Report: European Cycle Speedway Championships

 

Source: Mike Hack

Pics: Magda

News Posted: 30 July 2008

 

The town of Rawicz in Poland was the venue for the European Senior Championships over the weekend. The small immaculately prepared Rawicz circuit provided for fast, close and exciting racing on a slick and hard packed black ash surface in very hot, sunny conditions throughout the three days. 

 

Poland Take the Team Title

 

The first final was held on Saturday evening with the Team event. England got off to a tremendous start, winning their opening four races, three times leaving their illustrious Polish opponents in their wake, to lead by 3 points after the opening round of races. Aris went round Ganczarek from grid 4 to win heat 1 comfortably. Lowey rode a great race to hold off the considerable challenges of the World Champion Szymanski to win heat 3. Harris pulled a great inside line to pick off race leader Newsome to win heat 4. Wheeler joined in the party with a tremendous corner to switch inside Nowacki to win heat 5. An unbelievable start by England.

 

Then it all went wrong, as England picked up three exclusions in the next series of races. First to go was Lowey, who after having led Ganczarek for three laps, left a gap on the inside and then cut sharply across the Pole hitting him with great force, both riders falling heavily. In the next race Harris tried to cut inside Burgess, but the Welsh veteran held his line and fell after being caught from behind by Harris. Wheeler took 2nd place behind Szymanski in the next race to steady the ship, but heat 9 proved disastrous for England. Aris led the race, but shed a chain down the back straight on the first lap, causing the chasing Mould to fall. At the end of the second series of races, Poland were 10 points clear and the ultimate outcome was effectively decided already.

 

Heat 15 proved to be eventful, as Aris dived inside Poprawski and appeared to be brought down by the use of a leg. England were most unhappy when a re-run with all four riders was called. Then it was Aris who suffered an exclusion when he moved at the start in the 2nd re-run, the tapes caught in his wheel providing plenty of evidence for the referee! It was Wales' turn in heat 23 to be unhappy, as Szymanski appeared to force Mould off the track and into the fence on the pits bend, without exclusion. Both England and Poland gave their reserve riders two rides each and both Bedra and Wadhams won each of their races. Wadhams twice beat the World Champion Szymanski, both times from the favoured inside grid position. Poprawski was the other unbeaten rider, from three rides.

 

It was a most dramatic match, as England looked set to provide a shock win in the early stages, before the disastrous second round of races, in which they could have no complaints about the justification of the exclusions. In the remaining 15 races, England steadied things to secure 2nd place behind Poland, with Wales always a comfortable 3rd. Ireland pipped Scotland for 4th place overall. In the end, Poland ran out convincing winners and lived up to their pre-match billing of strong favourites.

 

European Senior Nations Cup Final result

Poland 72 England 58 Wales 45 Ireland 36 Scotland 33.

Poland: Maciej Ganczarek 19, Lukasz Nowacki 18, Marcin Szymanski 15, Artur Poprawski 12, Robert Bedra 8.

England: Gavin Wheeler 17, Lee Aris 11, Aaron Lowey 11, Steve Harris 11, Marcus Wadhams 8.

Wales: Dave Murphy 13, Ben Mould 12, Mike Burgess 10, Dave Carmichael 10.

Ireland: Leigh Cossey 12, Gary Colby 10, John Murphy 8, Phil Widdas 6.

Scotland: Craig Newsome 10, Ewan Tulloch 8, Gavin Kennedy 8, Neil McPherson 7.

Referee - Dariusz Wychodil (Wroclaw, Poland).

 

Poland Dominate Individual Championships

 

There was a strong field for the Individual Championships, with riders having to progress through two qualifying rounds and a semi-final in order to reach the final. The Final lined up with 3 English riders and 13 Polish riders.

 

Lee Aris suffered a major blow when excluded for moving at the start, when off a grid 1, in heat 2. Rafal Dulinski won the re-run from Marcin Szymanski. Then it was the turn of the defending champion, Damian Wozny, to be excluded after falling and causing the race to be stopped in heat 4. Lukasz Nowacki won his two grid 1s, as Maciej Ganczarek won his opening two races also. Artur Poprawski led heat 8 all the way, before being caught on the line by Szymanski, who won by a tyre's width. Wozny, having won heat 7, went for a flyer from grid 4 in heat 10 and was excluded. The tapes wrapped around his helmet did little to support his protests to the referee of his innocence!

 

Szymanski dropped another point to Radek Handke in heat 11. The clash of the two unbeaten riders came in heat 12. Marcin Paradzinski led all the way to win from Ganczarek, whilst Nowacki came down after clipping the back of Lukasz Jozwiak, as he attempted a switch when at the back. Szymanski kept his challenge alive with a win in heat 14. Ganczarek pulled off the ride of the tournament with a magnificent last to first win, from his grid 4 in heat 15, as he swept past Marcus Wadhams, Aris and Poprawski. Dulinski won heat 16, to keep himself in contention. Leaders after heat 16 were: Ganczarek 15; Szymanski 14; Dulinski 12; Nowacki 12; Poprawski 12. Wozny won from grid 1 in heat 17, as Ganczarek took no risks to keep Szymanski behind him and secure the European title.

 

Poprawski's chance of a rostrum place went when he finished 3rd behind Handke and Marcin Puk in heat 18. A vital heat 19 saw Dulinski lead all the way, before Nowacki pulled off a great pass on the last lap to finish on 16 points and force a run-off for 2nd place, Dulinski missing out by a point. In the 2nd place run-off, Nowacki won the toss for start positions and won in a canter after Szymanski came down on the 1st lap whilst attempting a pass.

 

Maciej Ganczarek was a deserved winner of the European Final. He was in great form all weekend and his ride in heat 15 was of the top drawer. Lukasz Nowacki again underlined his consistency in major tournaments, without ever winning one, whilst World Champion Marcin Szymanski rode well all weekend, but was not quite at his best on the small Rawicz track. Remarkably, this was the second international tournament running that the top three riders all came from Wroclaw, despite there not being a team there any more. Of the English riders, Steve Harris, at 40 years of age, was the best and showed all his skill and experience, as he revelled on the track where he won the World title back in 1999.

 

European Senior Individual Final result

1st - Maciej Ganczarek (Poland and Leszno) 18; 2nd - Lukasz Nowacki (Poland and Bydgoszcz) 16; 3rd - Marcin Szymanski (Poland and Leszno) 16;

Rafal Dulinski (Poland and Torun) 15; Radek Handke (Poland and Leszno) 14; Artur Poprawski (Poland and Rawicz) 14; Marcin Skowronek (Poland and Bydgoszcz) 13; Steve Harris (England and Horspath) 12; Dominik Rycharski (Poland and Czestochowa) 11; Marcin Paradzinski (Poland and Torun) 11; Damian Wozny (Poland and Torun) 11; Lukasz Jozwiak (Poland and Bydgoszcz) 10; Lukasz Kokott (Poland and Gniezno) 10; Lee Aris (England and Wednesfield) 9; Marcin Puk (Poland and Gniezno) 8; Marcus Wadhams (England and Birmingham) 7.

Reserves - Konrad Pietak (Poland and Czestochowa), Pawel Kozlowski (Poland and Gniezno).

Referee - Mike Hack (Manchester, England).