Jacek Ziółkowski: the fun is over, the hard work begins

ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin lost the first semifinal match against KS APATOR Toruń 39:51. Until the 12th race, the match was very balanced, but from the 13th race onwards, the situation for the guests started to deteriorate.

– The last three knockdown punches led to the end of the fun and the start of the hard work, but well. We’re riding at home, we’ll try to make up for the loss and advance to the finals for the fourth time – summarized Jacek Ziółkowski.

A strong point of the Toruń team was the entire senior formation. Each of them scored double-digit results in this match. However, from the junior and U24 formations, only one point was scored in the junior race.

– In one area, one team has an advantage, and in another, the other team. The juniors certainly didn’t disappoint. It’s a pity that in the last three races we didn’t collect two or three more points – admitted the manager of ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin.

It was not an easy weekend for the riders of the current Polish Team Champion. On Friday, Bartosz Bańbor and Wiktor Przyjemski competed in the FIM Speedway Grand Prix 2 tournament, while on Saturday, Bartosz Zmarzlik, Dominik Kubera, Jack Holder, and Fredrik Lindgren raced in Riga, in the 9th round of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix.

– Lambert also competed in the Grand Prix and scored full points. The falls of our riders? They certainly had an impact, but that’s speedway for you. Falls, tapes, defects – all of this is part of the sport, and you just have to accept it and move forward – commented Jacek Ziółkowski.

During the semifinal match, the Lublin team won only four races. The Toruń team managed to do it six times, with five of their heats ending in a 5:1 ratio. The balance in favor of the Toruń team only shifted after the 13th race when they delivered the first of three finishing blows, sending their fans into euphoria.

– The track was similar to what it was in July. What happened? We didn’t win races, and to win a match, you have to win races, and we won only three or four out of fifteen. We were saved by KS APATOR Toruń having three empty spots, namely Heiselberg, Lewandowski, and Kawczyński. Their races mainly ended with zeros. This kept us alive until the 12th race, but afterwards? We know what happened next and it ended with a twelve-point loss – explained our interlocutor.

Fredrik Lindgren was designated for the 14th race. At that point, he had four points. A better result was achieved by Jack Holder, who scored five points, and Mateusz Cierniak (4+3). Cierniak was initially nominated for the 14th race, but he was replaced by Wiktor Przyjemski, who had six points.

– We felt that Fredrik Lindgren was performing better during the races than others. It’s not about the points alone; you have to look at whom they were racing against, whom they were defeating. Lindgren was challenging the better competitors, and we thought he could bring us some points – summarized Jacek Ziółkowski.

Klaudia Bujalska