(Un)expected Success of KS Apator Toruń (Analysis)

What caused the Toruń club to win a bronze medal?

Text by Jan Fojutowski, a 4th-grade student at the 3rd High School in Bydgoszcz named after Adam Mickiewicz, created as part of the classes ACADEMY OF YOUNG SPEEDWAY JOURNALIST.

The start of the season for KS Apator Toruń wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t great either. Toruń residents won “at home” (the first three matches against teams from Leszno, Wrocław, and Zielona Góra) – but lost almost all away games (it suffices to say that the only victory in the season took place in the bronze medal match in Gorzów 43:46 on September 29).

From the fifth round, a visible crisis began. The Toruń team started losing at home against EBUT.PL Stal Gorzów and very heavily in Leszno, 34:56. The main reason for this was the very poor performance of juniors, Patryk Dudek (8 points in Grudziądz, only 2 points at home against Gorzów) and Paweł Przedpełski (a major crisis in Wrocław – 2 points and at home against Częstochowa – 3 points). The revival of the Toruń team happened in the 10th round when Piotr Baron’s team won at home against the Polish champion ORLEN OIL Motor Lublin 48:42. Despite lacking the leader Emil Sajfutdinow in rounds 14-16, the team managed to secure a spot in the semifinals as the ‘lucky loser,’ which meant they faced the team from the Lublin region again. The two-legged match was lost, but the Toruń team approached the bronze medal match with a lot of optimism, ultimately winning it in great style.

Foundation of Success

The main cause of success in the recent matches was primarily the performance of seniors: Emil Sajfutdinow (2.191 in the entire season), Robert Lambert (2.278), Patryk Dudek (2.056), and a decent finish to the season for Paweł Przedpełski (his last four matches scored 12-5-8-10 points).

The duo Dudek-Lambert ranked first in the PGE Ekstraliga best duo rankings (data from the official mobile app), scoring a total of 157 points while maintaining an average of 3.65 points/run.

Another significant reason for the Torunians’ success is the very minimal number of injuries. Those that occurred did not significantly impact the season since KS Apator approached important matches in full lineup; however, it is important not to forget that the injury of Emil Sajfutdinow affected the team (remember that on August 8, in an English Premiership match, he experienced a major cut on his buttock, and was sidelined for the previously mentioned three matches).

A major advantage of KS Apator Toruń was the presence of Piotr Baron, who throughout the season united the team and created from the track at Motoarena a tremendous asset for his team, which managed to defeat even the Polish champion with a score of 51:39 in the PGE Ekstraliga semifinals.

We should also not forget about the form of Briton, Robert Lambert, who over the year made significant progress. This is demonstrated by statistics showing that in 2023, he had a ranking of 19th with an average of 1.902; while in 2024, he reached 4th with an average of 2.278 points/run.

A significant contribution at the end of the season was made by junior Krzysztof Lewandowski, scoring 6+2 in the bronze medal match in Gorzów and 5+3 in the season-ending match in Toruń. It seems the young player finally showed what he is capable of.

Nevertheless, the most important link in the Toruń team was the trio of strong leaders (Sajfutdinow, Lambert, and Dudek). Their presence in the TOP-15 averages in the PGE Ekstraliga was of great significance by the end of the season, which KS Apator Toruń will certainly consider successful.

Jan Fojutowski