Polish star Jaroslaw Hampel says his side will remain grounded ahead of the FIM PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna Speedway World Cup Final, despite storming to victory in Event One at Gorzow on Sunday.
The host nation racked up 68 points in 25 heats – the highest score ever recorded in the competition for a four-team event.They dropped just seven points all afternoon, as Hampel was joined by Tomasz Gollob, Rune Holta and Janusz Kolodziej in scoring 14 points. Adrian Miedzinski added 12 and was the only Pole to drop down to third place in any of their races.This commanding display relegated Denmark (45) and Russia (31) into the Race-Off at Vojens on Thursday night, where they will tackle the second and third placed teams from Event Two for the last two SWC Final berths. The Czech Republic crashed out of the tournament on just eight points.
While Poland have been given short odds by the bookmakers to retain the SWC title they won at Leszno last year, Hampel admits they are unlikely to be given such an easy ride in the Final at Vojens on Saturday night.
He said: “We are in the Final, but it could be totally different in Vojens. We are strong but we need to be ready because the rest of the teams want to improve. We know that.
“It’s a totally different place and the track is totally different. It’s pretty short with tight corners. The most important thing is that we read the track well from the beginning and get the best lines.“There will be four strong teams over there. We’ve got a great chance, but we’ve got to work so hard.“The Danish guys are strong, especially at home. Even without Nicki (Pedersen), they are good and the Russians can race well everywhere they go.”
Hampel confirmed he will join his Polish team mates on the terraces for the Race-Off to get a sneak preview of the track conditions they will face in Denmark next weekend.
He added: “We are in the final and now is the time to think about Saturday. Of course, we’ll go up there a little bit early because we want to watch the Race-Off on Thursday. We want to see how the track will look.“I haven’t raced at Vojens for two or three years, so I need to be there to look very carefully at how the track is.”While Hampel is trying not to get carried away after a sublime display, he admits this is the best Polish side he has ever raced in.
He said: “I think it is. Everyone has had good performances in the league meetings this year. Tomasz and I are racing well in the Grand Prix too.
“This was the best possible selection and we proved that on the track. Everything was under control from the beginning, but we couldn’t make good gates in the first part of the meeting.“Later on it was good and we had some very fast bikes. We knew the best lines on the track and we won by a lot of points.”Poland will be joined in the SWC Final by the winners of the Event Two showdown between Team Great Britain, Sweden, Australia and Finland at King’s Lynn on Monday night.
HEAT SCORES:Poland (BLUE) 681 Jaroslaw Hampel (2-3-3-3-3) 142 Rune Holta (3-3-2-3-3) 143 Tomasz Gollob (3-3-2-3-3) 144 Adrian Miedzinski (2-3-3-1-3) 125 Janusz Kolodziej (3-2-3-3-3) 14Denmark (YELLOW/BLACK) 451 Kenneth Bjerre (3-0-4 ^-1-2) 102 Niels-Kristian Iversen (1-1-2-2-1) 73 Hans Andersen (2-1-2-3-2) 104 Nicolai Klindt (3-0-1-2-1) 75 Bjarne Pedersen (2-2-3-2-2) 11Russia (RED) 311 Artem Laguta (1-3-3-0 ^-1) 82 Renat Gafurov (2-1-1-2-1) 73 Grigory Laguta (1-0-0-1-2) 44 Denis Gizatullin (1-1-X-1-1) 45 Roman Povazhny (1-2-1-2-2) 8Czech Republic (WHITE) 81 Lukas Dryml (R-1-1-0-0-0) 22 Ales Dryml (0-2-0-0-0) 23 Martin Malek (0-0-0-0) 04 Zdenek Simota (0-0-0-0-0) 05 Matej Kus (0-2-1-1-0 ^) 4Ht 1: Bjerre, Hampel, A Laguta, L Dryml, (1-2-0-3).Ht 2: Holta, Gafurov, Iversen, A Dryml, (3-5-0-4).Ht 3: (re-run) Gollob, Andersen, G Laguta, Malek, (4-8-0-6).Ht 4: Klindt, Miedzinski, Gizatullin, Simota, (5-10-0-9).Ht 5: Kolodziej, Pedersen, Povazhny, Kus, (6-13-0-11).Ht 6: A Laguta, Kolodziej, Andersen, Simota, (9-15-0-12).Ht 7: (re-run) Hampel, Kus, Gafurov, Klindt, (10-18-2-12).Ht 8: Holta, Pedersen, L Dryml, G Laguta, (10-21-3-14).Ht 9: Gollob, A Dryml, Gizatullin, Bjerre, (11-24-5-14).Ht 10: Miedzinski, Povazhny, Iversen, Malek, (13-27-5-15).Ht 11: A Laguta, Holta, Klindt, Malek, (16-29-5-16).Ht 12: Pedersen, Gollob, Gafurov, Simota, (17-31-5-19).Ht 13: Miedzinski, Bjerre (joker), Kus, G Laguta, (17-34-6-23).Ht 14: (re-run) Kolodziej, Iversen, L Dryml, Gizatullin (f.exc), (17-37-7-25).Ht 15: Hampel, Andersen, Povazhny, A Dryml, (18-40-7-27).Ht 16: Gollob, Iversen, Kus, A Laguta (joker), (18-43-8-29).Ht 17: (re-run) Andersen, Gafurov, Miedzinski, L Dryml, (20-44-8-32).Ht 18: Kolodziej, Klindt, G Laguta, A Dryml, (21-47-8-34).Ht 19: Hampel, Pedersen, Gizatullin, L Dryml, (22-50-8-36).Ht 20: Holta, Povazhny, Bjerre, Simota, (24-53-8-37).Ht 21: Miedzinski, Pedersen, A Laguta, A Dryml, (25-56-8-39).Ht 22: Kolodziej, Bjerre, Gafurov, Malek, (26-59-8-41).Ht 23: Hampel, G Laguta, Iversen, Simota, (28-62-8-42).Ht 24: Holta, Andersen, Gizatullin, Kus (joker), (29-65-8-44).Ht 25: Gollob, Povazhny, Klindt, L Dryml, (31-68-8-45).
