CENTURION ZMARZLIK TAKES SPEEDWAY GP LEAD WITH PRAGUE WIN

Poland’s five-time Speedway GP World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik hailed another landmark moment in his storied career as he celebrated his 100th FIM Speedway Grand Prix appearance with a record-extending 28th SGP win.

Zmarzlik topped the FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic – Prague podium at the iconic Marketa Stadium on Saturday night, May 31, winning the final ahead of Swedish racer Fredrik Lindgren in second place, Denmark’s Leon Madsen in third and Australia’s Jack Holder in fourth spot.

Zmarzlik also regained the Speedway GP World Championship lead from pre-meeting leader Brady Kurtz, moving on to 53 points, with the Aussie on 45 after crashing out on the final turn of his last-chance qualifier following a close clash with Madsen.

Zmarzlik’s third victory in Prague – adding to his back-to-back wins in the 2020 Marketa double-header – was a result which crowned an astonishing century of Speedway GP appearances for one of the sport’s all-time greats.

This comes in the year he is chasing a record-equalling sixth Speedway GP World Championship as he bids to become the first rider in history to win four in a row.

The Lublin and Lejonen rider has reached an incredible 64 finals, winning 28 of them, and aged only 30, he looks set to rewrite the sport’s history books in the coming years.

An elated Zmarzlik said: “I am very happy. This is a special moment for me because this is the 100th round in my Speedway GP career. I have won 28 of them and I am very happy about this. I feel this is a special moment.

“Reaching 64 finals is also great! I am really very happy and proud about this, but I will feel this more in later years when I look back on my career and at these statistics.

“From the first race, I felt really nice. The track was good for racing, and everyone made a good show for the crowd. It was a great result for me.”

Prague runner-up Fredrik Lindgren – now fifth in the standings on 40 points – joined Zmarzlik in qualifying automatically for the final after five heats. The Swede was pleased to reach his first final of 2025, keeping him in the title race as he stands 13 points adrift of Zmarzlik with seven rounds remaining.

He said: “It was a good night for me. Going straight to the final was great. I battled hard all night as usual. It’s always tough and challenging out there. I am always happy with a podium – that’s my first of the season. It’s very important for me to be back in the championship hunt. Obviously, I lost points to Bartosz, but I am in the hunt again.”

Next up is the ATPI FIM Speedway GP of Great Britain – Manchester double-header on June 13 and 14 – closely followed by the Events.com FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Gorzow on June 21.

With three Speedway GP rounds in nine days, Lindgren admitted: “The next rounds could be crucial for the championship, I believe.

“I love racing in Britain. I did 14 years at Wolverhampton and then I spent last year at Birmingham. I have a really good fanbase in the UK. Manchester is a really cool track and can serve up some great racing.

“We just need to make sure the bikes are working and that can be a challenge sometimes. But I am looking forward to it.”

Third-placed Madsen – this season’s Speedway GP first substitute rider – stepped into the Prague event as a replacement for injured Aussie rider Jason Doyle, who was ruled out with a hip injury.

Having missed out on a place in this season’s series, Madsen was elated to underline his SGP credentials once again.

He said: “I feel good. It’s nice to be back, even though it was just for one night. I wanted to try and make a good impact and prove everyone wrong. I wanted to show I should still be in the GP, and for sure I have done that.

“I am very happy. It’s nice to be on the podium. I think I won all of my starts apart from the final. Overall, I am very happy. It’s great to be back and this one was for my two girls.”

The Czech fans left Marketa Stadium’s record-extending 31st Speedway GP event happy after home hero Jan Kvech reached his first last-chance qualifier of 2025 and scored nine championship points – his best-ever SGP result in Prague, which also featured his first Speedway GP heat win at Marketa.

Kvech, who is 11th in the standings on 21 points, said: “I feel very good. The atmosphere was good, but I kept focused and kept going.

“My heat win was very good. I was able to get through to the last-chance heat too. I just lost the gate, and it was very hard to pass. But I am very happy, and I will stay focused for the rest of the season.

“I am looking forward to every GP. I am very happy to be here, and I love battling with everyone on every track.”

Two Australians are in the top three in the current point standings as Poland’s Bartosz Zmarzlike (53 points) leads Aussies Brady Kurtz (45) and Jack Holder (42).