Sole, incredible, best - these adjectives can be related to few riders, who, thanks to their achievements and form presented, gather huge fans' interest. Without them, meetings could be boring and lacking of some phenomenal twists of action. Which riders are worth labelling as the "Individual King of Europe"?
First of them is surely a "Russian conqueror of tracks" - Grigorij Laguta. Had his debut in the Individual European Championship in 2011 and got the champion's title. Since three years, continuingly has been amazing fans with his form in SEC and showing development's paths to the young riders. His long list of unforgettable actions including a fabolous win over Nicki Pedersen and Peter Kildemand during the last year's final in Częstochowa or an incredible jump from the last position to second - in front of Martin Vaculik and Fredrik Lindgren during the round in Gdańsk in 2013. This action was able to be watched through Russian's eyes, thanks to a special camera mounted on his helmet.
In this year's European Championship, Laguta had huge chances to get the champion's title - before the last round he was leading the overall classification and had the last round at his home track in Rybnik. However, Russian was amazed with rivals' great form on this day and ended the rivalry at 4th position. Wondering what no.7 is preparing for upcoming season? Can't wait!
Danes also can be proud of their world class rider. Nicki Pedersen, who has been presenting an incredible form for years, really got into the fight for European Champ title. Had his debut in 2013 and right way became a part of the champions' ceremony. Back then, he got the 2nd position and repeated this success in 2015. In 2014, Pedersen got the bronze. The biggest prize, however, came in this year, when he hanged a gold on his neck and surely he's far from giving it back.
Nicki Pedersen is one of these riders, who travels literally thousands of kilometres. While living in Monaco, Dane had to make nearly 1500 kilometres to get to the 2nd round of SEC in Güstrow, which takes over 14 hours of driving. His personality is so intriguing that has been attracting thousands of fans to the stadiums.
It's worth appearing at the stands during one of the next year's rounds of Speedway Euro Championship to admire Pedersen's style.
Poles have also got their representative, who has been presenting his skills in Euro Championship since 2002. We're talking about Krzysztof Kasprzak, who got the silver medal back in 2002. This year's rivalry brought silver. As the only Pole in stake, got himself a direct advance to the SEC finals next year.
- Who's got good starts, wins the race - said Kasprzak one year ago, after going through to the SEC Challenge. During this year's final in Rybnik, this sentence was confirmed, but unfortunately against Kasprzak. In the additional heat, giving the vice-champion title, after a poor start, he had to accept Vaclav Milik's superiority. Will he be able to take a revenge on Czech rider? We'll see in June!
