Leon Madsen won the inaugural round of the TAURON Speedway Euro Championship 2022. In the final heat of the day, the Dane defeated Janusz Kołodziej, Patryk Dudek and Mikkel Michelsen.
It wasn't the easiest start of the day for last year's silver medallist, Leon Madsen. The Dane scored just one point in two starts, but added another nine in the rest of the regular phase of the meeting. What's important, Madsen adjusted his equipment in the second part of the meeting, which translated into another win in the last-chance race. In the final, the 2018 Champion gave no chance to his rivals and crossed the finish line as first.
Janusz Kołodziej a had successful return to the TAURON SEC series. The Pole presented a great form, which translated into direct promotion to the final. In the last race of the day, Kolodziej fought for position with Patryk Dudek, but it was the four-time Individual Champion of Poland who reached the finish line behind Madsen.
For the second year in a row, Patryk Dudek stood on the lowest step of the podium in Rybnik. The 2021 SEC bronze medallist started the meeting with three points scored in two heats, but then, it was only better and better with every run. Duzers had a great duel with Madsen in the last-chance heat and advanced to the final, where he took the third place.
Mikkel Michelsen got a fantastic start of the competition. The defending champion dominated from the start, with four straight individual wins. The Dane only lost a point in race 18, where he crossed the finish line behind Madsen. With 14 points, he advanced directly to the final, where he finished fourth.
We witnessed scary moments in the extra heat, in which Polish riders Bartosz Smektała and Piotr Pawlicki fell on the track at the second corner. Luckily, both riders were able to get back to the pits on their own, but the 2018 Junior World Champion was excluded from the re-run.
A huge surprise came from Oliver Berntzon and Dimitri Berge. The debutants in the IEC series were not only scoring points, but also winning their races. Their good performance is best demonstrated by the fact that Berntzon scored 10 and Berge 9 points.
10th place went to Kai Huckenbeck. The German representative scored seven points. It is worth to mention that this year's second round of the TAURON SEC will take place in Gustrow, at Huckenbeck's 'home' track. The last SEC editions at this oval were successful events, so we are already inviting you to Germany on August 6.
Andzejs Lebedevs and Vaclav Milik cannot count today's competition as a successful one. Both the 2017 European Champion and the two-time series medallist scored one point each.
Results:
1. Leon Madsen - 13 (1,0,3,3,3,3)
2. Janusz Kołodziej - 14 (3,2,2,2,3,2)
3. Patryk Dudek - 12 (1,2,3,2,3,1)
4. Mikkel Michelsen - 14 (3,3,3,3,2,0)
5. Bartosz Smektała - 11 (1,3,1,3,3)
6. Piotr Pawlicki - 10 (3,1,3,1,2)
7. Oliver Berntzon - 10 (2,3,2,2,1)
8. Dimitri Berge - 9 (3,2,0,3,1)
9. Kacper Woryna - 8 (2,2,2,0,2)
10. Kai Huckenbeck - 7 (2,0,1,2,2)
11. Dominik Kubera - 6 (1,1,2,1,1)
12. Rasmus Jensen - 5 (0,3,1,1,0)
13. David Bellego - 3 (2,1,0,d,d)
14. Adam Ellis - 2 (d,0,0,1,1)
15. Andrejs Lebedevs - 1 (0,1,0,0,0)
16. Vaclav Milik - 1 (0,0,1,0,0)
The second round of TAURON Speedway Euro Championship 2022 will be held in Gustrow on August 6. Tickets are available via www.speedwayeuro.com.
