FIM Speedway Riga Grand Prix as it happened - Bartosz Zmarzlik wins again, heartache for Tai Woffinden
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Updated 12/08/2023 at 18:51 GMT
Join us for our live updates of all the thrilling action at the FIM Speedway Grand Prix - the seventh round at the Bikiernieki complex in Latvia. There is sure to be plenty of drama as the riders take centre stage in Riga. Remember, you can stream top speedway action, including the Speedway Grand Prix, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com
Fredrik Lindgren (SWE) during Speedway Grand Prix
Image credit: Getty Images
THANK YOU AND GOODBYE
Thank you for your company today on the live text coverage of the Speedway Latvian Grand Prix.
The series returns in three weeks time when Cardiff welcomes the riders. As always, you can follow all the action live on Eurosport and discovery+. See you then!
FINAL: ZMARZLIK, LINDGREN, VACULIK, WOFFINDEN
Once more, the race got tight into the first turn, Lindgren this time the one to go down. The red flag came out and all four riders returned for the restart.
The second attempt to run the final too was interrupted by the red flag. Moving before the tapes went up, Woffinden received his second warning of the day and was excluded from the final.
At the third time of asking, Lindgren got off to a flyer and claimed the lead but was under fire from Zmarzlik who looked to have the better speed. Indeed, Zmarzlik swiftly made a move on the Swede stick and never surrendered the position to claim his fourth victory of the season. Vaculik, starting from a fading Gate 4, was left without a chance.
FINAL GATE CHOICE
Woffinden, Zmarzlik, Lindgren, Vaculik
SEMI-FINAL 2: WOFFINDEN, VACULIK, DOYLE, BEWLEY
All riders went into the first turn level and some contact led to Bewley going down. He was up and walking and all four riders lined up for the restart.
Woffinden beat Vaculik to the lead at tapes up at the restart. The Slovak didn't relent pressure but also had his hands full with Doyle who was bouncing back from a poor start. With the duo engaged in battle, Woffinden ran away to the win. It got close for second but Vaculik prevailed. Bewley was out of contention in fourth.
SEMI-FINAL 1: ZMARZLIK, LINDGREN, FRICKE, MADSEN
Things got feisty at the start as Lindgren and Fricke battled it out. Zmarzlik looked all set to capitalise, but Lindgren held firm on that occasion. However, Zmarzlik made a move stick at the second time of asking and stole the lead. Lindgren instead had to focus on was coming from behind as Fricke fought back after having lost ground early on. Madsen came home in fourth.
SEMI-FINAL GATE CHOICE
Semi-final 1: Lindgren, Fricke, Zmarzlik, Madsen
Semi-final 2: Woffinden, Vaculik, Doyle, Bewley
STANDINGS AFTER 20 HEATS
That's the qualifying heats done and dusted and here are the final standings:
HEAT 20: DOYLE, ZMARZLIK, LEBEDEVS, GUSTS
Doyle beat Zmarzlik to the lead and firmly held on to it despite a fierce inside attack from the championship leader. Zmarzlik kept chasing but couldn't find an opportunity to attack. Lebedevs was not too far behind while Gusts was well out of contention in fourth.
HEAT 19: LINDGREN, MICHELSEN, BEWLEY, MATJUSONOKS
A sensational start from Gate 3 earned Lindgren the lead and there was no taking the position away from him. The race settled quickly with Michelsen in second and Bewley, who looks in fading form, in third. Matjusonoks was far behind in fourth.
HEAT 18: WOFFINDEN, LAMBERT, RICKE, MADSEN
Woffinden held Fricke on the outside to deny the Aussie the lead at the start. Indeed, things got worse for Fricke who swiftly fell behind Lambert and had to settle for third. Madsen was out of contention in fourth.
HEAT 17: VACULIK, DUDEK, JANOWSKI, NILSSON
A brilliant start from Gate 3 from Vaculik had the Slovak up and away. Dudek beat Janowski to second and held his compatriot behind him as the race settled down. Nilsson was left without a chance on this occasion.
HEAT 16: FRICKE, VACULIK, LEBEDEVS, ANSVIESULIS
Once more, Fricke nailed the start and gradually built an advantage at front. Vaculik initially looked in contention to attack but soon had to focus on keeping Lebedevs behind him. Ansviesulis rounded out the field.
