FIM SPEEDWAY: POLISH STAR PIOTR PAWLICKI ENDS NINE-YEAR ABSENCE FROM SPEEDWAY GP AS LODZ WILD CARD

Polish racer Piotr Pawlicki is set for his first FIM Speedway Grand Prix since 2017 after being named as wild card for the first-ever FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Lodz on Saturday, August 1.
Pawlicki dons the famous number 16 race jacket as he ends his nine-year exile from the sport’s biggest stage. The 31-year-old was crowned FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship winner in 2014, and also won back-to-back FIM Speedway World Cup gold medals with Poland in 2016 and 2017.
He finished sixth in the 2016 Speedway GP World Championship, before taking victory at the 2017 FIM Speedway GP of Latvia – Daugavpils, leading a Polish one-two-three with Patryk Dudek in second place and Maciej Janowski in third.
Pawlicki has been enjoying a fine season in Poland’s PGE Ekstraliga since returning to his boyhood club Leszno for 2026. He also races for Hallstavik club Rospiggarna in Sweden’s Bauhaus Elitserien.
He was named as Poland’s reserve rider for the 2025 FIM Speedway of Nations Final in Torun, but did not take a ride.
Pawlicki is joined by track reserves Marcin Nowak and Szymon Szlauderbach. The pair compete for Lodz in Poland’s Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga and don the the number 17 and number18 race jackets respectively.

Ahead of Speedway GP action on Saturday, August 1, the Moto Arena Lodz will also host round two of the 2026 FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship – the FIM SGP2 of Poland – Lodz on Friday, July 31.