IN
THE
WIND
P32
ZAGAR AGAIN IN STOCKHOLM SPEEDWAYGP
R
ed-hot Slovenian star Matej
Zagar won his second
straight FIM Speedway Grand
Prix in Stockholm, September
24, and said, "I hope this is a
big turnaround for the rest of my
career."
The Ljubljana-born racer fol-
lowed up his IPONE German
SGP victory in Teterow on Sep-
tember 9 with Stockholm SGP
success at the Friends Arena,
beating Bartosz Zmarzlik, Jason
Doyle and Peter Kildemand in
the final.
Doyle's third place and huge
18-point haul puts him 21 away
from securing his first world title,
which could come at the NICE
Torun SGP of Poland on Octo-
ber 7.
Zagar is also a man on a mis-
sion, having surged up to the
all-important eighth place in the
World Championship, which
would guarantee him qualifica-
tion for the 2018 SGP series.
Slovenia's greatest speed-
way rider goes into the final two
rounds in the form of his life and
boosted by his first-ever back-to-
back SGP wins.
Had he started the season in
his current form, Zagar could
have been in championship
contention, but the grounded
Smederna and Czestochowa
star knows consistency is
crucial. "It is what it is," he said.
"The SGP series is 12 rounds.
I can only say this is what I am
capable of. I hope this is a big
turnaround for the rest of my ca-
reer and I don't get many more
of these bad meetings. If I can
avoid them, I will fight for much
better positions. But I'll take it
as it is. I'd rather finish well than
start strong and finish badly, so
it's okay."
Zagar only just made it into
the semi-finals on countback
with seven points and enjoyed a
slice of fortune in his semi-final,
with both Emil Sayfutdinov and
Chris Holder suffering exclu-
sions.
Second-placed Zmarzlik was
elated to get back on form in the
SGP series after scoring just
two points at the last round in
Teterow. "I'm very happy today
because I am second," Zmarzlik
said. "My last GP was not very
good. I only scored two points.
This was a little better."
World Championship leader
Doyle may not have topped the
podium, but he was ecstatic
with his 18-point tally. "It's not
all about winning the final; I am
very happy with the points I
scored tonight. Who would have
dreamt that I could get 18 points
in a GP and extend my lead?"
John Hipkiss
1. Matej Zagar (13)
2. Bartosz Zmarzlik (12)
3. Jason Doyle (18)
4. Peter Kildemand (10)
5. Emil Sayfutdinov (12)
Matej Zagar celebrates his fourth straight win in the FIM SpeedwayGP
Championship. His latest success came in Stockholm.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
JOHN
HIPKISS
