Gala PGE Ekstraliga 2024: The Best of This Season with “Szczakiele” Awards!
11.10.2024 21:51
The ceremonial season summary is behind us! The “Szczakiele” awards, granted during the PGE Ekstraliga Gala, have been given to the winners of votes in various categories. Jan Ząbik was honored with the special Golden Szczakiel. Prizes were also awarded to the Polish Team Champion – ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin and the best U24 Ekstraliga team – U24 BECKHOFF SPARTA Wrocław.
The 10th anniversary edition of the PGE Ekstraliga Gala took place at the Double Tree by Hilton in Warsaw. From September 1 to 5, voting for the Surprise of the Season category was held on the Ekstraliga Żużlowa and CANAL+ Speedway profiles on Facebook. From the nominations (based on the aggregated number of votes from both profiles), the best “five” were selected to participate in the main voting, which began on September 8 on the ekstraliga.pl website and the Ekstraliga App. The entire process lasted until the conclusion of the PGE Ekstraliga Grand Final in Lublin. Fans could choose the best in five categories:
- Best Polish Rider of the Season
- Best Foreign Rider of the Season
- Best Coach / Manager of the Season
- Best Junior of the Season
- Surprise of the Season
In other Szczakieli 2024 categories, fans chose among the TOP-8 riders based on the running point average after the regular season. In the coach/manager category, fans chose among eight coaches/managers of teams competing in the PGE Ekstraliga 2024.
Full results of the Szczakieli 2024 are available HERE.
Best Polish Rider of the Season
For the ninth time, Bartosz Zmarzlik (ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin) won the Szczakiel in this category. Confidently in second place was Artem Laguta (BETARD SPARTA Wrocław), and the podium was completed by Emil Sajfutdinow (KS APATOR Toruń).
Best Foreign Rider of the Season
The clear winner was Robert Lambert. The British rider had an extremely successful season, confirmed by a silver medal in SGP and bronze in PGE Ekstraliga with KS APATOR Toruń. Behind him were two riders from EBUT.PL STAL Gorzów: Anders Thomsen and Martin Vaculik.
Best Junior of the Season
Wiktor Przyjemski in his debut season in the PGE Ekstraliga was the best youngster of the competitions, confirmed by the fans. Thanks to them, the athlete of ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin won the Szczakiel 2024. The SGP2 gold medalist surpassed Oskar Paluch (EBUT.PL STAL Gorzów) and Jakub Krawczyk (BETARD SPARTA Wrocław) in voting.
Surprise of the Season
A very close competition between two riders: Benjamin Cook (FOGO UNIA Leszno) and Michael Jepsen Jensen (ZOOLESZCZ GKM Grudziądz). Ultimately, the Australian was slightly better. Third place went to Bartłomiej Kowalski (BETARD SPARTA Wrocław).
Best Coach/Manager of the Season
Robert Kościecha was appreciated in this category, for whom the debut season as a first-team coach ended with the historic advance of ZOOLESZCZ GKM Grudziądz to the PGE Ekstraliga playoffs. The coach of the current Polish champions, Maciej Kuciapa (ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin), took second place. The podium was completed by Stanisław Chomski.
Golden Szczakiel – Jan Ząbik
This year, the special statuette was awarded to Jan Ząbik, coach and legend of the Toruń club for youth training.
Race of the Season (CANAL+ Speedway editorial choice)
Anders Thomsen – 14th race of the match NOVYHOTEL FALUBAZ Zielona Góra – EBUT.PL STAL Gorzów (4th round of PGE Ekstraliga)
Team of the Season (DMP 2024) – ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin
Winner of U24 Ekstraliga – U24 BECKHOFF SPARTA Wrocław
