New FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship leader Fredrik Lindgren admitted his Enea Gorzow SGP round-four win was "a burden lifted from my shoulders."
The Swedish icon topped the podium after overhauling Jason Doyle to win the final with a jaw-dropping opening lap and a half at the Edward Jancarz Stadium. The Aussie was later pipped to second place by Danish star Leon Madsen on the run to the line.
This completed a Czestochowa one-two-three, but the night belonged to Lindgren, who reached his fourth straight final of 2020 to charge into a seven-point lead at the top of the standings.
Despite impressing with two third places and a fourth going into tonight's event, Lindgren admits he was determined to end his wait for a win.
He said: "This was a bit of a burden lifted from my shoulders tonight "“ to be able to finally get a win when I have been in three finals and not been able to execute it. It feels really good. I am super happy "“ so, so happy! You don't want to be the guy who makes it to the final and never wins.
"It's a relief to be able to do it. I have that burden off my back now and I can keep the focus for next weekend."
Lindgren was taken wider and wider by Doyle as they battled over the lead going into lap two, before producing a majestic cutback to dive under the Aussie for the lead.
While it could go down as one of the rides of the season, Fast Freddie admits it was all a blur to him.
He said: "The thing is I can't really recall it! I was so much in the moment that I don't remember it. I'll have to go back and watch the replay myself. I just know I was really in the zone and went all-in for it. That's all I can say."
Lindgren is delighted to be leading the way at the SGP series' halfway stage. He said: "Obviously that's where I want to stay, but the main thing is to be there at the end in Torun. So we will keep taking it race by race and we'll see what happens."
Madsen's second place fires him up to fifth in the World Championship on 50 points "“ 16 short of leader Lindgren.
While he has a little catching up to do, the determined Dane had a simple message as he steps up his title bid.
He said: "Don't rule me out yet! A lot of people have been ruling me out. But there are still four meetings to go and I am picking up the points now and getting better and better.
"I'm back on the podium and back in the game. It was nice to race in Gorzow "“ two hard meetings.
"I am happy with how it went this weekend. I am slowly climbing the ladder and eating up those points. Hopefully I can bring this positive momentum I have now on to the next meeting."
Third-placed Doyle produced his second SGP podium finish in 24 hours after also racing to second spot on Friday.
Having started the weekend with just eight championship points to his name, Doyle now has 42 and is delighted with a turnaround that has seen him climb from 15th to seventh in just two rounds.
He said: "It was an unbelievable weekend for me in Gorzow. Two podiums get me back up into a good position for the next two rounds in Prague and also Torun.
"We are working hard. It's a tough year, but we are getting there in the end and we also have some speed, so I'm happy."
Next up is the third SGP 2020 double-header in Czech capital Prague this weekend. Visit Czech Republic SGP round five takes place on Friday, before Marketa Stadium hosts Aztorin SGP round six on Saturday night.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Fredrik Lindgren 66, 2 Bartosz Zmarzlik 59, 3 Maciej Janowski 57, 4 Tai Woffinden 53, 5 Leon Madsen 50, 6 Artem Laguta 45, 7 Jason Doyle 42, 8 Emil Sayfutdinov 36, 9 Martin Vaculik 35, 10 Matej Zagar 27, 11 Niels-Kristian Iversen 24, 12 Max Fricke 24, 13 Mikkel Michelsen 18, 14 Patryk Dudek 16, 15 Gleb Chugunov 16, 16 Anders Thomsen 10, 17 Antonio Lindback 6.
ENEA GORZOW SGP ROUND 4 POINTS: 1 Fredrik Lindgren 20, 2 Leon Madsen 18, 3 Jason Doyle 16, 4 Emil Sayfutdinov 14, 5 Bartosz Zmarzlik 12, 6 Martin Vaculik 11, 7 Tai Woffinden 10, 8 Maciej Janowski 9, 9 Max Fricke 8, 10 Anders Thomsen 7, 11 Matej Zagar 6, 12 Artem Laguta 5, 13 Niels-Kristian Iversen 4, 14 Antonio Lindback 3, 15 Mikkel Michelsen 2, 16 Patryk Dudek 1, 17 Rafal Karczmarz 0, 18 Wiktor Jasinski 0.
