Friday 27th April 2012, 10:20

Tomasz Gollob’s manager Thomas Gaszynski admits the Polish legend has little home advantage at Leszno, as he prepares for the FIM Fogo European SGP on Saturday night.

The five-time FIM Monster Energy Speedway World Cup winner has achieved two silver medals since the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium first staged SGP racing in 2008. He also lifted the SWC trophy there with Poland in 2007 and 2009.

Gollob, who celebrated his 41^st birthday on April 11, is yet to top the Grand Prix rostrum at the track. He has won seven World Championship events in his home town Bydgoszcz, two in Wroclaw and one in Torun. He would love to make it fifth time lucky at Leszno in 2012, but Gaszynski admits Gollob’s struggle to lead the way there is a testament to the strength of the SGP field.

He said: “Of course Tomasz would like to win on all tracks, especially the Polish ones. But that just shows you how tough the competition is and how even the track is for all the riders.

“Tomasz has never ridden for Leszno either, so it’s not a matter of him having home track advantage.

“He has won many times at Bydgoszcz and that’s a little special. That wasn’t only his home track where he rode, it was the track where he was raised and where he learned the fine art of speedway.

“That track is very special – he could ride that place blindfolded, which has been proved on many occasions.”

Gollob notched 15 points in the FIM Buckley Systems New Zealand SGP in Auckland on March 31, but was disappointed to crash out in the semi-finals.

Gaszynski knows this was far from a disaster, though, as the Gorzow man bids to close the seven-point gap between him and fellow Monster Energy rider Greg Hancock at the World Championship summit.

He said: “Tomasz had a fantastic night in the heat races and we were hoping for many more points. But, in all fairness, we’ll definitely take the 15. He’s in third place and I can give you 12 names of riders who would want to be in Tomasz’s boots right now.

“The game has just started and we have so many more rounds to go. It’s too early to say whose year it could be.

“We’ll have to wait for a few more rounds to pass and then we’ll be able to see who’s really, really in it and who isn’t.”

Tweet

Speedway Grand Prix Speedway Grand Prix