On 17 May, the Unia Leszno team arrived at the Olympic Stadium. Some fans remember the duels between the Wrocław and Leszno teams as the most electrifying events in the league calendar. Unfortunately for the team from the Lubuskie province, a lot has changed in Polish speedway since Leszno outclassed all their rivals and won championship titles one after another. Although Unia Leszno is still one of the most successful clubs in the Ekstraliga, it no longer instils fear in its speedway adversaries. In fact, the opposite is true: in the current season, the team has only scored 3 points in the overall standings and, at the moment, everything indicates that it is more concerned with avoiding relegation than thinking about winning another league trophy. The situation is different in Wrocław, where another league victory has brought the team closer to the leaders, Motor Lublin. Although there is still a long way to go until the play-offs, it is hard to imagine Spartan not making it through the regular season.
An important piece of news that emerged before the start of the competition was the injury of Damian Ratajczak. The Unia Leszno youth rider had an accident while performing in Denmark and suffered a broken femur. He thus joined Janusz Kołodziej on the list of injuries for the Leszno team. The absence of two key players put the Leszno team in a very difficult position ahead of the match against Betard Sparta, and although their replacements Keynan Rew and Nazar Parnitskyi accumulated a total of 11 points, Kołodziej, who was performing brilliantly in Wrocław, could still have been a more dangerous weapon in Unia's arsenal. Despite the lack of personnel, the match started very promisingly for the visitors, who kept the score even after the first series and could look forward to the next heats. Unfortunately, two defeats with a 5:1 ratio in the second series put Betard Sparta at a safe distance, and the score of the duel only increased in favour of the hosts, who won almost everything (except for two draws) until the nominated heats. Before the 14th heat, the scoreboard showed 51:27 and Betard Sparta was already sure of victory. In the end, each team delivered a strong blow – in the first nominated heat, the Leszno team won 1:5, only to lose in the same ratio in heat 15. The match ended with a score of 57:33.
The next day after the WROLES meeting, another fast-paced speedway event took place. This time, the riders gathered in Landshut, Germany, to compete for the title of individual world champion in the Speedway Grand Prix series. Among them were three riders individually supported by Betard – Tai Woffinden, Dan Bewley and Andzejs Lebedevs. Once again, the best of the group was the Brit Dan Bewley, who advanced to the semi-final round and finished the competition in seventh place. Woffinden came in tenth and Lebedevs thirteenth. The next competition in the SGP series will take place on the track in Prague, Czech Republic (1 June). The individual world champion will be crowned after the eleventh round of the series, which is scheduled for 28 September at the track in Toruń.
The weekend's highlights:
💥 Woffinden's comeback – good performances on English tracks heralded the return to form of one of Betard Sparta's leaders, while the 13 points won at the Wrocław track are a truly impressive result. It seems crucial that the popular Thai rider maintains this level of performance, as his points could tip the scales in favour of the Wrocław-based team in the upcoming difficult duel with Stal Gorzów.
2️⃣ Second place in the league – the Wrocław team is in second place in the league and although the cancellation of Sunday's matches between Gorzów and Toruń has a big impact on this, Betard Sparta will have a chance in the 6th round to settle more comfortably into the seat of vice-leader if they beat Stal Gorzów, who are fighting for this title, in a direct duel.
🔜 Upcoming matches – The next matches on the Wrocław team's schedule are the home game against Stal Gorzow and the most difficult away game of the season, against Motor Lublin at the Best Auto Arena. A good performance in these matches could give the Wrocław team a lot of confidence ahead of the next games. On the other hand, defeats may cause nervousness in the Wrocław camp in the next matches. Two important weeks ahead of Betard Sparta Wrocław!
👀 Dan Bewley in the SGP - one of the favourites of the Wrocław audience, although he is in good form, he still waits for his good start in SGP. Third place at the inauguration of the series is his highest place so far, followed by 6th and 7th place in the following competitions. Bewley's sixth place in the general classification is, on the one hand, a place that gives him the opportunity to participate in the next round of the series, but it is not the best he can do, as he has the potential to contend for the podium.
