Friday 27th April 2012, 17:57

Grand Prix star Antonio Lindback says the fun-loving Rio Rocket of old is back as prepares for the FIM Fogo European SGP in Leszno on Saturday night.

The Gniezno rider has been flying in the Polish First Division so far this year and scored a fantastic 13 points in the season-opening FIM Buckley Systems New Zealand SGP on March 31.

The Brazil-born Swedish international’s natural talent and zest for life endeared him to thousands when he burst on to the speedway scene in 2003. But Lindback briefly retired from the sport at the end of 2007 in a bid to deal with some personal problems.

He reappeared in the SGP series last year and is showing signs of returning to his brilliant best. Lindback admits getting back to his old self has lifted his form.

He said: “I have worked really hard this winter to try and find the ‘old me’, if you could say it like that. I want to be how I was when I was a little bit younger.

“I’m feeling much happier and I feel I know what I want to do. I just love what I do.

“You can do stuff just because you must, but if you want to be really, really good at this sport, you must love it. It doesn’t matter which work you do; if you want to do it well, you must love it.”

Lindback’s 13-point haul at Western Springs was his best start to an SGP season since his debut year in 2005, when he finished fourth with 16 points in the European SGP at Wroclaw.

But the rider isn’t getting carried away about his chances of becoming Sweden’s first world champion since Tony Rickardsson.

Asked whether he could win a medal this year, he said: “We’ll see, we’ll see. Maybe, I don’t know. I’ll take one race at a time and one meeting at a time. But I have high goals this year.

“New Zealand was wonderful. I hope to go to Leszno and score some points, not lose as much and maybe take one step more.”

When Lindback turned his back on racing briefly in at the end of 2007, some feared the early potential he showed had been lost forever. But the Avesta-based man says he still has time to reach the top.

He said: “I haven’t lost that goal yet. I definitely think it’s starting to come closer and closer. I’m still just 26, so I don’t feel like an old man yet.

“You can get older and older and still be good now if you have the drive in your body. I think I’ve got a minimum of 10 more years, maybe more. I don’t know.”

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