The international speedway season will already start this weekend in Pardubice and Gdansk. On 30 March, the A and B Finals of the European Team Championships will be held in these very cities. The stake is, of course, participation in the Grand Final, which will take place on 6 April in Grudziadz. The Polish national team is already waiting there and will meet its three rivals on Saturday.
This year’s A Final will be played in Pardubia in the Czech Republic. The national teams there will compete for promotion to the Grand Final: Denmark, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Norway. The start of the competition across our southern border is scheduled for 15.00.
An hour earlier, the European Team Speedway Championship – Final B – will begin in Gdańsk. The informal host of this competition will be the national team of Ukraine, which, due to hostilities in the country, is unable to hold the tournament at home. Following the example of other sports, the FMU gladly accepted the offer to host the event at the Zbigniew Podlecki Stadium, although it will officially be held under the banner of the PZM.
Nevertheless, for the large Ukrainian community living and working in Gdansk and the entire Pomeranian Voivodeship, it will certainly be a good opportunity to directly cheer on the athletes from this country in international competition. In addition to the Ukrainian representatives, fans in Gdańsk will be watching teams from Latvia, Germany and Sweden.
On paper, the favourites of the Gdańsk competition seem to be the latter, but the other teams are certainly also thinking about advancing to the decisive game in Grudziądz. It promises to be a really interesting tournament to start the season.
An additional element will be a memorial race, dedicated to the memory of Zbigniew Podlecki, a legend of Gdańsk Wybrzeże and Polish speedway, who is the patron of the stadium at ul. Zawodników 1. Speedway riders nominated to start in race number 20 will compete in it.
Admission to the tournament at the stadium in ul. Zawodników 1 is free, with only programmes on sale – at the gadget stands – the proceeds of which will be donated to help Ukraine. The stadium gates will open at 13.00, only the main entrance to the venue will be open.
From both the A Final and the B Final, the winners will be promoted. The second-placed team with the most points will complete the line-up in the Grand Final. The fight for the medals will take place on 6 April at 14.00 in Grudziądz. Tickets for this competition can be purchased online at http://bilety.speedwayevents.pl and at ebilet.pl.
Team line-ups
Final A – Pardubice
Denmark (manager Nicki Pedersen)
1. Mikkel Michelsen
2. Mads Hansen
3. Rasmus Jensen
4. Anders Thomsen
17. Bastian Pedersen
Czech Republic (manager Zdenek Schneiderwind)
5. Jan Kvech
6. Vaclav Milik
7. Daniel Klima
8. Jan Macek
18. Adam Bednar
Norway (manager Rune Holta)
9. Mathias Pollestad
10. Truls Kamhaug
11. Glenn Moi
12. Lasse Fredriksen
Slovenia (manager Gregor Arnsek)
13. Matic Ivacic
14. Anże Grmek
15. Luka Omerzel
16. TBA
Final B – Gdańsk
Latvia (manager Vladimir Vagels)
1. Andžejs Ļebedevs
2. Oļegs Mihailovs
3. Jevgeņijs Kostigovs
4. Daniils Kolodinskis
5. Francis Gusts
Germany (manager Mathias Bartz)
5. Valentin Grobauer
6. Erik Riss
7. Kevin Woelbert
8. Sandro Wassermann
18. Norick Bloedorn
Sweden (manager Morgan Andersson)
9. Jacob Thorssell
10. Antonio Lindbaeck
11. Fredrik Lindgren
12. Kim Nilsson
19. Casper Henriksson
Ukraine (manager Siergiej Latosiński)
13. Marko Lewiszyn
14. Andrij Karpow
15. Stanisław Melnyczuk
16. Witalij Łysak
20. Nazar Parnicki
