Vaclav Milik was the best in third Speedway Europ Championship round, which took place in Hallstavik. Next places on podium took Andrei Lebedev and Andreas Jonsson. Latvian is still the leader of the general clasification.
At 10:00, riders took part in training on the shortest track in Speedway Euro Championship 2017. Unfortunatelly practise showed, that Adrian Miedziński can't be part of competition due to his arm injury, so reserve rider Pontus Aspgren replaced him.
A lot of bad luck at the begining of tournament had Andrey Kudriashov, who made the debut on Hallstavik's track. Russian made some steps on the start, but referee Wojciech Grocki waited a lot to pick up the tape. Finally Kudriashov lost some meters and gave up after second corner. In heat 2, Mateusz Szczepaniak and Martin Smolinski made great show. German rider attacked "Szczepan" on the inside, what allowed him to overtook his rival and won first race in SEC 2017.
- I'm looking for right setups to be fast. It was raining today, but track is good. I'm riding here for the first time - said Artiom Laguta after first series.
Younger Laguta brother showed, that he's fighting with the track. Artiom tested surface in every race, but at the same time he lost some points. First dangerous situation took place in heat 5, when Przemyslaw Pawlicki made a mistake on second turn. Fortunatelly he didn't broke anything. In repeat the best was Pontus Aspgren. Second series was well for Martin Smolinski too. "Smolly", despite bad start, tried to overtook his rivals. Finally he did it on the last corner, when Krzysztof Kasprzak and Andrey Kudriashov rode outside.
- I'm riding there since 2015, so I know which ways I have to choose - said Jacob Thorssell, who had 5 points after 2 races.
Bad impression after zero in second race Andrey Lebedev destroyed fast. SEC cycle leader attacked Krzystof Kasprzak in heat 9 from start to the finish line. Finally he passed Pole on the outside. Knowledge about track in Hallstavik helped Andreas Jonsson. "AJ" was the fastest in heat 10 and won a race from gate A as a first rider. In next race, Michał Szczepaniak had a lot of bad luck again. As in Toruń and Gustrow, where he lost chances to win due huge mistakes, he rode to hard on the outside and lost 3 points by fall.
After heat 12 organizers decided to make a long break due to bad track condition after rain. Of course they used that to repair everything and continue competition.
In heat 13 Andreas Jonsson was the best again. Swede won with huge advantage what gave him next 3 points. In heat 16 Mikkel Bech and Pontus Aspgren made an interesting show. Dane was very close to his rival, but Swede showed his brilliant defense skills.
In the last series, Andrei Lebedev and Artiom Laguta, two riders from top 3 of the GC, fought a nice duel. Finally better was Laguta, who built enough advantage after 2 laps of racing. What was pleasing for fans, to score inportant points, riders had to fight untill the end. Mikkel Bech know something about that after his battle against Andrei Kudriashov, who he overtook on the last few meters. After basic phase, Andreas Jonsson and Andrei Lebedev were promoted to the final. In extra heat fans saw Vaclav Milik, Artem Laguta, Jacob Thorssell and Pontus Aspgren.
In race-off, Vaclav Milik and Artiom Laguta had the best start. Unfortunatelly Russian was slower and slower, what used Jacob Thorssell and Pontus Aspgren. Finally except Czech, wild card rider was promoted to the final.
In the last heat started Andreas Jonsson, Andrei Lebedev, Vaclav Milik and Jacob Thorssell. On the start, the fastest was Milik again, but Lebedev didn’t want to give up. Race settled down on the second straight, where Czech took the lead. Finally second was Lebedev, Jonsson third and Thorssell fourth.
III round SEC, Hallstavik
1. Vaclav Milik (Czech Rep.) 13 (3,2,2,3,0,3)
2. Andzejs Lebedevs (Latvia) 13 (3,0,3,3,2,2)
3. Andreas Jonsson (Sweden) 14 (1,3,3,3,3,1)
4. Jacob Thorssell (Sweden) 10 (2,3,0,2,3,0)
5. Pontus Aspgren (Sweden) 9 (0,3,3,2,1)
6. Artem Laguta (Russia) 9 (1,1,1,3,3)
7. Kacper Gomólski (Poland) 8 (2,3,2,0,1)
8. Michael Jepsen Jensen (Denmark) 8 (0,2,3,1,2)
9. Martin Smolinski (Germany) 7 (3,2,1,1,0)
10. Krzysztof Kasprzak (Poland) 6 (3,0,2,0,1)
11. Przemysław Pawlicki (Poland) 6 (2,ex,0,2,2)
12. Leon Madsen (Denmark) 5 (1,1,ef,0,3)
13. Kenneth Bjerre (Denmark) 5 (1,0,2,0,2)
14. Mateusz Szczepaniak (Poland) 5 (2,1,0,2,0)
15. Mikkel Bech (Denmark) 5 (ex,2,1,1,1)
16. Andrey Kudryashov (Russia) 3 (ef,1,1,1,0)
17. Kenny Wennerstam (Sweden) DNS
1. (56,60) Vaclav Milik, Przemysław Pawlicki, Artem Laguta, Andrey Kudryashov (ef)
2. (58,20) Martin Smolinski, Mateusz Szczepaniak, Leon Madsen, Mikkel Bech (ex)
3. (57,70) Krzysztof Kasprzak, Jacob Thorssell, Andreas Jonsson, Pontus Aspgren
4. (57,30) Andzejs Lebedevs, Kacper Gomólski, Kenneth Bjerre, Michael Jepsen Jensen
5. (57,30) Pontus Aspgren, Michael Jepsen Jensen, Leon Madsen, Przemysław Pawlicki (ex)
6. (56,70) Jacob Thorssell, Mikkel Bech, Artem Laguta, Kenneth Bjerre
7. (58,00) Kacper Gomólski, Martin Smolinski, Andrey Kudryashov, Krzysztof Kasprzak
8. (56,20)Andreas Jonsson, Vaclav Milik, Mateusz Szczepaniak, Andzejs Lebedevs
9. (57,70) Andzejs Lebedevs, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Mikkel Bech, Przemysław Pawlicki
10. (57,90) Andreas Jonsson, Kacper Gomólski, Artem Laguta, Leon Madsen (ef)
11. (59,00) Pontus Aspgren, Kenneth Bjerre, Andrey Kudryashov, Mateusz Szczepaniak
12. (58,80) Michael Jepsen Jensen, Vaclav Milik, Martin Smolinski, Jacob Thorssell
13. (56,80) Andreas Jonsson, Przemysław Pawlicki, Martin Smolinski, Kenneth Bjerre
14. (56,90) Artem Laguta, Mateusz Szczepaniak, Michael Jepsen Jensen, Krzysztof Kasprzak
15. (56,50) Andzejs Lebedevs, Jacob Thorssell, Andrey Kudryashov, Leon Madsen
16. (57,10) Vaclav Milik, Pontus Aspgren, Mikkel Bech, Kacper Gomólski
17. (57,20) Jacob Thorssell, Przemysław Pawlicki, Kacper Gomólski, Mateusz Szczepaniak
18. (57,20) Artem Laguta, Andzejs Lebedevs, Pontus Aspgren, Martin Smolinski
19. (57,30) Andreas Jonsson, Michael Jepsen Jensen, Mikkel Bech, Andrey Kudryashov
20. (58,50) Leon Madsen, Kenneth Bjerre, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Vaclav Milik
21. (58,00) Vaclav Milik, Jacob Thorssell, Pontus Aspgren, Artem Laguta
22. (57,70) Vaclav Milik, Andzejs Lebedevs, Andreas Jonsson, Jacob Thorssell
