Fredrik Lindgren wins Warsaw SGP of Poland
Jason Doyle moved up to second place in the FIM Speedway Grand Prix Championship Points Standings
Swedish star Fredrik Lindgren admits he was “just pumped with adrenaline” to end his five-year wait for an FIM Speedway Grand Prix win at the LOTTO Warsaw SGP of Poland on Saturday.
Fast Freddie topped the rostrum ahead of home hero Maciej Janowski, Aussie ace Jason Doyle and Slovak star Martin Vaculik at PGE Narodowy.
It’s Lindgren’s first victory since he won the Swedish SGP at Gothenburg’s Ullevi Stadium on May 26, 2012 and he retains the FIM Speedway World Championship lead, which he has extended to five points over Doyle.
The Orebro-born racer is in the form of his life and is elated to be back in the SGP winners’ circle after a sublime display in front of a passionate crowd.
Fredrik Lindgren
“Right now I am just pumped with adrenaline. It’s so cool to ride in this stadium in front of all these people and perform like I did tonight. It’s something that we live to do. It’s what I like. I have been training so hard in the winter. I have so many good people behind me – all my sponsors and pit crew; everyone is helping me out. I’m so pleased to give back to them. I feel absolutely awesome. I have only won one GP before. This is so important for me.”
Lindgren’s victory is also a major milestone for Swiss tuner Marcel Gerhard as his GTR engine collected its first SGP triumph.
“Of course I have made history tonight,” he said. “We have worked really hard. I also worked really hard physically in the winter, as well as with my team and with my bikes. It’s a team effort and everyone has done such a good job. I’m pleased for everyone and so happy.”
Lindgren relished racing at PGE Narodowy, as Poland’s national stadium delivered another SGP classic.
“I think it’s awesome. For me personally, I love this kind of stadium, places like Cardiff and Warsaw. It’s full of people and gets that extra adrenaline pumping. They normally prepare the tracks really well and there are different racing lines. I’m stoked to be here and I loved every second of it.”
Lindgren is determined to maintain the blistering form, which has also seen him star for Wolverhampton in Britain, Dackarna in Sweden and Polish club Rybnik this season.
And he’s elated to be top of the World Championship table.
“That’s not bad, is it?!” he smiled. “It feels really good. This whole series has gone really well. Everywhere I have been riding, I have scored points – Britain, Poland, Sweden and in the GPs as well. I’m just trying to keep the ball rolling.”
Runner-up Janowski was gutted to fall just short of becoming the first Pole to claim an historic Warsaw win.
Maciej Janowski
“When you finish in second position, you think ‘ah, so close!’ But Freddie was really good tonight. I tried my best.”
Third-placed Doyle was content with moving up to second in the overall standings after enjoying a perfect view of the battle for Warsaw victory.
Jason Doyle
“It’s nice to finally be on the podium after going all the way in Slovenia and not making it on to the rostrum. What a race! You get to the final and it’s no holds barred. What a great ride from Freddie and Magic. They were throwing everything at each other and I just had to sit back and watch the show. I’d just like to thank my team and all my sponsors for sticking by me when I had such a bad injury last year. It just shows hard work does pay off.”
Next up for the FIM Speedway Grand Prix stars is the Rietumu Bank Latvian SGP in Daugavpils on May 27.
FIM Speedway Grand Prix Championship Standings
- Fredrik Lindgren 32
- Jason Doyle 27
- Martin Vaculik 26
- Maciej Janowski 22
- Patryk Dudek 22
- Tai Woffinden 21
- Bartosz Zmarzlik 18
- Niels-Kristian Iversen 18
- Emil Sayfutdinov 18
- Greg Hancock 15,
- Piotr Pawlicki 14
- Chris Holder 12,
- Matej Zagar 11
- Antonio Lindback 8
- Nicki Pedersen 8
- Przemyslaw Pawlicki 3
- Nick Skorja 1.
FIM Speedway Grand Prix Lotto Warsaw SGP of Poland Results
- Fredrik Lindgren 16
- Maciej Janowski 16,
- Jason Doyle 15
- Martin Vaculik 10
- Tai Woffinden 13
- Bartosz Zmarzlik 12
- Patryk Dudek 9
- Niels-Kristian Iversen 9
- Piotr Pawlicki 7
- Chris Holder 6
- Emil Sayfutdinov 6
- Antonio Lindback 6
- Nicki Pedersen 5
- Greg Hancock 4
- Przemyslaw Pawlicki 3
- Matej Zagar 1
- Krystian Pieszczek DNR
- Pawel Przedpelski DNR.
