Polish racer Bartosz Zmarzlik has the perfect start to the 2025 Speedway GP World Championship after the number six claimed the maximum 24 points at the WWK FIM Speedway GP of Germany in Landshut on May 4.
Five-time Speedway GP World Champion Zmarzlik, who is bidding to become only the third rider in history to win a sixth gold medal, stormed to victory in the sprint race in qualifying during the afternoon and then went on to win the final.
Bartosz Zmarzlik (with the red helmet) emerged from this brawl as the winner of the SpeedwayGP of Germany.Now a 27-time SGP winner, Zmarzlik suffered a setback after qualifying, however, when he was deemed to have missed the two-minute deadline to line up for start-position selections. Despite winning the right to choose first with victory in the sprint race, he was forced to choose last.
Zmarzlik said the setback only gave him extra motivation.
“After qualifying, I was a little bit nervous because the situation was not easy for me,” Zmarzlik said. “But maybe this gave me a little bit of power and extra motivation for tonight.
“But I am happy that for the first time in my career I won the sprint, I won the meeting after five heats, and I won the final too. I am really happy about this. I want to say thank you to all of the fans—everyone made a great night for us riders, and I think the fans had a good night too.”
Great Britain’s Dan Bewley was runner-up, and Latvia’s Andzejs Lebedevs finished third to claim his first-ever SGP podium.
Second-placed Bewley took the gamble of selecting number one when he chose his starting positions, meaning he was in action after every track maintenance break.
This can make it challenging for riders to find the right bike setup after a period of grading and watering. But Bewley made it into the last-chance qualifiers, taking victory to earn his place in the final.
“The day didn’t start off brilliantly with the qualifying,” Bewley said. “But after that, I scored pretty good points in the heats. I made some changes towards the end of the night. I took number one [starting position], and nobody likes it, but I looked at it today and believed in myself. It didn’t work out too badly.”
It was also a memorable night for Australian star Brady Kurtz as the full-time Speedway GP debutant finished fourth on only his third SGP appearance and his first on a European track.
Next up is the Orlen Oil FIM Speedway GP of Poland in Warsaw on May 17. CN
2025 Speedway GP Round 1 Results
OVERALL (Top 5)
- Bartosz Zmarzlik
- Dan Bewley
- Andzejs Lebedevs
- Brady Kurtz
- Fredrik Lindgren
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