Individual Speedway European Championship is the tournament that started in 2001. Then, in Heusden-Zolder, golden medal was taken by Bohumil Brhel. Until 2012, there were starting riders who were hard to find in the biggest international events. After taking the Championship by One Sport, this tournament has reached the deserved prestige.
Everything started on July 27, 2013, when for the first time 16 best European riders started the rivalry in Gdańsk. First historical heat was won by Emil Sayfutdinov (with Nicki Pedersen behind his back). Looking from a perspective, we can say now that this rivalry between Sayfutdinov and Pedersen has always been a cherry on top of SEC.
At the full packed stadium over Polish seaside, riders were struggling hard for every single point. You could feel that fighting for European Championship is not only a fight for points or money, but also the prestige, which was missing in the previous years.
First controversy was excluding Martin Vaculik by the referee in 20th heat. Slovakian, riding behind Grigorij Laguta had to shut the gas down after Russian dangerously bounced from the fence. That caused Fredrik Lindgren's fall. Despite Vaculik's words and requests, referee decided to exclude him from the repeat that ultimately crossed his chances for advancing to the race-off heat.
In this historical, first final, Emil Sayfutdinov got the triumph and with his attitude, showed that he would do his best to dominate the tournament and reach the gold.
One thing is sure, inaugural meeting of SEC in Gdańsk was the bull's eye hit. Lots of fans, incredible racing, Eurosport broadcast to more than 70 countries in the world - all of that proved clearly that there's a space for such format in the world of speedway.
