In this year's Individual European Championships will appear four representatives of Poland. Two of them secured their spots a year ago, one got promoted through SEC Challenge in Krško, and the last one received a permanent wild card from the organizers. How will polish riders perform in TAURON Speedway Euro Championship 2022?
So far, non of the Poles has won the TAURON Speedway Euro Championship series. The closest to the final triumph was Jarosław Hampel, who ended the 2018 series with a silver medal.
Patryk Dudek won the bronze medal of the last year competition. The 2017 SGP silver medallist returned to the SEC series after a long break (he competed in 2014) and immediately stood on the lowest step on podium. He finished the series with a loss of seven points to the Champion, Mikkel Michelsen. Clearly, 'Duzers' will be one of the main candidates to dethrone the reigning champion.
Piotr Pawlicki lost his place on the podium last year in Rybnik, before which he was on top of the interim classification - equal with Michelsen. Finally, he finished fourth, losing the extra race for bronze to Dudek. This season, he will be fighting for the highest goals - the title of Individual European Champion and a spot in the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series. For now, Pawlicki is struggling with time due to the injury suffered in the PGE Ekstraliga match, in which he fractured both shoulder blades.
Bartosz Smektała has been competing in the TAURON SEC series since 2019 and has finished in the top six every time. The best, fifth place he took three years ago. This time, 'Smyk" gained promotion to the series in Krsko and will certainly want to improve on his previous achievements.
The last Polish representative to be included on the list of permanent riders of TAURON SEC 2022 is Janusz Kołodziej, who last competed in this series in 2016. He is currently in excellent form, as shown by the fact that he is the second most successful rider in the PGE Ekstraliga. Kołodziej will be one of the main candidates for the medal, but, like Pawlicki, is currently recovering after a leg injury, which suffered during one of the league matches in Leszno.
Tickets for each round of TAURON Speedway Euro Championship 2022 are on sale. Buy them via ebilet.pl and speedwayeuro.com.