IN
THE
WIND
P62
Madsen Tops Cardiff SpeedwayGP
A
drian Flux British FIM Speed-
way Grand Prix winner Leon
Madsen says completing a War-
saw and Cardiff golden double is
an awesome feeling, whether or
not he's crowned world champion.
The Dane topped the podium
ahead of Emil Sayfutdinov, Bar-
tosz Zmarzlik and Jason Doyle
at Cardiff's Principality Stadium,
September 21.
Madsen is delighted to have
won at both of the SGP series'
biggest venues in his first full
World Championship season.
He's currently third in the stand-
ings at 109 points, nine behind
series leader Zmarzlik, who has
118 going into the title-deciding
Revline Torun SGP of Poland,
October 5. Sayfutdinov is third
with 111.
While Madsen knows claim-
ing the sport's biggest prize in a
fortnight will be no easy task, he
admits his Warsaw and Cardiff
wins would represent a sweet
consolation prize.
"I had a talk with my girlfriend
at home before the meeting; I
said 'I might not be world cham-
pion this year, but wouldn't it
be nice to win the two biggest
events on the calendar and
finish off as number-one in the
Polish Ekstraliga rankings. At
the moment, I am number one
in the Polish rankings. I have
won the two biggest events,
and I am very happy about that
and proud as well. If I don't win
the championship, it's kind of
a plaster on the wound to win
those two big events."
Sayfutdinov heads to Torun
seven points short of Zmarz-
lik. While he was gutted not to
overtake Madsen for victory in
the Cardiff final, he was content
with a healthy 17-point haul. And
now he's determined to hunt
down Zmarzlik for top spot.
"I will try to catch him and grab
him!" Sayfutdinov said. "We did
a great job tonight and my team
worked so well today. After finish-
ing third in my second ride, we
changed setups, and it worked
so well. I had great speed around
the track and good starts. In the
final, I was so close to passing
Leon, but I am happy."
Third-placed Zmarzlik is 15
points away from guaranteeing
the SGP 2019 world title, irre-
spective of what his rivals score
in Torun. This target will decrease
with every point dropped by Say-
futdinov and Madsen.
With Zmarzlik racing the title
decider in his homeland, there's
no doubt the spotlight will shine
brightest on him. But he admits
he felt more pressure in Cardiff,
where he has reached the final
on all of his four visits.
John Hipkiss
Final
1. Leon Madsen (17)
2. Emil Sayfutdinov (17)
3. Bartosz Zmarzlik (15)
4. Jason Doyle (13)
Leon Madsen won
the Cardiff round of
the SpeedwayGP
Championship.
