Great inauguration of TAURON Speedway Euro Championship is behind us. First round was taken by Jarosław Hampel, who defeated Antonio Lindbaeck, Kai Huckenbeck and Mikkel Michelsen in the final heat. Hampel became the overall leader with 17 points reached.
First two heats of today's round brought some tension in Robert Lambert and Krzysztof Kasprzak's teams - they touched tape in their first heat and got replaced by track reserves: Robert Chmiel and Norbert Krakowiak. Chmiel left a good impression after defending third position and leaving Emil Sayfutdinov behind his back.
In heat no. 6, it was only inches away from crash between Piotr Pawlicki and Leon Madsen. Through two laps, Dane was racing really close to Pole, who got Madsen right next to the fence. Danish rider had to regain control of his bike, which led Kasprzak jumping right between these two at the finish line.
A phenomenal show was provided through whole four laps by bronze medalist of last year's SEC - Vaclav Milik and 2018 champion - Andzejs Lebedevs. Czech rider was attacking Lebedevs's position, but it was current Euro Champion who ended as first.
Fans admired their tough fight, but it was all in a fair-play spirit and long after the meeting, it was analyzed by both riders.
One can say that today's TAURON SEC in Leon Madsen's case, was all about fighting with Poles. In heat no.6, Dane faced Piotr Pawlicki and in heat no.14, he was struggling with Hampel. As it turned out later - it was the only time when Hampel was defeated.
In heat no. 20, which was crucial for race-off line up, Piotr Pawlicki and Peter Kildemand made the crowd stunned. Neither Pole nor Dane was giving up and their racing looked simply amazing. Ultimately, it was Pawlicki who won this clash and thanks to two points he got, Pole got through to the race-off heat.
After the first series, Jarosław Hampel and Antonio Lindbaeck were at the top. Even though, they got defeated in single heats, before the last series, only a catastrophy could've taken away their direct advance to the final heat.
Race-off was a clash of Kai Huckenbeck, Mikkel Michelsen, Peter Kildemand and Piotr Pawlicki. "Piter" was fans' favourite, but unluckily engine's failure got him rid out of dreams about winning the first round. Hampel and Lindbaeck were joined by Huckenbeck and Michelsen in the final heat.
Final was all about Jarek Hampel. Winning the start and crossing the line as first were undeniable, even though he was chased by Lindbaeck, who overtook Huckenbeck on the distance. However, it was not enough to catch the phenomenal Pole.
- Today's meeting was great for me - I could not complain about my bikes or my disposition - today, everything was just perfect. Now, it's time for Guestrow! Even though it's a specific track, cosidering its geometry, but when everything goes according to the plan, there's no venue that can make you scared - Jarosław Hampel - leader of TAURON Speedway Euro Championship 2018.
TAURON Speedway Euro Championship – Runda 1:
1.#33 Jarosław Hampel (Poland) 17 (3,3,3,2,3,3)
2.#85 Antonio Lindbaeck (Sweden) 13 (3,3,3,2,0,2)
3. #744 Kai Huckenbeck (Germany) 11 (1,3,0,3,3,1)
4. #155 Mikkel Michelsen (Denmark) 9 (1,1,3,2,2,0)
5. #777 Piotr Pawlicki (Poland) 9 (2,3,1,1,2)
6. #25 Peter Kildemand (Denmark)8 (2,2,0,3,1)
7. #507 Krzysztof Kasprzak (Poland) 8 (t,2,2,1,3)
8. #225 Vaclav Milik (Czechia) 8 (1,2,2,3,0)
9. #66 Leon Madsen (Denmark) 8 (2,1,1,3,1)
10. #100 Andreas Jonsson (Sweden) 7 (3,0,1,2,1)
11. #505 Robert Lambert (Great Britain) 6 (t,2,1,0,3)
12. #89 Emil Sayfutdinov (Russia) 6 (0,1,2,1,2)
13. #16 Adrian Gała (Poland) 5 (3,0,0,0,2)
14. #91 Andrey Kudryashov (Russia) 5 (2,0,2,0,1)
15. #129 Andzejs Lebedevs (Latvia) 5 (0,1,3,1,0)
16. #17 Robert Chmiel (Poland) 1 (1)
17. #18 Norbert Krakowiak (Poland) 0 (0)
18. #444 Josef Franc (Czechia) 0 (0,0,0,0,0)
1. (64,25) Andreas Jonsson, Leon Madsen, Robert Chmiel, Robert Lambert (t)
2. (64,56) Jarosław Hampel, Peter Kildemand, Vaclav Milik, Krzysztof Kasprzak (t)
3. (65,34) Adrian Gała, Andrey Kudryashov, Kai Huckenbeck, Josef Franc
4. (64,30) Antonio Lindbaeck, Piotr Pawlicki, Mikkel Michelsen, Andzejs Lebedevs
5. (64,41) Kai Huckenbeck, Peter Kildemand, Andzejs Lebedevs, Andreas Jonsson
6. (64,78) Piotr Pawlicki, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Leon Madsen, Adrian Gała
7. (64,43) Antonio Lindbaeck, Vaclav Milik, Emil Sayfutdinov, Josef Franc
8. (64,91) Jarosław Hampel, Robert Lambert, Mikkel Michelsen, Andrey Kudryashov
9. (64,76) Mikkel Michelsen, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Andreas Jonsson, Josef Franc
10. (64,56) Antonio Lindbaeck, Andrey Kudryashov, Leon Madsen, Peter Kildemand
11. (64,76) Jarosław Hampel, Emil Sayfutdinov, Piotr Pawlicki, Kai Huckenbeck
12. (65,47) Andzejs Lebedevs, Vaclav Milik, Robert Lambert, Adrian Gała
13. (64,78) Vaclav Milik, Andreas Jonsson, Piotr Pawlicki, Andrey Kudryashov
14. (64,98) Leon Madsen, Jarosłąw Hampel, Andzejs Lebedevs, Josef Franc
15. (64,76) Peter Kildemand, Mikkel Michelsen, Emil Sayfutdinov, Adrian Gała
16. (64,50) Kai Huckenbeck, Antonio Lindbaeck, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Robert Lambert
17. (64,42) Jarosław Hampel, Adrian Gała, Andreas Jonsson, Antonio Lindbaeck
18. (64,42) Kai Huckenbeck, Mikkel Michelsen, Leon Madsen, Vaclav Milik
19. (64,22) Krzysztof Kasprzak, Emil Sayfutdinov, Andrey Kudryashov, Andzejs Lebedevs
20. (64,70) Robert Lambert, Piotr Pawlicki, Peter Kildemand, Josef Franc
Race Off:
21. (64,66) Kai Huckenbeck, Mikkel Michelsen, Peter Kildemand, Piotr Pawlicki (d)
Final:
22. Jarosław Hampel, Antonio Lindbaeck, Kai Huckenbeck, Mikkel Michelsen
