Latvians have announced their squad for the inaugural tournament of Speedway Best Pairs Cup as first. They event takes place in Toruń on the 28th March. One of the representatives of Latvia in this tournament is Andrzejs Lebedevs who told us about season 2014 and also about preparations and expectations concerning current times.
What can you say about season 2014? Are you satisfied with it?
- Well, generally I’m not happy with this season at all (laugh).
Why?
- A lot of things which I planned simply didn’t work out. But there is coming the new season and I will try to use all this knowledge to avoid such problems like I had in 2014.
You’ve decided to stay in Lokomotiv and I’ve heard you had some offers from extraleague… Is that true?
- Honestly, I always have offers from clubs from extralegue and from 1st league. However I still have valid contract with Lokomotiv and I also think that it is too early for extralegue for me. As far as the other clubs from 1st league are concerned there was no sense to go anywhere. Lokomotiv is very reliable club in the 1st league and besides it is always the best to be at home.
How can you summarize Speedway European Championships series as the event? Did you like it?
- It’s a cool event, I really liked it very much. I haven’t started in such events and I felt like a participant of Grand Prix. It is good that such tournaments are made and it is great that One Sport deals with it. I wish them to still develop this event because this is very important tournament for the whole world speedway.
Would you also like to take part in SEC this year?
- It all depends on my starts in Individual World Championship U21. If I will qualify to the finals, I won’t take part in European Championship. This is my last year as U21 rider and I’m concentrating on this particular event, I mean Individual World Championship U21.
What can you say about your starts in Speedway Best Pairs Cup series? Did you also like this event?
- Yes, of course. It is organized by the same people and everything there is on the highest level. I am very happy that I was part of these tournaments in 2014.
It looks like this season will be the same because Latvia will be one of the participants of this event…
- Yes, yes. We are riding in the first round in Poland and if we present ourselves well there, I guess, we will also ride in Esbjerg. In Germany we won’t ride because of marketing reasons – hosts will be racing there.
Coming back to the tournament in Poland for a while – do you like MotoArena?
- Yes, it’s a great track to fight. I was racing there twice and I really liked it. You can ride there everywhere – on the outside and inside. That’s really great track.
Do you think that in Latvia, Daugavpils it would be possible to organize such tournaments which are organized by One Sport – Speedway European Championships or Speedway Best Pairs Cup?
- It’s not a question for me (laugh). It’s rather for organizers and the owners of our club. I can’t answer for that question. Fans would definitely like it. Would that be possible? It is only known by the organizers.
What can you say about the situation of speedway in Latvia? We know you, Maksim Bogdanovs, Kjasts Puodzuks, team of Lokomotiv Daugavpils and what about the rest?
- We have school in which there are boys like us. There are about ten, maybe fifteen of them and it is possible that they will be good riders. Some of them have potential and I think we will have successors and maybe in three or five years time and maybe we will be able to compete for example in Speedway World Cup on the higher level.
And what about you, what are your aims for season 2015?
- The aim is clear – I want to ride as good as possible in all my teams and score as many points as possible. Of course the same concerns my individual starts and the main aim is Individual World Championship U21. I want to qualify to the finals and fight for medals. Last year I didn’t manage to do that but this time I hope that I will manage to realize my plans.
I wish you that and thanks very much for the interview.
- Thanks.
