'I am slowly getting my fitness back' - Leon Madsen winning fitness fight to close in on Speedway Grand Prix top spot

ByBen Southby

Published 21/05/2022 at 09:40 GMT

Danish racer Leon Madsen has battled a recent bout of flu, but has insisted he’s “slowly getting his fitness back” as he prepares to hunt down top spot. The 33-year-old is just two behind series leader Bartosz Zmarzlik going into the Prague FIM Speedway GP but is confident as he returns to his best. “It’s nice to finally start to feel a little bit better. It’s been hard for the last month."

Leon Madsen has revealed he is slowly getting back to fitness after suffering with the flu in recent weeks, and is eyeing up top spot in Speedway GP.

The 33-year old battled through illness and registered 12 championship points in the season-opening FIM Speedway GP of Croatia at the end of April, and after a two-week recovery period, stepped up again to claim a further 18 championship points in Warsaw last Saturday, where he finished second in the final behind Max Fricke.

Next up is the Prague FIM Speedway GP in Czech Republic, and he sits just two points behind series leader Bartosz Zmarzlik.

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With his health improving, Madsen is confident of another strong showing.

He said: “It’s nice to finally start to feel a little bit better. It’s been hard for the last month with flu and stuff like that, but I am slowly getting my fitness back.

It was crazy last Saturday and it is always crazy in these indoor meetings.

"The races go just like that – in such a short amount of time. You don’t always have time in the pits to affect your races, so it is really stressful and so crazy.

“I am happy to come second and be up there at the top in the classification – second place and only two points short of the leader. It’s good to be back and I am happy about that.”

Madsen and companion - and rival - Mikkel Michelsen collided in the Warsaw final, with the European champion excluded from the re-run by referee Krister Gardell after hitting the deck.

'That's a difficult call' - Michelsen excluded after crashing out of SGP final in Warsaw

Michelsen was caught by Madsen coming off turn two, but felt Michelsen was leaning on him going into the third bend.

“We went down the straight side by side,” he said. “I really tried to avoid turning left and I also knew that if I took him off, I would probably be excluded.

“First we clashed a little bit, but then he got off me. Then you can see him leaning left again. I tried to avoid it, but he just leaned on me and put the bike down.

“He got excluded, but I didn’t try to take anyone off. Sometimes we are just racing hard. It’s the best riders in the world and you have to give 100 percent when it’s like that. I am just happy I didn’t get excluded and I made it to the podium. I also want to say that I am happy Mikkel is okay.”

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