Speedway Grand Prix: Martin Vaculik storms to victory in Prague, Bartosz Zmarzlik opens up championship lead

ByEurosport

Updated 03/06/2023 at 20:28 GMT

After victory last year at what he considers his home race, Martin Vaculik made it back-to-back wins in Prague after a fantastic performance in the final. The Slovakian raced ahead in the decider leaving Leon Madsen, Jack Holder and Bartosz Zmarzlik in second, third and fourth respectively. Zmarlik is now outright leader in the championship.

Martin Vaculik took a memorable second successive Prague GP win, capping off a breathless night of speedway.

In his de facto home grand prix, the Slovakian never stood out but turned it on when it really mattered, taking his first win of the night in the last heat and making a brilliant start to win the final.

"Unbelievable," Vaculik said afterwards. "This is awesome for me. I'm so happy.

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"What a fantastic night for me. In the beginning I was struggling a bit with the set-up but finally we found the right set up.

"We were so fast and I'm so happy."

Having won in Prague 12 months earlier, Vaculik explained he holds the track and the iconic Marketa Stadium so close to his heart.

"This place is very special for me. I love Prague, I love the city and I love this stadium, I have some good memories.

"I've raced here since I was a junior so I'm always happy when I can come here and race in front of this fantastic crowd. I'm very pleased."

• Speedway Prague GP as it happened - Vaculik takes victory for second year in a row

It was also a return to form for 2022 runner-up Leon Madsen, who entered the night 11th in the championship but finished the night in second.

And Jack Holder made his second successive final while Bartosz Zmarzlik moved into the outright championship lead ending the night in fourth.

It was a night that showcased the best of speedway with every gate offering the opportunity to win, and several battles running across all four laps of racing.

The straightforward final maybe belied that, but Vaculik won’t be complaining as he notched his sixth grand prix win to move up to fourth in the championship.

'I'm so happy' - Vaculik hails 'fantastic' SGP round three victory in Prague

Freddie Lindgren dropped three points to Zmarzlik, while Jason Doyle maybe had the most disappointing night of all.

The Australian looked back to his best in the opening two rounds of the season but couldn’t find any form in Prague and missed the semi-finals.

Once again the British trio failed to turn good performance in the heats into a challenge for the win. Dan Bewley was the man to beat for most of the evening but lost out at the start of his semi-final, and couldn’t get past Holder despite throwing everything at the Australian.

Meanwhile Robert Lambert just allowed himself to be bullied by Zmarzlik in his semi-final while Tai Woffinden had an evening to forget, only scoring 4 points.

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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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