Speedway Grand Prix 2023: Bartosz Zmarzlik’s rivals on 'rapid' defending champion - 'He makes us better riders'

Updated 26/04/2023 at 09:26 GMT

Three-time world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik will have a target on his back going into the 2023 Speedway Grand Prix season which gets underway this Saturday on Eurosport and discovery+ in Gorican, Croatia. His compatriots, Maciej Janowski and Patryk Dudek, were asked about him ahead of the new campaign, with the former suggesting Zmarzlik has raised the levels of the sport.

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Bartosz Zmarzlik will be the rider to beat in the 2023 Speedway Grand Prix season as he looks to win a fourth title.

Zmarzlik only won three events last year, but his consistency and confidence on the bike meant he slowly edged away from the rest of the field and wrapped up the title with a round to spare.

The 28-year-old has a remarkable record of finishing in the top two for the last five years in a row, and he also became the first rider to defend his Polish national title in two decades.

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Maciej Janowski finished third to Zmarzlik in the championship in 2022 and says he is motivated to close the gap this season.

“Bartosz is a very hard competitor,” said Janowski when asked by Eurosport how confident he is about beating the defending champion.

“He’s good for all of us. He makes us better riders because we always try to beat him, so it’s great to have a rider like Bartosz in the championship. He’s very quick, rapid. We need to work hard to catch him.”

Patryk Dudek, who finished seventh last year, added: “We will try to catch him step by step.

“Now we start again and will be fighting again for the gold medal.”

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Tony Rickardsson, Ivan Mauger, Ove Fundin, Hans Nielsen, Barry Briggs and Gregg Hancock are the only riders to have won four or more world titles.

Six-time champion Rickardsson told Eurosport he thinks Zmarzlik is “not at his full potential yet” and hopes he can chase his joint-record with Mauger down.

“One of my dreams is to hand over my legacy from my days and if he can beat my record, he is more than welcome, that would be awesome," he said.

“He has everything that is needed. He has a good surrounding around him and he is really chilled about being at the top.”

Zmarzlik is a rider of few words and does his talking on the track, so it’s no surprise that his target is to try his best, knowing everyone else will have a tough job to match him.

“I will focus on myself and do a good job for me and my people,” he said.

“I love speedway and want to do the best I can. This season is another challenge for me.”

The opening race of the 2023 season is in Croatia on April 29.

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Stream every round of the 2023 Speedway Grand Prix season live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

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