Fredrik Lindgren has 'huge opportunity' to take SGP title from Bartosz Zmarzlik - Tony Rickardsson
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Updated 28/09/2023 at 07:43 GMT
The 2023 FIM Speedway Grand Prix is set go down to the wire with the title on the line in the final meeting of the year. Reigning champion Bartosz Zmarzlik sits ahead of verteran rider Fredrik Lindgren who sits second in the championship standings. Speedway legend Tony Rickardsson believes his compatriot could pull off an unexpected shock in the climatic race in Torun, Poland.
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Tony Rickardsson believes Fredrik Lindgren has a good chance to upset "complete package" Bartosz Zmarzlik to claim the 2023 Speedway Grand Prix title in the final meeting of the season.
Defending champion Zmarzlik heads to Torun in his home country of Poland leading Swedish veteran Lindgren by just six points as he aims for his fourth world title in the last five years.
However, after being disqualified from the penultimate meeting of the season in Vojens, Denmark over an attire violation, Zmarzlik’s coronation was delayed, opening the door for Lindgren.
Speaking exclusively to Eurosport ahead of this season’s finale, six-time Speedway Grand Prix world champion and FIM Speedway global ambassador Rickardsson has heaped praise on Zmarzlik for his recent dominance of the sport.
Following the ban on Russian riders Artem Laguta and Emil Sayfutdinov – first and third in the 2021 championship respectively - Rickardsson believes it is up to the rest of the remaining field to step up to present a meaningful challenge to the Polish star.
“He's been dominant for the last two years,” said Rickardsson. “He had strong opposition from the Russians, but when you exclude two of the top contenders to the title, I wouldn't say he’s had an ‘easy’ run but at least an ‘easier’ run.
“But he's really been head and shoulders above the rest of the field by far.
“I think he is really the complete package. He is very fit, he’s very keen on his racing. He has a good solid team around him, bikes are immaculate and you have the whole package and everything.
“It's up to the rest of the guys to lift their game to challenge him.”
Lindgren, 38, looks set to improve on his previous best of a third place finish in the championship, achieved twice in 2018 and 2020.
The Swede already has one GP win under his belt this season from round 2 in Warsaw, and will likely need to double up on Polish soil for a shot at glory.
Having suffered from a well-documented bout of long Covid and some notable crashes in his career, Lindgren now has his sights set on a historic first world title, and his compatriot Rickardsson believes the opportunity is there for the taking if Zmarzlik were to slip up.
“It's going to be huge,” he says. “I mean, Freddie is a very tough and hard rider and to see the crashes he has been going through, the drama he had with his post-Covid illness and so on, I just think is going to let it all go. This is a huge opportunity for him to win the title.
“If he can have one of his good meetings, I think he has a really good chance. I think Bartosz is probably overall the more solid rider. Even if he has a bad meeting he will still maybe make it to the final.
“But you never know when it is that close for a world title. Anything can happen because there’s going to be a lot of nerves, there’s going to be some mistakes from some other riders.
“Anybody can click on that night, and if that will be Freddie, I think his chance is as good as Bartosz to win the title.
“If I was a betting man, it probably would be Bartosz. He's been the better rider all year. But with this opportunity opening [for Lindgren], it's hard to say. It's really hard to say.”
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