Bartosz Zmarzlik wins at Speedway GP of Poland after dramatic final involving two restarts and last-corner overtake

Updated 25/06/2023 at 14:38 GMT

It was an incident-filled final at the Speedway GP of Poland as Bartosz Zmarzlik - eventually - took victory on home soil. The final saw two restarts before Zmarzlik somehow pulled off a stunning overtake inside Leon Madsen right at the last to take his win, and extend his overall lead in the championship. Brits Robert Lambert and Tai Woffinden exited in the semi-finals.

'Really happy, really tired!' - Zmarzlik on dramatic Gorzow win

Bartosz Zmarzlik won a dramatic Round 5 of the Speedway GP in Gorzow with a last-corner move on Leon Madsen in the final.

The Pole extended his championship lead to a dominant 21 points and looks in control with more than half the season in the books.

"I'm really happy and really tired after the final," Zmarzlik told Eurosport afterwards.

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"I knew I had to do something special; I was waiting for a mistake from Leon, but Leon kept choosing a good line.

"My plan was to try something a little bit different and I remember some lines from Gorzow - this really is my home!"

Home hero Zmarzlik dominated the early heats and was set to continue this trend in the first running of the final. That came to a premature end though when a coming-together between Jason Doyle and Fredrik Lindgren resulted in the Swede going down.

All four riders returned to the start and Doyle got off to a flyer but fell back during the opening lap. Again, Doyle and Lindgren made contact and this time it was the former who went down. The referee had a difficult decision on his hands and, to the Aussie's dismay, ruled to exclude Doyle.

'He is an absolute superstar!' - Watch as Zmarzlik pulls off 'unbelievable' final-corner overtake

At the third time of asking, the final eventually produced a winner. Lindgren took the lead into the first corner, but Madsen came from the outside to hit the front on the opening lap. Zmarzlik was on the hunt and stalked the Dane right up to the final corner where he dived down the inside, forcing his opponent wide, and claimed victory.

Jack Holder, who went into the round as second overall, suffered a blow to his ambitions with an exit in the semi-final. Having just about made it through to the knock-outs as seventh after the qualifying heats, he was stuck in a fierce battle for second with compatriot Doyle in semi-final 1 and couldn't make a move stick.

Elsewhere, Robert Lambert was left without a chance in semi-final 2. Despite some great qualifying heats that saw him finish third, he was well beaten by Lindgren and Madsen.

'What a reaction that was!' - Brits Bewley and Lambert go toe-to-toe in Gorzow

The same applied for Tai Woffinden who had a difficult evening and just about qualified in eighth. He too could not keep up with the pace in the second semi-final where he came home in fourth.

It also was a frustrating round for the third Brit in the mix, Dan Bewley, who started strong in the heats but faltered as the evening progressed and just missed out on qualifying in ninth.

Competing at home got a personal best round of the season out of Maciej Janowski, who finished second in all qualifying heats to make the semi-finals. His compatriot Patryk Dudak was disappointed not to progress while wildcard Szymon Wozniak surprised with the fourth fastest time in qualifying practice but could only collect a single point in the race heats.