Antonio Lindbaeck had a successful start of the TAURON Speedway Euro Championship 2018 series. In the inaugural round, Swede got 13 points and is on a right way to reach for another medal of the Invididual Speedway European Championship.
It's Lindbaeck's third time fighting for the top Euro Champ's title. So far, his best result has come in 2015, when he reached for bronze medal. Back then, "Toninho" had some fabulous numbers - won 15 out of 25 heats he started and ended the series with 51 points gathered. What's interesting, in the last season, 52 points let Andzejs Lebedevs reach for gold.
Key to reach the bronze three years ago was his stable disposition. Swede started in 25 heats, out of which, he won 15, adding 2 second places and 5 third. Two zeros and one exclude occured as well.
It all started from gathering 12 points in Toruń. In Landshut, Lindbaeck once again got through to the final heat and after 22 heats, he had 11 points. Round in Kumla ended for Lindbaeck behind the podium, but another 11 points put him in a very good situation right before the final round in Ostrów Wielkopolski, where he was truly dominating the others. Maximum points in the main series and third place in the final gave him 16 points and bronze medal of the Individual Speedway European Championship.
In 2016, some bad luck made Lindbaeck got out of the SEC series. Swede was sixth and only the TOP 5 were securing their spots for upcoming year. What's more, "Toninho" had 37 points - the same as Grigorij Laguta and Leon Madsen and the difference between him and gold medalist - Nicki Pedersen was only 3 points.
Lindbaeck once again presented solid form, but this time, he was getting way less points. Only in Togliatti, he was able to gather a double-digit score (14 points). In Güstrow and Rybnik, he ended with only 8 points and in Daugavpils he added 7. After a one-year break, Antonio Lindbaeck is back to TAURON Speedway Euro Championship and for Swede, inaugural round in Gniezno was definitely a success. 13 points and second place in the final heat is a great prognosis before the next rounds.
- I'm really happy with my score and already looking forward to the second round - Lindbaeck said.
Second round will be held in Güstrow. Looking at previous editions of SEC, taken at this track, fans can definitely expect great emotions not only because of an unique geometry of this track, but also the fact that not many riders have had a chance to compete there on a regular basis.
- I haven't had many opportunities to race there, but it's a totally different meeting. New round brings new chances to win. I'm going to Güstrow to give my best. We will see what will happen - Lindbaeck ended.
Second round of TAURON Speedway Euro Championship 2018 will be held in Güstrow on July 14, 2018. Tickets are available: http://bit.ly/TAURON_SEC_GUSTROW.
Live broadcast on Eurosport.
Starting list:
1.Leon Madsen #66
2. Kevin Woelbert #16
3. Vaclav Milik #225
4. Andzejs Lebedevs #29
5. Kai Huckenbeck #744
6. Mikkel Michelsen #155
7. Andrey Kudryashov #91
8. Piotr Pawlicki #777
9. Emil Sajfutdinov #89
10. Krzysztof Kasprzak #507
11. Jarosław Hampel #33
12. Josef Franc #444
13. Antonio Lindbaeck #85
14. Andreas Jonsson #100
15. Peter Kildemand #25
16. Robert Lambert #505
17. Max Dilger
18. Tobias Busch
