Bartosz Zmarzlik became the individual speedway world champion for the third time in his career. He secured the title by advancing to the semi-finals of the Grand Prix tournament in Malilla, Sweden. Before the last competition on 1 October in Toruń, no one has a chance to overtake him.
After eight GP qualifiers, Zmarzlik was 20 points ahead of Leon Madsen in the general classification, who was the only rider who still had a chance of challenging him for the title. As the Pole finished higher than the Dane in Malilla, he could already enjoy the final triumph on Saturday. Both advanced to the semi-finals, but Madsen had a defect in his race. The competition is still ongoing.
❗ ❗ ❗
❤️ pic.twitter.com/PzHpYqKYEW— TVP SPORT (@sport_tvppl) September 17, 2022
The 27-year-old Zmarzlik has already been an individual world champion since 2019 and only lost to Russian Artiom Laguta last season. In addition, he won a silver medal in 2018 and a bronze medal in 2016 and won the Team World Cup in 2016 and 2017. He is the most successful Polish speedway rider in history. Before him, only Jerzy Szczakiel (1973) and Tomasz Gollob (2010) were individual world champions.
Zmarzlik is in excellent form this season. He has defended the title of individual Polish champion and, with the best running average in the premier league, is leading Stal Gorzów to the team title. It is already known that after this season he will leave Stal, whose colours he has represented throughout his career. His new club will be Motor Lublin
BART-TRICK!
Bartosz Zmarzlik wins the Swedish Grand Prix to wrap up his third World Championship title win.
For the Brits; Tai Woffinden finishes fourth (14 points) while Robert Lambert reached the semi-finals (11) and Dan Bewley ended with two points.
@taylanningpix pic.twitter.com/6Ac4vLMTqE— Speedway Star (@speedwaystarmag) September 17, 2022