HEAT 15: NILSSON, MADSEN, LAMBERT, DOYLE
Lambert hit the front at tapes up, but Nilsson fired past him to claim the lead. Things got worse for Lambert who also fell behind Michelsen. The Dane was on the hunt and almost managed to sneak past Nilsson, but the Swede stood firm. Doyle suffered issues at the start and never recovered from them.
HEAT 14: JANOWSKI, LINDGREN, WOFFINDEN, GUSTS
Lindgren had a brilliant get-off from Gate 2 and led early on. However, Janowski pulled off a nice manoeuvre to take the position off the Swede and defended for his life. Woffinden was running close behind but never was in contention to attempt a move. Gusts rounded out the field.
HEAT 13: MADSEN, ZMARZLIK, BEWLEY, DUDEK
Bewley initially looked to have started well, but he was subsequently beat by all his opponents. It was Madsen who claimed the lead and was running away with it. Zmarzlik looked a bit out of sorts but came home in a solid second. Meanwhile, Bewley dived down Dudek's inside in the late stages to salvage a point.
STANDINGS AFTER 12
With more than half of the races completed, Tai Woffinden is leading the pack with a slender advantage.
Astonishingly, the points scored from the individual gates are very consistent throughout on 19, 18, 18, 17.
HEAT 12: MADSEN, LINDGREN, NILSSON, LEBEDEVS
Lindgren shot into the lead and instantly pulled away. Things got feisty behind and slight contact between Madsen and Lebedevs resulted in the latter going down. Matters got worse for Lebedevs who found himself excluded from the restart.
A fabulous get-off had Madsen taking the lead at the restart with Lindgren in hot pursuit. However, the gap kept increasing and Lindgren eventually settled for the position with Nilsson far enough behind him to not be a threat.
HEAT 11: FRICKE, MICHELSEN, JANOWSKI, ZMARZLIK
Janowski claimed the lead from the inside gate and was under instant fire from Zmarzlik. The Poles made contact with Janowski going down, bringing out the red flag. Zmarzlik was deemed responsible for the incident and excluded from the restart.
At the second time of asking, Fricke made a smashing start, initially hunted by Janowski. However, Michelsen dived down the inside to take second and set his sight on Fricke. However, there was no beating Fricke with Michelsen and Janowski having to settle.
HEAT 10: WOFFINDEN, DOYLE, VACULIK, BEWLEY
Woffinden from the outside gate and Doyle from the inside gate battled it out for the lead at tapes up with the Brit just about winning. From there, Woffinden maintained the position and secured another three points. In contrast, Bewley missed the start and could not catch up with Vaculik in third.
HEAT 9: LAMBERT, DUDEK, MATJUSONOKS, GUSTS
Lambert made a great start from Gate 2 and claimed the lead, followed by Dudek. Although Dudek kept chasing, he could not show Lambert a front wheel. Behind, Matjusonoks got the better of Gusts and kept his compatriot behind him.
UPDATE ON THOMSEN
The FIM provided an update on Anders Thomsen, who suffered a heavy crash in Heat 2, saying: "He is conscious and moving and has been taken to hospital for further checks."
HEAT 8: BEWLEY, LEBEDEVS, LAMBERT, JANOWSKI
Bewley made a fabulous start to claim the lead and was up and away. Lebedevs and Lambert battled for second with the Latvian taking the position early on and fought off the Brit's attacks. Janowski was disappointed in fourth.
HEAT 7: VACULIK, MADSEN, MICHELSEN, GUSTS
The red flag came out after a nasty three-rider incident straight after the start. Gusts was excluded as a result and did not appear at the restart.
Vaculik got the best start but ran wide, inviting Madsen in. However, the Slovak fought back and maintained the position. Madsen kept chasing and lined up several moves but couldn't actually execute them. Michelsen was out of contention in third.
HEAT 6: WOFFINDEN, ZMARZLIK, NILSSON, ANSVIESULIS
The red lights flashed swiftly after the start with Woffinden having moved before the tapes went up. All four riders returned to the restart.
At the second time of asking, Woffinden nailed the start with reserve rider Ansviesulis swiftly taking second. Zmarzlik, who had missed out at tapes up, had to recover from fourth and quickly moved past Nilsson and Ansviesulis. He caught up with Woffinden but couldn't find a way past. Nilsson meanwhile did find a way past Ansviesulis who himself ended the race with contact with the air fence.
