If someone was watching speedway for the first time in their life, they might have been wondering how come they had never been interested in it before. On Friday, we witnessed a whole range of speedway surprises and penalties – there were defects, falls, exclusions of all kinds. Suffice to say that two heats ended with a total of 5 points, which is something that happens extremely rarely in speedway, but here it happened twice... The only thing missing from the alphabet was a tape, and thank goodness, because we couldn't have taken any more!
We have prepared an overview of the most important events and match nuances that are worth paying attention to when analysing the opening match.
🎁 Track events - It started with a scary-looking fall of Bartek Kowalski in the very first heat, and in the further part of the match we witnessed another 4 crashes. In addition, the players had two failures and two heats ending with only two players left. Rare images at the Olympic Games
🧩 New line-ups – The new season brought changes in the youth and U24 line-ups. Bartłomiej Kowalski represents the U24 line-up and Dan Bewley has joined the group of seniors. Each of them did well in their new role. The Pole finished the match with 8 points and the Brit with 10. The strength of the junior team this year includes Jakub Krawczy and Marcel Kowolik, who have made a name for themselves. We have dedicated a separate paragraph below to our juniors.
🦸 Form of seniors – Our stars are still looking for top form
🔍 This applies to Magic and Tai, who together scored only 8 points and were clearly disappointed with the way they had to say hello to the Wroclaw audience. On the other hand, Artem Łaguta showed his excellent skills, as his 14 points helped Betard Sparta beat the team from Zielona Gora. The aforementioned Dan Bewley also added important points.
💎 Juniors – the junior heat was pure magic. Jakub Krawczyk and Marcel Kowolik showed a great ride and beat their rivals in the second heat by 5:1. Kuba Krawczyk also impressed in the next two heats, in which he added another 2 points to the Wrocław team's tally. Marcel Kowolik, despite a good ride, did not add any more points. In the 8th heat, he was involved in a nasty-looking crash with Rasmus Jensen.
🥁 An important win – despite the emotional rollercoaster we saw in the match to open the 2024 season, the meeting ended successfully for the Betard Sparta Wrocław speedway riders and two points stayed in Wrocław. The 6-point lead is also a good sign ahead of the return leg, during which a bonus point will also be up for grabs, with the team that scores more points overall in the two-legged encounter receiving it.
Artem Łaguta was named man of the match. Betard Sparta Wrocław is in 3rd place after the first round of the Speedway Ekstraliga, behind Motor Lublin and Stal Gorzów. In the next match, on 21 April at 4:30 p.m., the Wrocław team will face Tauron Włókniarz Częstochowa in an away match.
