VOLUME 73 NUMBER 31
8 COPPERGATE MEWS, BRIGHTON ROAD, SURBITON,
SURREY, KT6 5NE
EDITORIAL
Telephone: (020) 8335 1113 E-mail: star@pinegen.co.uk Editor: Andrew Skeels Assistant editor: Tony McDonald News and feature writers: Paul Burbidge, Peter Oakes and Phil Lanning Art editor: Mick Smith Production editor: Mark Frankham Front cover design: Jeff Davies
CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions manager: Dave Fairbrother Telephone: (020) 8335 1113 (9 am-2.30 pm) E-mail: subs@pinegen.co.uk Or visit www.speedwaystar.net and click on the subscriptions link.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES UK (52 issues): ......................................£128 UK (26 issues): ........................................£65 UK (13 issues): ........................................£33 EUROPE (52 issues): ............................£144 EUROPE (26 issues): ..............................£74 USA (52 issues):....................................£164 USA (26 issues):......................................£84 REST OF WORLD (52 issues) ................£174 REST OF WORLD (26 issues): ..................£89
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS www.exacteditions.com/speedwaystar
ADVERTISING Advertising manager: Mick Hooker Office: 01279 771125 Mobile: 07957 814639 E-mail: coveadv@gmail.com
ACCOUNTS
Accounts manager: Marina Abbott Telephone: (020) 8335 1104 E-mail: accounts@pinegen.co.uk Speedway Star is published by the proprietors Pinegen Limited. Printed by: Warners Midlands PLC Printers Distributed by: Seymour Distribution Ltd., 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper
© copyright 2024 Pinegen Limited
NEWSDESK
ROBERT LAMBERT can lay down a “vital marker” in the final Grand Prix of 2024 in Torun on Saturday.
The Norwich-born star picked up his first-ever GP win at Vojens a fortnight ago, a victory overshadowed by Bartosz Zmarzlik claiming his fifth world title in the same race.
However, three-time World Champion Jason Crump believes that next year’s series begins right now for ‘Fast Lambo’ on his home Ekstraliga track.
Crump said: “I guess the main focus from most people will be on Robert’s bid to secure the silver medal against Freddie (Lindgren).
“Fred’s got a 13-point lead over Martin Vaculik for third place and you’d think that Jack Holder will overtake Mikkel Michelsen for sixth place in the championship.
“But I firmly believe that next year’s title race starts right now. That should be the case in Robert’s mind. He can lay down a vital marker for next season.
“He needs to go to Torun and win again. Even though Bartosz is picking up the trophy again and a gold medal, a win for Rob would really show he means business for 2025.
“There was never any doubt in my mind during my career that every GP meant something. Even if I was out of the title race, that last GP was an opportunity to find something, win it and start the mind games for the following year.
“I have little doubt that Robert will be just focused on the next round, keep up that momentum and end this season in the best possible way.
“He’s only had one blip all season, in Gorzow where he scored three points. That was out of character. The brutal truth is that you cannot afford any blips if you are to be World Champion.
“Not when you have Bartosz reeling off final after final. I had a similar scenario chasing down Tony (Rickardsson).
“There were only six rounds in 2001. I had a poor opening night in Berlin, finished runnerup in the next two, got a third and then won the last two…and still didn’t win the title!
“Rob has to eliminate even the one bad night. To be fair, he’s been pretty damn good since the Speedway of Nations. He was sensational in the final for GB and then redhot in the GPs since then.
“If he can win in Torun he will be so revved-up all winter and buzzing to get into next season.”
TORUN TAR Jason Crump tells PHIL LANNING why it’s important to finish the SGP series strongly…
Crump was also delighted to see Andzejs Lebedevs seal his place in next year’s series after winning the European Championship at the weekend.
He added: “Lebedevs has been one of the revelations of the season. While other bigger names have faltered, he’s looked the real deal. He’s only reached one final and is prone to an erratic race or two. But when he’s been in the mood, he’s been impressive.”
they look like they need a bit of a morale-boosting big result in Torun.
“I don’t really know what the script is with them but they’ve been way off their usual high standards in recent weeks.
“The glut of GPs in a month really hurt them because their form dipped at those vital moments. They can definitely salvage a bit of pride in Torun and start to plan for 2025 in a better frame of mind.
Crump is also convinced that even though the big medals and key placings are almost sorted, there’s so much to race for in the Marian Rose MotoArena.
He added: “In my experience, for the same reasons I believe Robert must finish on a high, it’s equally deflating to end on a low.
“For the likes of Jack Holder and Leon Madsen especially,
“Jack has to pick up five points to overtake Michelsen and claim the final sixth place in the standings to secure his place for next season. Although he’s found it tough lately, I fully expect him to get that job done.
“Of course Dominik Kubera can still really turn up the heat if he made the final in Torun to grab that sixth spot. That would be a huge turnaround.”
ONE of the major talking points at last Saturday’s final Speedway European Championship round in Chorzow, Poland was the state of the track that proved to be very demanding for some riders.
Oxford’s SGP star Maciej Janowski was forced to withdraw from the meeting – won by Andzejs Lebedevs – after his spectacular crash in Heat 9, although ‘Magic’ miraculously avoided serious injury.
There was debate both during and after the meeting about what had gone wrong. Krzysztof Cegielski, the former SGP rider and Polish rider Janusz Kolodziej’s close friend, commented: “I rode here back in 2002 and finished one of the
races without a bike, because Ryan Sullivan fell in front of the finishing line in a semi-final and I was tangled between our bikes, which resulted in my broken leg.
“Today, the boys have been examining the track not knowing what might happen.
“There was much loose material on the inside line and there were suggestions to move it to the outside, which is the opposite direction to what we see on daily basis.”
Cegielski also revealed that track safety concerns were behind his protégé’s absence from the Chorzow event.
“Janusz really wanted to race her, but after the afternoon practice session all his injuryrelated demons came back – the shoulder and his general lack of strength – forced him to
2 speedway star September 28, 2024
