ZAGAR WINS GERMAN SPEEDWAY GP
S
lovenian star Matej Zagar
insists he doesn't want
to wait for an FIM Speedway
Grand Prix wild card for 2018
after charging to IPONE Ger-
man SGP victory in Teterow,
Germany, September 9.
The Ljubljana-born man
triumphed in the final ahead of
Slovak racer Martin Vaculik,
World Championship leader
Jason Doyle and 2012 World
Champion Chris Holder.
The fourth victory of Zagar's
SGP career moves him within
seven points of Vaculik, who
currently occupies the eighth
and final automatic qualify-
ing place for the 2018 World
Championship.
Riders who finish outside the
elite eight must hope for a wild
card from the SGP Commis-
sion. But Zagar has no intention
of leaving his SGP future in the
hands of others.
"It's always a tough one when
you have to wait and see what's
going to happen—whether you're
going to be picked or not," he
said. "I'm definitely worth pick-
ing, but I don't want to wait on
that. It's all about winning. Win-
ning makes you happy, so that
is my aim. There are three GPs
to go and hopefully three good
ones for me."
Zagar is delighted to be end-
ing the season on form after an
up-and-down run of results in
the SGP series.
"To be honest, I made some
wrong decisions at the begin-
ning of the season regarding
my equipment," Zagar said.
"Now I am back on track where
I need to be. The end of the
season was also much better
in the leagues. In Sweden, I
have been good. I am very, very
pleased that I am going well and
also that people are trying to
help me. I am really grateful for
that."
Runner-up Vaculik was
pleased to secure second spot,
as he battles to defend his
place in the world's top eight. "I
am very happy with today and
pleased with the result I got,"
Vaculik said. "I would like to say
thanks to my team, my tuner and
all the people who support me.
Third-placed Doyle cruised
into a 10-point World Champi-
onship lead over nearest rival
Patryk Dudek, but pledged to
remain grounded after seeing
his 2016 title challenge cruelly
ended by a crash at the penulti-
mate round in Torun.
"It's nice to bag a few points,"
Dudek said. "But like I keep
saying, you can have one bad
round and be out of it, so I'm
just keeping level-headed and
scoring the points."
John Hipkiss
1. Matej Zagar (15)
2. Martin Vaculik (14)
3. Jason Doyle (17)
4. Fredrik Lindgren (98)
5. Tai Woffinden (94)
IN
THE
WIND
P44
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
JOHN
HIPKIS
Slovenian Matej
Zagar scored
the win at the
Speedway Grand
Prix in Germany.
