Robert Lambert won the seventh round of the Speedway Grand Prix in Lodz on Saturday, with Patryk Dudek finishing second and Brady Kurtz third in the final. The event marked the first time in the competition’s history that Lodz had hosted a round.
The day proved a nightmare for defending champion Bartosz Zmarzlik, who had entered the round with only a five-point lead over Kurtz in the overall standings. Zmarzlik finished third in his opening race, then last in his second, and was noticeably slower than his rivals throughout the main programme.
He managed a win in his fourth race, but his campaign effectively unravelled in the semifinal. Zmarzlik made another poor start and could not recover, finishing behind Michael Jepsen Jensen. Kacper Woryna crossed the line behind him. The defeat ended Zmarzlik’s streak of 14 consecutive final appearances, which had stood as a historical record.
Dudek had been the standout performer in the main heats, winning four of his five races and placing third once to lead after the qualifying stage. Kurtz finished second in the main programme with 13 points, while Zmarzlik was sixth with eight.
Robert Lambert advanced to the final from the second semifinal. In the final, Kurtz finished second to last, meaning he ended the day level on points with Zmarzlik in the overall standings. Experts described the day as not even a very good one for Zmarzlik.
