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 P58 Janowski Wins SpeedwayGP In Germany M aciej Janowski launched his bid for a Monster Energy FIM World Speedway Championship medal on Saturday night, August 31, by winning the Aztorin Ger- man FIM Speedway Grand Prix in Teterow, Germany. Janowski, who was without a Grand Prix win in 13 months prior to round seven of the 2019 World Championship, made a jet-pro- pelled start from gate two in the grand final to defeat Polish com- patriot Bartosz Zmarzlik, Slovenian favorite Matej Zagar and on-form Dane Niels-Kristian Iversen. Despite missing the open- ing round of this year's series through injury, Janowski is only 11 points short of third-placed Emil Sayfutdinov—and stands every chance of picking up his first World Championship medal in Torun, Poland, on October 5. The 28-year-old Wroclaw star said hard work in the pits from his top team of mechanics inspired his lightning-fast start in the grand fi- nal, which ultimately saw him step to the top of the podium. "This is amazing," Janowski said. "It's always an amazing feeling when you win a Grand Prix. The whole meeting was very tough, we worked very hard during the meeting, and I knew the final would be very hard with Bartosz Zmarzlik, Matej Zagar and Niels-Kristian Iversen involved. I felt very good from the start in the final, I made a perfect start, and that helped me to win." World Championship contender Bartosz Zmarzlik was again in blis- tering form, registering 16 points on the night to join Leon Madsen at the top of the standings at 85 points with three rounds remaining. After dropping only three points throughout his five qualifying rides, the Gorzow star finished second to Janowski in semifinal one before repeating that effort in the grand final. Like Janowski, Zmarzlik paid tribute to his me- chanics following round seven, and vowed to maintain his high levels of performance at next weekend's Danish FIM Speedway Grand Prix. "I didn't realize I was top, I'm very happy with second place," said Zmarzlik. "The team has worked really hard all week on my engines. I had a new engine too which worked really well for me. I'll continue working hard for the next round in Vojens." For Matej Zagar, a podium finish came as a welcome relief following a logistically challenging start to his weekend. A delayed flight forced the GP Challenge winner to start his journey to Teterow on a different plane, be- fore arriving on the stroke of the start of free practice. He topped the qualifying time sheet, before registering 15 points from his sev- en rides, placing him six points short of the top-eight frame. "It has been a hectic week for me," Zagar said. "I had issues with traveling and didn't have too many meetings. I have achieved what I wanted to, though. I quali- fied for next year's series via the GP Challenge, and got a po- dium tonight. I'm really glad and pleased with the result." Following tonight's result, Dane Leon Madsen surrendered his position as clear leader at the top of the World Championship stand- ings. The Danish favorite finished behind Janowski and Zmarzlik in semifinal one, and dropped six points to his championship rival. Elsewhere in the table, title hopefuls Emil Sayfutdinov and Fredrik Lindgren returned with a mixed bag of results from their Maciej Janowski led from start to finish in the final at the Aztorin German FIM Speedway Grand Prix in Teterow, Germany.