Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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IN THE WIND P50 JANOWSKI RISES TO THE TOP AT SWEDEN SPEEDWAY GP P olish star Maciej Janowski admits a shower of shale in his opening race inspired him to Norrbil Swedish FIM Speedway Grand Prix glory in Hallstavik, July 7. Magic suffered a last place in his first ride, but that proved a minor bump in the road, as he then reeled off six sensational heat wins on his way to topping the podium ahead of runner-up Fredrik Lindgren, third-placed Bartosz Zmarzlik and World Championship leader Tai Woffin- den in fourth. Janowski produced a gating master-class, as he moved up to fourth in the standings. And he says being plastered in shale when he was left at the back in heat one focused his mind for the rest of the night. "The beginning of the meet- ing was very hard—zero points in the first heat—but we tried not to think about that," he said. "We knew our bikes were prepared very well for this meeting. Fri- day's practice was very good. So I just focused on my riding and the starts, and we did it. So I'm happy! I'm very proud of my team." Janowski was pictured jok- ing with SGP rival and Wroclaw teammate Tai Woffinden ahead of the final. And he revealed both of them were keen to avoid jinxing each other for the all-important race. "He [Woffinden] was laughing because in the Wroclaw team, we never shake hands before the last heat—it gives us bad luck," Janowski said. "He's on very good form right now—he's scor- ing many points and not making many mistakes. But we will work even harder to get maybe more points at the next Grand Prix." Swedish star Lindgren was pleased to have regained top form so quickly after his pre- semi-final exit at the WD-40 Dan- ish SGP the previous weekend, as he powered to 15 points and second spot in his homeland. "I'm very happy with my per- formance today," Lindgren said. "My gating wasn't really where it needed to be to be successful in the GP, but I made some really smart moves on the track, espe- cially on the first laps. I'm happy to have bounced back after Horsens. It was very hard for me after Denmark. Picking myself up took a couple of days and I'm really happy to have performed this well after that and especially in front of the Swedish fans." Third-placed Zmarzlik was glad to hit his SGP stride as he overhauled world champion Ja- son Doyle for eighth place in the championship. Greg Hancock had a decent night's work, making semi-final one, but that's where his night ended after finishing behind Wof- finden and Lindgren. John Hipkiss 1. Maciej Janowski (18) 2. Fredrik Lindgren (15) 3. Bartosz Zmarzlik (13) 4. Tai Woffinden (16) 5. Emil Sayfutdinov (14) 6. Greg Hancock (10) Maciej Janowski and Patryk Dudek fight for positions during the Swedish FIM Speedway Grand Prix. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN HIPKISS