World champion Bartosz Zmarzlik raced to his second straight FIM Speedway Grand Prix win in Prague on Saturday, and admitted the thrill of the chase made it even sweeter.
The Polish icon topped the Aztorin SGP round-six podium at Marketa Stadium on Saturday night "“ his second win at the venue in 24 hours and his third SGP victory of 2020.
He heads into the final SGP double-header of the season in Torun, Poland on October 2 and 3 with a seven-point lead over nearest rival Fredrik Lindgren at the top of the World Championship standings.
Zmarzlik chased down Great Britain star Tai Woffinden in an epic final, blazing under the triple world champion with a breathtaking burst down the back straight to complete a maximum haul of 40 championship points this weekend.
The Gorzow favourite also won Friday's meeting ahead of Woffinden with a sublime start in the final. But he was even happier to top Saturday's podium after being forced to fight for the win.
He said: "I am very happy because I won on both days. This is unbelievable for me and my team. This was a better win than yesterday because all the time I was fighting in the final, and that's a much better feeling.
"I always had a good feeling in the race with Tai. I said to my bike "˜come on, come on!' I was feeling fast and felt I could do it.
"I am really happy. I didn't win the starts and win the heats. I was always fighting with the guys and it's nice to do that rather than just make the start and win the heats."
Zmarzlik claimed his first victory of 2020 in round three at home track Gorzow on Friday, September 11, but fell short of the final on the Saturday night. So he was delighted to follow up a fast Friday with another first place in Prague.
He said: "Before the meeting I was a little bit nervous because my second day in Gorzow was not so nice.
"Friday was the same story. I won the first meeting and was wondering what would happen the next day.
"What a night it was for me! This is my second win here and I am really happy. But this is history and I must look at what's before me in the last two rounds. Please keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll see you soon."
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 99, 2 Fredrik Lindgren 92, 3 Tai Woffinden 89, 4 Maciej Janowski 71, 5 Leon Madsen 70, 6 Jason Doyle 69, 7 Martin Vaculik 63, 8 Emil Sayfutdinov 60, 9 Artem Laguta 60, 10 Max Fricke 40, 11 Matej Zagar 37, 12 Niels-Kristian Iversen 30, 13 Patryk Dudek 29, 14 Mikkel Michelsen 27, 15 Gleb Chugunov 16, 16 Antonio Lindback 12, 17 Anders Thomsen 10, 18 Vaclav Milik 1, 19 Eduard Krcmar 1.
AZTORIN SGP ROUND SIX POINTS: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 20, 2 Tai Woffinden 18, 3 Jason Doyle 16, 4 Fredrik Lindgren 14, 5 Martin Vaculik 12, 6 Leon Madsen 11, 7 Emil Sayfutdinov 10, 8 Maciej Janowski 9, 9 Max Fricke 8, 10 Matej Zagar 7, 11 Patryk Dudek 6, 12 Artem Laguta 5, 13 Antonio Lindback 4, 14 Mikkel Michelsen 3, 15 Niels-Kristian Iversen 2, 16 Vaclav Milik 1, 17 Eduard Krcmar 0, 18 Jan Kvech DNR.
