Third round of Speedway Euro Championship 2016 is coming. On upcoming Saturday, in Togliatti at 5PM local time, the best European riders will be back in fighting for the championship points. Who will end as the best one? Emil Sayfutdinov, Grigorij Laguta or maybe Nicki Pedersen?
Fans' appetite to witness a passionate show got higher after recent round in Daugavpils. Actions close to faul, fighting on shoulders and countless passes at the distance were a real showcase of this sport. Before starting the rivalry in Togliatti, everybody's been expecting as good show as this in Latvia and we are just in the middle of the fight for the title. It can be hard to make the situation in the overall classification even more interesting.
In Togliatti, Emil Sayfutdinov will wear the golden race jacket of the leader. Russian started the rivalry in SEC 2016 not so well. In rainy Güstrow, ended the meeting at 9th place after solving the track in Germany a bit too late. Two weeks back, another not so good beginning in Daugavpils came. European Champion had a poor start, but quickly found the right rhythm and went through to the race-off and from there - straight to the final, where he ended third. Now, at the track he knows so well, will be one of the favourites.
Let's remind that the rivalry in the reformed European Championship will take place at the MegaLada venue for the third time. Two and three years back, Russian was placed in the top (one second and one first place).
What's interesting, Emil Sayfutdinov was switching the podium with Nicki Pedersen, who got the triumph in Togliatti in 2014. Saturday's meeting can be a breakthrough for him, because he hasn't been shining with his form so far.
Other riders starting in Russia can count on some good performance too. One of the most determined to win there is Grigorij Laguta. Russian skipped the first SEC round because of his hand's injury and in the second final - in Daugavpils - he ended at the top. Will it be the same now?
Here is the official starting list for MegaLada Speedway Euro Championship in Togliatti:
1. Grigory LAGUTA #7 (Russia)
2. Janusz KOŁODZIEJ #27 (Poland)
3. Andrey KUDRYASHOV #16 (Russia)
4. Andrzejs LEBEDEVS #29 (Latvia)
5. Przemyslaw PAWLICKI #59 (Poland)
6. Antonio LINDBAECK #85 (Sweden)
7. Joonas KYLMAEKORPI #610 (Sweden)
8. Emil SAYFUTDINOV #89 (Russia)
9. Anders THOMSEN #5 (Denmark)
10. Vaclav MILIK #13 (Czech Rep.)
11. Hans ANDERSEN #34 (Denmark)
12. Krzysztof KASPRZAK #507 (Poland)
13. Nicki PEDERSEN #3 (Denmark)
14. Martin VACULIK #54 (Slovakia)
15. Leon MADSEN #66 (Denmark)
16. Peter LJUNG #36 (Sweden)
17. Mikhail LITVINOV (Russia)
18. Gleb CHUGUNOV (Russia)
