NEW SGP STAR BARTOSZ ZMARZLIK ENDED HIS JUNIOR CAREER IN SUBLIME STYLE AFTER SECURING THE FIM SPEEDWAY UNDER-21 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.
New SGP star Bartosz Zmarzlik ended his junior career in sublime style after securing the FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship with a race to spare in Pardubice.
The GP Challenge winner went into the last round needing just 12 points to secure victory – and four straight race wins ensured he finished the job and became the third straight Pole to claim the prize.
Zmarzlik was third in his final ride, and lost out on second place on the day in a run-off with Denmark’s Anders Thomsen after they tied on 13.
But he’s unlikely to be too upset after a sensational season, which saw him make his Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup debut for Poland, earn SGP qualification, win the Swedish Elitserien with Vetlanda and star for Gorzow in his homeland.
The meeting was won by Kjærgaard Danish SGP wild card Mikkel Michelsen on 14 points, meaning he tied on 34 championship points with Thomsen. The pair lined up in a run-off for silver, but disaster struck when Michelsen’s bike packed up at the start, allowing his compatriot a free shot at second spot.
Danish racer Mikkel Bech Jensen was fourth on the day with 12 points to secure joint fourth place overall with Torun SGP wild card Pawel Przedpelski, who blew his chance of a medal by bagging just seven points. Aussie starlet Max Fricke impressed on 11 to finish sixth in the championship. Along with Polish racer Przedpelski, he is young enough to take another shot at the title in 2016.
FIM SPEEDWAY UNDER-21 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 39, 2 Anders Thomsen 34+3, 3 Mikkel Michelsen 34+R, 4= Pawel Przedpelski 29, Mikkel Bech 29, 6 Max Fricke 28, 7 Andzejs Lebedevs 24, 8 Brady Kurtz 22, 9 Victor Palovaara 18, 10= Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 17, Viktor Kulakov 17, 12 Stefan Nielsen 15, 13 Valentin Grobauer 14, 14 Emil Grondal 12, 15 Maksym Drabik 10, 16 Zdenek Holub 5, 17 Paco Castagna 4, 18= Eduard Krcmar 3, Michael Hartel 3, 20 Nicolas Vicentin 2, 21 Adrian Cyfer 1.
PARDUBICE SCORES: 1 Mikkel Michelsen 14, 2 Anders Thomsen 13+3, 3 Bartosz Zmarzlik 13+2, 4 Mikkel Bech Jensen 12, 5 Max Fricke 11, 6 Valentin Grobauer 9, 7 Andzejs Lebedevs 8, 8 Brady Kurtz 8, 9 Pawel Przedpelski 7, 10 Zdenek Holub 5, 11 Stefan Nielsen 4, 12 Viktor Kulakov 4, 13 Victor Palovaara 4, 14 Emil Grondal 3, 15 Eduard Krcmar 3, 16 Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 2.