Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1007261
IN THE WIND P44 ZMARZLIK CAPTURES CARDIFF SPEEDWAY GP WIN P olish star Bartosz Zmarzlik raced to Adrian Flux British FIM Speedway Grand Prix glory at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, July 21, and insisted "that's for the team—not just for me." Zmarzlik topped the podium ahead of home hero Tai Woffinden and fellow Polish international Maciej Janowski after dropping just two points on his way to a huge haul of 19. The Gorzow and Vetlanda rider's electrifying starts and sensational speed made him the man to beat in the Welsh capital. But he admits it has been far from an easy start to SGP 2018. Zmarzlik, who follows in the tire-treads of 2017 winner Janowski, said, "I feel so very good because I won my first GP in Cardiff and this is the third time I have won a GP. I'm very happy because my team has worked so very hard all year. They have worked for me and today we got a good result. The whole team wanted it so badly. "It has been hard all season for me," he said. "I had a little bit of a problem at the start of the GP series. The Polish league and Swedish league were no problem, but sometimes the engines are different for the GP. I didn't have the right setup. It can be very different with the setup in the GP and I don't know why. But all the time I am learning with every meeting I do." Despite hitting his SGP stride, Zmarzlik isn't entertaining talk of a medal push. He's fifth in the standings at 55 points, just four behind Janowski in third and six short of Fredrik Lindgren in sec- ond going into the Scandinavian SGP in Malilla on August 11. He said, "I am only focused on scoring good points and we'll see what happens after the last round." Double world champion Woffinden insists it was job done in Cardiff after he raced to second Bartosz Zmarzlik (leading) captured his third career Speedway GP victory at the latest round in Cardiff. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN HIPKISS place and 16 points to extend his world championship lead from 11 points to 20. "Obviously it would have been nice to win here for the fans, so I apologize to all the fans for not being able to do that this year. But it will happen one day," said Woffinden. "Do you know what? It doesn't matter about winning the GP; it's just another platform to progress towards being world champion. In the last few rounds, I have done the job I needed to do and I have extended the lead in every round. The next GP is in Malilla. It's a track I enjoy racing, so I am really looking forward to that." Third-placed Janowski admits he didn't have it all his own way. While he won three of his five heat rides, the Wroclaw and Dackarna man suffered a last place and ex- clusion. But he came second to Zmarzlik in his semi-final before finishing third in the medal race to end a decent night's work on 12 points. "It was a very hard night for me," Janowski said. "Fi- nally I got to the semi-final and then I really worked hard to get to the final. I almost crashed after the start in the final. I was missing something with the setup and it's hard to say what. I need to look at my equipment and then I will know more." John Hipkiss 1. Bartosz Zmarzlik (19) 2. Tai Woffinden (16) 3. Maciej Janowski (12) 4. Greg Hancock (12) 5. Patryk Dudek (10) 6. Przemyslaw Pawlicki (10) 7. Craig Cook (9) 8. Emil Sayfutdinov (8) 9. Chris Holder (7) 10. Fredrik Lindgren (7)