SWEDEN, Poland and Germany are the first three countries through to join Britain in Saturday’s Speedway of Nations Final in Manchester.
A Fredrik Lindgren-inspired Swedish team topped the scorechart on 38 points in Tuesday night’s opening semi-final round at the National Speedway Stadium. The Grand Prix star dropped only one point to an opponent in six rides as he and partner Jacob Thorssell rattled up a 38-point total, one clear of Poland (37) and five ahead of Germany (33). The top three finished comfortably ahead of Finland (23), Italy (21), France (19) and Ukraine (16). World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik appeared only three times for the Poles after being involved in a nasty first bend crash with Marko Levishyn of Ukraine. Lindgren said afterwards: “We are really pleased to be through to the Final. That was the main aim for us tonight. We executed this meeting very well and I am pleased with my own performance and Jacob as well. “I am happy to go through. It was nice to get the win on the night as well, but the main thing was being on the podium. “But this win today really means nothing on Saturday. It’s a new day and a new opportunity. “I’ll go there with an open mind. The track might be different and other things could be different. It will be a different kind of racing with more quality in the Final. We are ready for anything.”
