Slovak star Martin Vaculik is determined to break his FIM Speedway Grand Prix semi-final jinx in Prague this weekend.
Vaculik lines up in Friday's Visit Czech Republic SGP round five and Saturday's Aztorin SGP round six at the iconic Marketa Stadium, which stages World Championship action for a record-breaking 24th straight season.
Having grown up racing in the Czech league, Vaculik would love to reach his first final of the season there, having made it into three out of four semis so far, only to fall short of the rostrum races in Wroclaw last month and Gorzow last weekend.
Currently ninth in the World Championship on 35 points, Vaculik is 31 behind series leader Fredrik Lindgren, who won last Saturday's Enea Gorzow SGP round four to move on to 66. He holds a seven-point lead over reigning world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik in second place.
Vaculik admits his tally would have been higher if he had converted more semis into finals under the new 2020 scoring system, which guarantees riders 14 points for reaching the last four, with 20 on offer to the winner.
He said: "It's tough because three times the final has been very close to me. I finished in the semi-final, so I was pretty disappointed. I could have had many more points. But the rules are the same for everybody. I need to deal with that and try to be in the final as much as possible.
"Three times we probably made a mistake with the setup and this cost me so many points. If I had been in the final three times, I could have been in a much better position in the table.
"Maybe I could have been in the top five or six. But the system is like it is and it's tough. One good weekend means you can go a few positions up and one bad weekend means you can go three, four or five positions down. It's definitely something new and something we need to deal with."
Vaculik is yet to reach a Czech SGP final in three attempts, but has been a regular visitor to Prague since his youth, having raced there for hometown club Zarnovica. Asked if this experience helps him in Prague, he said: "I have never been in the final in the Grand Prix there, so maybe I should ask other riders the secret for the SGP rounds on the Prague track.
"I really like Prague. Last year I didn't have the best meeting there, but I really hope this year will be a different story; I can give my best, and I can fight for the final."
The Prague rounds are the only SGP 2020 meetings to take place outside Poland in a season when the calendar has been hit by coronavirus restrictions.
Vaculik is pleased the Czech Republic is able to continue its proud record of staging SGP action.
He said: "It's a strange year for everybody "“ for sports around the world and speedway as well. I think we are happy we can race the Speedway Grand Prix series in a different country "“ not just Poland.
"I am thankful we have the opportunity to race in these crazy times. I really hope and wish everything comes back to normal for next season because we all need that."
Vaculik heads to Prague on the back of a heavy fall in a PGE Ekstraliga match for Zielona Gora in Lublin, Poland last Sunday.
The 30-year-old landed hard on his ribs after a tight battle going into bend one with Lublin duo Grigorii Laguta and Jakub Jamrog.
While he suffered no broken bones in the incident, Vaculik admitted: "I hit the track pretty hard and landed on my ribs. I feel big discomfort with my breathing and everything after the crash.
"On Monday, I had an X-ray and, thank God, nothing was broken. I just have some problems with the muscles and soreness. A couple of days of rest will definitely help me and some work with my physio. Then we will be ready for the Prague meeting."
PRAGUE LINE-UP (in FIM ranking order with riding numbers): 95 Bartosz Zmarzlik (Poland), 30 Leon Madsen (Denmark), 89 Emil Sayfutdinov (Russia), 66 Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden), 54 Martin Vaculik (Slovakia), 71 Maciej Janowski (Poland), 69 Jason Doyle (Australia), 692 Patryk Dudek (Poland), 55 Matej Zagar (Slovenia), 88 Niels-Kristian Iversen (Denmark), 222 Artem Laguta (Russia), 85 Antonio Lindback (Sweden), 108 Tai Woffinden (Great Britain), 46 Max Fricke (Australia), 155 Mikkel Michelsen (Denmark), 16 Vaclav Milik (Czech Republic "“ wild card), 17 Eduard Krcmar (Czech Republic "“ first track reserve), 18 Jan Kvech (Czech Republic "“ second track reserve).
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.
