PGE Ekstraliga Gala 2024: The Best of the Season with ‘Szczakiels’!

11.10.2024 21:51

The ceremonial summary of the season is behind us! ‘Szczakiels’, the awards given during the PGE Ekstraliga Gala, were awarded to the winners of the voting in various categories. The special Golden Szczakiel was awarded to Jan Ząbik. Awards were also given to the Team Polish Champion – ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin, and the best U24 Ekstraliga team – U24 BECKHOFF SPARTA Wrocław.

In Warsaw, at the Double Tree by Hilton , the tenth anniversary edition of the PGE Ekstraliga Gala took place. From September 1 to 5, voting for candidates in the Surprise of the Season category took place on the Ekstraliga Żużlowa and CANAL+ Speedway Facebook profiles. From the nominations (total number of votes from both profiles was decisive), the best ‘five’ was selected to participate in the main vote, which started on September 8 on the ekstraliga.pl site and in the Ekstraliga App. The voting concluded with the end 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 the other Szczakiel categories of 2024, fans selected from among the TOP-8 riders based on their race point average after the regular season. In the coach/manager category, fans chose from eight team coaches/managers, all of which compete in the 2024 PGE Ekstraliga.

Full results of the Szczakiel 2024 awards 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. Second place was confidently taken by Artem Laguta (BETARD SPARTA Wrocław), and the podium was completed by Emil Sayfutdinov (KS APATOR Toruń).

Best Foreign Rider of the Season

The clear winner was Robert Lambert. For the Brit, the season was extremely successful, confirmed by a silver medal in the SGP and a bronze in the 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 youth player in the competition, as confirmed by the fans. Thanks to them, the rider of ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin won the Szczakiel 2024. The SGP2 gold medalist surpassed in the voting Oskar Paluch (EBUT.PL STAL Gorzów) and Jakub Krawczyk (BETARD SPARTA Wrocław).

Surprise of the Season

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

In this category, Robert Kościecha was recognized, for whom the debut season as a coach of the first team ended with a historic advance of ZOOLESZCZ GKM Grudziądz to the playoff phase of the PGE Ekstraliga. Second place went to the coach of the current Polish champions – Maciej Kuciapa (ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin). The podium was completed by Stanisław Chomski.