History comes full circle. SEC returns to Rzeszów

After a thirteen-year break, a round of the Speedway Euro Championship returns to Rzeszów. It is the perfect moment to look back and reminisce about how the competition in this city played out the last time.

On September 29, 2013, the largest city in the Podkarpacie region became the capital of European speedway. The final, fourth round of the series took place at the stadium at Hetmańska Street. The situation in the general classification before the final struggles was extremely tight, with five riders realistically involved in the title fight. However, fate decided that two of them did not compete, dropping out of the medal race. We are talking about Tomasz Gollob and Tai Woffinden, who were involved in a dangerous accident during the FIM SGP round in Stockholm a week prior. Ultimately, Nicki Pedersen, Grigory Laguta, and Martin Vaculik remained in the battle for the highest goals in the Old Continent’s championship.

From the very beginning, the Russian and the Slovak were calling the shots on the Rzeszów oval. Vaculik triumphed in the main phase with a maximum score. Right behind him was Laguta, who recorded one point less. Grzegorz Zengota, Andrij Karpov, Hans Andersen, and Nicki Pedersen, who was still counting on gold, qualified for the 'Last Chance Heat'. As it turned out, the Dane was about to play a crucial role in the context of the championship's fate.

Pedersen finished the 'race-off' in third place, a position that did not grant promotion to the final heat. In this situation, before the deciding race, the top three in the interim classification looked as follows: Nicki Pedersen and Martin Vaculik – 44 points each, Grigorij Laguta – 40 points. The composition of the SEC 2013 podium was therefore already known, but the final race could still change the order on the rostrum. That race was won by Martin Vaculik, who could thereby celebrate the title of Individual European Champion. Laguta finished second, allowing him to celebrate winning the silver medal. The bronze medal of the series went to Nicki Pedersen.