DUDEK TAKES FIGHTING WIN AT
SLOVENIAN SPEEDWAY GP
P
olish star Patryk Dudek
insisted: "I'm fighting, I'll
stay focused and we'll see what
happens." He said that as he
stepped up his medal bid with
the victory at the Aztorin Slove-
nian FIM Speedway Grand Prix
in Krsko, September 8.
The Zielona Gora and Dack-
arna man claimed his second
career Speedway GP success
after fighting off World Champion
Jason Doyle, Greg Hancock and
Fredrik Lindgren to win the final.
Dudek is now fifth in the World
Championship on 84 points, just
five behind third-placed fellow
countryman Maciej Janowski and
Lindgren in fourth who are tied at
89 with two rounds remaining.
After finishing second in his
SGP debut season last year,
Dudek is in the hunt for what
would be an impressive second
straight podium finish. Dudek
admits lightening starts were
critical in Krsko, as he won his
final three races to top the box,
despite having to deliver from a
difficult gate two in his final regu-
lar heat and semi.
"It was a tough meeting," he
said. "The starts were important
today and racing on the good
line on the track. When you race
in the semi-final and you know
you don't have a good gate, you
just have to close your eyes and
drop your clutch at the good mo-
ment. I tried and did it."
Elated Aussie star Doyle was
pleased to reach his first podium
of 2018 to storm into the World
Championship's top eight. The
Newcastle-born ace admits his
year as defending champion has
been challenging so far.
"We have really struggled, I
guess with ourselves, nothing to
do with the equipment. We just
needed to make a lot of chang-
IN
THE
WIND
P44
Patryk Dudek (left),
here battling with
Greg Hancock, rose
to the top at the
Speedway GP round
in Slovenia, keeping
his championship
hopes alive.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
JOHN
HIPKISS
