The third round of Speedway European Championships series in Kumla ended with the victory of Emil Sayfutdinov. Russian beat his countryman, Grigory Laguta, Nicki Pedersen and Antonio Lindbaeck in the grand finale.
In Kumla Peter Kildemand and Piotr Protasiewicz did not start. Both riders suffered injuries in earlier performances and their participation in SEC was impossible. In Sweden Tomasz Gollob was present, but he did not show up on a track not even once.
In the first phase mainly start decided of the order at the finish line. Riders maximally used first and second gate which in the first two rounds were the best. The only rider who broke that pattern was later winner, Emil Sayfutdinov.
The second part of the competition is the essence of speedway. Amazing fight, racing over a distance of four laps and passing at the very last moment. Fans who sat at ICA Maxi Arena certainly were very pleased with the show, which was presented the best speedway riders in Europe.
Only in the last heat, Grigory Laguta secured the qualification to the race – off. The regular phase was won by his countryman, Emil Sayfutdinov who scored a maximum of points. Another rider who secured a direct qualification to the final was a local hero, Antonio Lindbaeck. Quite unexpectedly Martin Smolinski got to the last chance heat. Until this moment he rather disappointed.
In the race-off for causing the fall of the older of Laguta brothers Fredrik Lindgren was excluded. The re – run was clearly won by Nicki Pedersen, and after a fierce bid battle "Grisha" also got to the final line - up.
The final belonged to only one rider - Emil Sayfutdinov. Leader of the series won with a huge advantage, leaving no illusions about their rivals. Behind his back ended Laguta, and the third was Lindbaeck. As it turned out, Swede during the last attack on Laguta ran out of the line of the track with two wheels. The referee Wojciech Grodzki had no choice - he had to exclude Lindbaeck.
After the three rounds Nicki Pedersen loses to Emil Sayfutdinov 9 points and it seems that Russian will defend the championship title. Will this really happen? We'll find out on September 19th during the Grand Finale of SEC series in Ostrow Wielkopolski.
Results:
1. Emil Sayfutdinov (Russia) - 18 (3,3,3,3,3,3)
2. Grigory Laguta (Russia) - 10 (1,0,3,1,3,2)
3. Nicki Pedersen (Denmark) - 11 (2,2,2,2,2,1)
4. Antonio Lindbaeck (Sweden) - 12 (3,2,3,1,3,x)
5. Martin Smolinski (Germany) - 9 (2,3,0,2,2)
6. Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden) - 9 (3,2,1,2,1)
7. Martin Vaculik (Slovakia) - 8 (2,1,0,2,3)
8. Artiom Laguta (Russia) - 8 (1,1,2,3,1)
9. Janusz Kołodziej (Poland) - 7 (0,3,1,3,0)
10. Tomasz Jędrzejak (Poland) - 7 (1,2,1,3,0)
11. Hans Andersen (Denmark) - 6 (2,0,3,0,1)
12. Fredrik Engman (Sweden) - 6 (1,1,2,1,1)
13. Przemysław Pawlicki (Poland) - 5 (3,0,0,0,2)
14. Vaclav Milik (Czech Republic) - 5 (0,1,2,0,2)
15. Joel Andersson (Sweden) - 4 (0,3,0,1,0)
16. Witalij Biełousow (Russia) - 1 (0,0,1,0,0)
17. Tomasz Gollob (Poland) - 0 (x,x,x,x,x)
Heat after heat:
1. Pawlicki, Vaculik, G. Laguta, Kołodziej
2. Lindgren, Pedersen, A. Laguta, Biełousow
3. Sayfutdinov, Andersen, Engman, Milik
4. Lindbaeck, Smolinski, Jędrzejak, Andersson
5. Andersson, Lindgren, Milik, Pawlicki
6. Smolinski, Pedersen, Vaculik, Andersen
7. Sayfutdinov, Lindbaeck, A. Laguta, G. Laguta
8. Kołodziej, Jędrzejak, Engman, Biełousow
9. Sayfutdinov, Pedersen, Jędrzejak, Pawlicki
10. Lindbaeck, Engman, Lindgren, Vaculik
11. G. Laguta, Milik, Biełousow, Smolinski
12. Andersen, A. Laguta, Kołodziej, Andersson
13. A. Łaguta, Smolinski, Engman, Pawlicki
14. Sayfutdinov, Vaculik, Andersson, Biełousow
15. Jędrzejak, Lindgren, G. Laguta, Andersen
16. Kołodziej, Pedersen, Lindbaeck, Milik
17. Lindbaeck, Pawlicki, Andersen, Biełousow
18. Vaculik, Milik, A. Laguta, Jędrzejak
19. G. Laguta, Pedersen, Engman, Andersson
20. Sayfutdinov, Smolinski, Lindgren, Kołodziej
Last chance heat:
21. Pedersen, G. Laguta, Smolinski, Lindgren (x)
Final:
22. Sayfutdinov, Laguta, Pedersen, Lindbaeck (x)