HEAT 5: LINDGREN, DOYLE, FRICKE, DUDEK
Lindgren took the lead as the tapes went up but went wide, inviting an attack from Doyle. However, Lindgren managed to hold on to the position while Fricke started to put pressure on Doyle. The latter did defend the position though and secured runner-up. Out of contention, Dudek came home in fourth.
STANDINGS AFTER FOUR HEATS
With the first set of races in the book, here are the early standings:
HEAT 4: ZMARZLIK, LINDGREN, VACULIK, LAMBERT
Zmarzlik squeezed through to the lead from gate two, but Lindgren fought back instantly. The duo swapped positions several times before Zmarzlik secured the full three points with a racing masterclass. Behind, Vaculik managed to sneak past Lambert and held on to the position.
HEAT 3: BEWLEY, FRICKE, GUSTS, NILSSON
The outside gate once more proved an ideal starting position as Bewley shot into the lead and was up and away. Fricke established himself in second, too far away from Bewley to challenge but himself with a sufficient advantage to third. Behind, Gusts and Nilsson battled for position with the Latvian youngster prevailing in the end.
HEAT 2: DOYLE, JANOWSKI, MADSEN, THOMSEN
Janowski challenged for the lead from the outside gate and indeed took it off Doyle. However, an incident resulting in a horrendous crash for Thomsen brought the red flag out. The Dane initially walked away from the incident, but he was excluded from the restart. Indeed, Thomsen was taken to hospital for check-up and will not take further part in the Grand Prix.
At the restart, Doyle this time managed to hold the lead from the inside gate but was under pressure from Janowski who challenged on the outside line. There was no catching the Aussie though and Janowski had to settle for second. Madsen rounded out the field.
HEAT 1: LEBEDEVS, DUDEK, WOFFINDEN, MIKKELSEN
Lebedevs nailed the start from the outside gate and cut in to take the lead into the first turn. Dudek followed closely behind but had his hands full with keeping Woffinden at bay. Lebedevs brought the win home while Woffinden did briefly take second before Dudek claimed him again on the counter. Mikkelsen was left without a fighting chance in fourth.
15:00 PRESENTATIONS UNDERWAY
The riders are out on track for the pre-race presentations and the Latvian national anthem is playing. We're almost ready to go racing!
14:55 WEATHER REPORT
It's a lovely day at just over 20 degrees Celsius and blue skies.
The track is looking very slick and it's a technical, flat, and narrow course here in Riga - we're in for a great Grand Prix!
14:50 HEAT CARD
Here's the line-up for today:
14:45 JANOWSKI KEEN TO BOUNCE BACK
Returning to racing after World Cup glory and as the only rider in the current field to have won before in Latvia, Maciej Janowski is looking to get his season back on track in Riga:
14:40 LINDGREN CONTINUES HUNT ON ZMARZLIK
Bartosz Zmarzlik still holds a comfortable lead at the top of the championship standings, but runner-up Fredrik Lindgren managed to cut the Pole's advantage down at the previous Grand Prix in Manilla. With 20 points now separating the duo, the chase continues in Riga.
Here is a reminder of the current table standings:
- 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 102
- 2 Fredrik Lindgren 82
- 3 Jack Holder 79
- 4 Martin Vaculik 69
- 5 Dan Bewley 69
- 6 Jason Doyle 69
- 7 Leon Madsen 63
- 8 Robert Lambert 63
- 9 Tai Woffinden 46
- 10 Max Fricke 45
14:35 HOLDER OUT, GUSTS IN
Jack Holder was forced to withdraw from the racing this weekend due to a wrist injury sustained in a nasty crash at the Speedway World Cup two weeks ago. The DNS marks a heavy blow to the Aussie's championship challenge. Currently sitting in third, 23 points behind Bartosz Zmarzlik, Holder need near enough a miracle to keep his chances alive.
Instead, Latvian shooting star Francis Gusts is coming into the field as a wildcard.
14:30 HELLO AND WELCOME!
Good afternoon and thanks for joining our live text coverage of the Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia. The series returns to the Baltics for the first time since 2017 and indeed makes its first ever visit to the Latvian capital of Riga. Everything is set for a memorable debut at Bikernieki Stadium!
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Stream top speedway action, including the Speedway Grand Prix, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com
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