Lindgren: If we want to be champions, we must win everywhere (interview)

Fredrik Lindgren was the leader of his team in the clash between ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin and BETARD SPARTA Wrocław. The experienced Swede scored 9 points in 5 starts, which however did not help the guests to achieve victory. The Wrocław team won the match 49:41 and came close to not giving the bonus to any of the teams. The rider did his best to prevent this from happening and talked about his feelings from this match and his mood before the PGE Ekstraliga play-off phase.

Błażej Kowol (ekstraliga.pl): You lose this match 41:49 and return to Lublin with only one point. How would you rate the match?

Fredrik Lindgren (ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin): Trips to Wrocław and matches at the Olympic Stadium are always extremely difficult. I know they lack Tai Woffinden due to injury, but they are a very strong team. We lacked speed in our bikes. We did our best, but the hosts chose better paths and were simply faster, so they won.

The first series didn’t go your way, as the seniors didn’t add any threes to their tally. It was a tough start to the match.

Yes, the hosts definitely had better starts, and we couldn’t catch up on the track. It was a tough start for us because the differences between us were indeed considerable. Later we found some adjustments, but it didn’t give us a victory.

You added 9 points to your tally. Are you satisfied with your result?

It wasn’t a bad performance, but not good enough for us to get a win. Therefore, I feel a bit disappointed.

The track seemed very hard. How would you assess it?

That’s true. Very hard, compacted, slippery. There wasn’t much material on the outside to take advantage of and ride a bit faster.

How would you compare the track from this match to last year’s final?

It’s hard to evaluate and compare. Remember, last year we raced in September, where the weather conditions were completely different. Now it’s August, and it’s definitely warmer. This affects the bikes, the engines, but also the way the track is prepared.

For the nominated heats, you decided to change the lineup of starting positions to the second set. In hindsight, was that a bad decision?

I didn’t take part in the process of choosing the starting positions, so it’s hard for me to assess it definitively. It was simply a decision made by the staff.