After a long wait the TAURON SEC is now less than a week away. But many of the riders who will be racing in Torun on Saturday 4 July have already been in action in Poland’s top division, Ekstraliga.
With two rounds already gone in Poland, we can get our first look at the current form of the riders who will take part in the TAURON SEC.
Just a glance at the rider averages’ table tells us that the three Danish former winners of the SEC have started the season in top form.
All three are positioned in the Riders’ Top 10. 2018 winner, Leon Madsen (CZE) is in 4th overall with 2.600; 2016 winner Nicki Pedersen (GRU) in 7th with 2.182; and last year’s champion, Mikkel Michelsen (LUB) in 10th with 2.100.
So, do not be surprised if the winner’s trophy in Torun has red and white ribbons on it next week.
However, that Round 1 in Torun will not be the first time that Madsen and Pedersen have gone to head to head this season. The two met four times when Częstochowa hosted Grudziadz in Round 1 of Ekstraliga.
And 31-year-old Madsen will be brimming with confidence when they meet again. That’s because he beat the 3 times World Champion in every single heat when they faced each other. Madsen picked up 10 pts (3,3,2,2) to Pedersen’s 4 pts (1,2,1,0) when they were on the start line together.
Further down the field, Rybnik teammates Robert Lambert and Kacper Woryna have made good starts to the season despite the club’s difficulties. They have averages of 1.818 and 1.727 putting them in 19th and 23rd on overall heat average respectively.
Pedersen may not have got the better of compatriot Madsen, but was more successful against the British rider, Robert Lambert when Grudziadz beat Rybnik in Round 2 of the Ekstraliga. The Dane was victorious in all three battles taking 8 pts (3,3,2), whilst Lambert collected just 4 pts (2,2,-) when the two raced against each other.
