaken by Jepsen Jensen, and Lambert controlled the rest of the race from the front to secure his second Grand Prix victory in around two years.

Die Top-3 (v.l.): Dudek Lambert und Kurtz

Foto: jarek pabijan

With his triumph in Łódź, Lambert is the man in top form: the Briton has picked up 56 out of a possible 60 World Championship points in the last three races, closing the gap on Kurtz and Zmarzlik, who lead the standings on 109 points. Ahead of the final three Grands Prix in Riga, Vojens and Toruń, Lambert stands on 101 points.

For Kai Huckenbeck, his appearance as a substitute ended with a 15th-place finish. The rider from Werlte finished three heats in third place, thereby securing one point more than the Ukrainian Nazar Parnitskyi, who finished last.

Kai Huckenbeck (rot) tat sich schwer

Foto: jarek pabijan

Results: Speedway Grand Prix, Łódź, Poland: