The skies opened, the track survived, but our Speedway GP hopes took a hammering in a brutal Polish showdown
On one of Poland’s hottest days on record, few could anticipate the drama that was set to unfold in Wroclaw. But before that could begin the stadium endured a once-in-a-lifetime tropical storm that flooded the pits and came very close to washing the track away. Fortunately, Wroclaw is a purpose-built stadium and the drainage is world class.
The weather finally subsided around 10.15pm local time and staff did a monumental job of getting the track into some sort of shape. As action got underway, the fans didn’t have to wait long for drama with Aussie gun Max Fricke high-siding spectacularly in heat four after clipping fellow Aussie Jason Doyle’s back wheel. Fricke was subsequently excluded from that race, but he continued in the meeting.
Championship leader Brady Kurtz and Bartosz Zmarzlik were the evening’s primary focus, yet attention was quickly drawn to heat seven following a horrifying accident involving Doyle and Jack Holder. Poland’s Kacper Woryna was just shaded by Doyle going into the first turn and the two collided, with Doyle being pushed wide directly into the path of a hard-charging Holder – who, in a split second, was thrust like a missile into the air fence. Such was the impact that the air bags and fence suffered damage, leading to another 40-minute delay as concerns for Holder’s welfare quite rightly took priority. A badly broken arm looks to have extinguished his title aspirations for the year; Doyle also went to hospital suffering from neck and shoulder complaints.
Racing resumed around midnight, with Brady Kurtz top scoring and taking direct passage to the final. He was eventually joined by Zmarzlik, rejuvenated Dane Michael Jepsen Jensen and British star Robert Lambert. With Kurtz having first gate choice, and having beaten Zmarzlik from the back in heat 16, the odds were certainly in his favour.
Kurtz had also won heat 19 from gate four, but gate one had provided most of the other winners towards the end of the meeting, and so he chose gate one – and while he got to the first turn in the thick of the action, he was swamped down the back straight and eventually pushed back to last…where he stayed.
It was a blinding ride from winner Zmarzlik, who erased Kurtz’s championship lead in the process, a bitter blow for the likeable Cowra native. Robert Lambert finished second with Jepsen Jensen third.
With five rounds left to run and the field severely weakened by injuries to Holder, Freddie Lindgren (SWE) and Dan Bewley (UK), it looks be a battle between Kurtz and Zmarzlik, although you never can tell!
Progress Points: Zmarzlik 82, Kurtz 79, Lambert 63, Jepsen Jensen 61, Jack Holder 55, Max Fricke 50.
2026 SGP ROUND 5 POLAND RESULTS
| POS | RIDER | HEATS | LCQ | FINAL | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B. Zmarzlik | 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 | — | 1st | 20 |
| 2 | R. Lambert | 2, 2, 1, 3, 3 | 1st | 2nd | 18 |
| 3 | M. J. Jensen | 1, 1, 1, 3, 3 | 1st | 3rd | 16 |
| 4 | B. Kurtz | 1, 3, 2, 3, 3 | — | 4th | 14 |
| 5 | A. Thomsen | 1, 3, 3, 2, 2 | 2nd | — | 12 |
| 6 | P. Dudek | 3, 0, 2, 1, 2 | 2nd | — | 11 |
| 7 | L. Madsen | 3, 1, 3, 2, 2 | 3rd | — | 10 |
| 8 | J. Kvěch | 2, 1, 2, 3, 1 | 3rd | — | 9 |
| 9 | A. Lebedevs | 3, 2, 3, 1, 2 | 4th | — | 8 |
| 10 | M. Janowski | 3, 0, 2, 0, 1 | 4th | — | 7 |
| 11 | M. Fricke | 0, 2, 3, 1, 0 | — | — | 6 |
| 12 | K. Woryna | 0, 2, 0, 2, 1 | — | — | 5 |
| 13 | N. Parnitskyi | 0, 3, 0, 0, 0 | — | — | 4 |
| 14 | D. Kubera | 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 | — | — | 3 |
| 15 | J. Doyle | 2 | — | — | 2 |
2026 FIM SPEEDWAY GP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 5
POS RIDER NAT POINTS
1 B. Zmarzlik POL 82
2 B. Kurtz AUS 79
3 R. Lambert GBR 63
4 M. J. Jensen DEN 61
5 J. Holder AUS 55
6 M. Fricke AUS 50
7 K. Woryna POL 49
8 L. Madsen DEN 45
9 P. Dudek POL 40
10 J. Doyle AUS 39
11 A. Lebedevs LAT 32
12 A. Thomsen DEN 30
13 J. Kvěch CZE 27
14 D. Kubera POL 20
15 D. Bewley GBR 18
