‘It’s great to be back’ – Leon Madsen hoping for more glory in Warsaw and continue fine start to season
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Updated 14/05/2022 at 14:07 GMT
The Dane is hoping for more success in the Polish capital after winning the event in 2019. He is also eager to build on a disappointing start to the season in Croatia. He said: “I am still able to fight for the championship and that’s what I want. I am here to fight for the championship.”
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Leon Madsen cannot wait to return to the place where it all began for him at speedway, as he looks ahead to the Orlen FIM Speedway GP of Poland in Warsaw.
The Dane won his first Speedway Grand Prix final in the Polish capital two years ago in front of 50,000 fans.
He said: “It was a long time ago now, but it feels like yesterday. It was a great night and a great opening for my GP career. I will try and do something similar tomorrow.
“It’s nice to be back in these big stadiums again and racing in front of thousands of people. It’s great to be back.
“Obviously you want to get the 20 points in the end. I will give it as much as possible and to win it would be awesome.”
Madsen will be eager to build on an underwhelming performance at the first race of the season in Croatia.
“Normally I would not say it was a strong performance with 12 points. Obviously I would have liked more.
“But leading up to that event, I was sick with the flu. I was sitting at the hotel with a fever the night before. It was tough, so taking that into consideration, I was very happy with 12 points.
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“I am still able to fight for the championship and that’s what I want. I am here to fight for the championship.”
Bartosz Zmarzlik is another rider hoping to make an impact in Poland and reach his first Grand Prix final.
“I am very happy to be back here,” he added.
“I want to get a good result in Warsaw because I have never had a final here. Maybe that will change tomorrow. But I am not thinking ‘I must’, only ‘I can’ and we will see what happens.
“This is a different place for speedway. It’s better because many people come here and they want to see good racing.”
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Maciej Janowski missed the event in 2019 with a shoulder injury and hopes to emerge victorious and become the first Pole to win on home soil at this circuit.
“It is very good to be back. But I try not to think about the occasion because you don’t get extra points for Warsaw.
“When we sit on the bike, we want to win every heat. Of course, expectations are huge here because no-one from Poland has won here before. I will try to keep my head and do the best I can.”
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For Pawel Przedpelski, it is his debut appearance at the course in his first full speedway grand prix season. He will be eager to recover after only scoring one point at the opening round in Croatia.
“It’s something amazing for me to be racing with these guys in the GP finally. I am so happy and I can’t wait to race on this track.
“Once I raced here in Warsaw – that was with the national team. But I know the track this weekend will be completely different than before.
“There is no big pressure. Like the other riders, I just want to win every heat and I want to fight on every lap. I will do my best and we will see what happens.”
“There were some unhappy situations in Croatia, but tomorrow is a different day and the important day is tomorrow. I have a clear head. I want to do my best and what will happen, we will see.”
Patryk Dudek is another man who has previous form here in Warsaw and wants to make up for lost time after missing the Speedway Grand Prix last year.
“I have some good memories of this track. I got on to the podium and I was close to winning. Tomorrow I will be fighting with the guys again and hopefully I will be the one standing on top of the podium, where we all want to be.
“Last year I was out of SGP, but now I am sitting here again and I am happy to be here. We will see what happens on Saturday.”
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The 2022 Speedway Grand Prix will be available live and ad-free on discovery+ with live race action also on Eurosport 2.
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