VOJENS WINNER LAMBERT: NO PRESSURE AS HE TAKES TOP SPOT AHEAD OF SPEEDWAY GP TITLE DECIDER IN TORUN
– leads world title by one point with one round remaining
Great Britain racer Robert Lambert insists there’s still no pressure on his shoulders in the Speedway GP World Championship race after surging to the top with victory at the 2026 Deluxe Homeart FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens on Saturday, September 12.
Despite starting the day 10 points behind pre-meeting leader Bartosz Zmarzlik, Lambert now holds a one-point advantage over the six-time Speedway GP world champion after winning an event that was abandoned by the FIM jury after 20 heats due to heavy rain.
With Lambert top of the score chart on 13 points, he was declared the winner, picking up his second Vojens victory in three years, with Danish star Leon Madsen placed second on 12. Max Fricke was third on 10, beating Denmark’s Michael Jepsen Jensen to the podium on countback after the Aussie registered three race wins to MJJ’s one.
Lambert, who also picked up three points for finishing second in the afternoon sprint race, ended an incredible event on 142 points – placing him one ahead of Zmarzlik on 141 in second as he bids to deny the Polish icon a record-breaking seventh Speedway GP world title.
Last year’s runner-up Brady Kurtz is third overall on 139 and will also hope to improve on 2025 silver after falling just a point short of gold. All three riders are guaranteed at least a bronze medal with one round remaining.
Title rivals Robert Lambert and Brady Kurtz share a joke in Vojens. PHOTO: Wojciech Tarchalski
The champion will be crowned at the DEWALT FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Torun on September 26, and after taking the Golden Race Jacket in Vojens, Lambert would love to end the night wearing it and lift the sport’s biggest prize in the city he calls home.
The Torun captain said: “If you had said I would be wearing the Golden Race Jacket before the meeting, I would have grabbed your hand off. It just shows that speedway is so unpredictable, and you never know what will happen. If you put your best leg forward, hopefully things will work out.
“Looking at it as a whole, the season has been super great for me, and I am going to be very thankful for whatever colour medal I get.
“It’s all going down to the last round and it’s super interesting. It will be great for the spectators and for us racing for it too. It’s all open for the gold, silver and bronze medals. I’m looking forward to it.
“There is no pressure on me – like there hasn’t been all season. The pressure is on Bartek to retain it and Brady, after being so close last year, to try and make it. If I just do what I have been doing, I’m sure whatever the result will be, will be a good one.”
Lambert has now finished in the top two at the last five SGP events – winning two and finishing second in three. This consistency was tested in some wet conditions in Vojens.
Lambert joked: “I have been going to the Torun ice hockey and doing some practice laps, so I am pretty good on the wet tracks.
“It’s the same for everybody – it’s tough when it’s so wet and greasy. But if you can get some fresh air, it makes it a lot easier, and you are racing on a good line. Thankfully, I was making some starts and that really helped me out.”
Lambert was joined on the Vojens podium by Madsen, who he defeated in a tense fight for the 2020 Speedway European Championship crown, pipping the Dane by just three points.
The Great Britain captain hopes that experience will stand him in good stead. He said:“I have some fond memories from that and if I can find my form in the same way, it will be a good night.”
While Torun is set to witness the climax of one of Speedway GP’s all-time great title races, it will also play host to an incredible battle for the final automatic qualification places for the 2027 World Championship.
Denmark’s Michael Jepsen Jensen holds fourth place on 102 points, while Madsen is fifth on 90 and Fricke, Kacper Woryna and Patryk Dudek are all tied on 89 for sixth, seventh and eighth place. Only the top seven riders are guaranteed qualification for the 2027 series, although Woryna’s place is already certain after he finished third at the FIM SGP Challenge in Terenzano on July 25.
Runner-up Madsen was delighted to keep himself firmly in the race for qualification with another big night in Vojens, where he won in 2023.
The two-time SGP silver medallist said: “I feel good. I am happy about the points I gained in the overall standings, so that was important. Honestly, I would have liked to race the final and get another home win for the crowd. I think it was possible, but after all the heavy rain, I think it was the right call to call it off.
“All meeting, we had a pretty decent racing track, considering the rain we had. Hats off to the track team and Jacob Olsen for giving us a decent racing track.
“It’s very tight around the top seven in the standings now, and all points are crucial. I knew we had to have a good night, and I managed to do that. Eighteen points is very good. Hopefully I can go to Torun, have another good meeting and end the season in a good position.
“Hopefully I can come back next year and be better prepared when the season starts. I want to get back up the top and fight for a medal. I think I still have it in me. I really want to do my best to stay in the GP next season and come back stronger.”
Madsen stepped up his 2027 qualification bid in Vojens. PHOTO: Wojciech Tarchalski
Madsen can’t wait for a night of high drama in Torun. He said: “We have two great battles in the last meeting – for the World Championship, silver and bronze, and also the top seven.
“I would have preferred to be in Robert’s position, but he is very, very fast lately and he is doing a great job. He has a good chance to finish it off in Torun, but it’s a tough battle for sure.”
Third-placed Fricke was pleased to step up his qualification quest with a stellar showing and his second top-three finish of 2026.
He said: “It’s great to finish on the podium. Finishing after 20 heats is not the way we wanted to go, but it is what it is. I think it was the right decision in the end, given the rain we had.
“I am just happy to be up there in the points, battling for that top-seven position. Overall, it was just a good day, and I am happy with it. Hats off to everyone involved – all the track staff – for making sure we got this on, given the amount of rain we had over the course of the day. I think the track held up pretty well considering.”
Fricke can’t wait for some tense title and qualification tussles in Torun. He added: “It’s a great racetrack and there are multiple lines.
“It’s going to make for some great racing, and there is a lot riding on it, especially for the guys battling for the World Championship. It’s super close for that, as well as for the top seven. Everyone is going to be giving it their all for the last one of the year.”
The meeting also saw Latvia’s Andzejs Lebedevs secure 2027 Speedway GP qualification. He finished fifth at the FIM SGP Challenge, but with Lambert now certain of a top-seven finish, the place he earned for winning the qualifier in Italy passes to Lebedevs.
CURRENT TOP TEN PINT STANDINGS (after nine of ten rounds):
Robert Lambert 142; Bartosz Zmarzlik 141; Brady Kurtz 139; Michael Jepsen Jensen 102; Leon Madsen 90; Max Fricke 89; Kacper Woryna 89; Patryk Dudek 89; Jason Doyle 66; Andzejs Lebedevs 65.
