MATCH REPORT: European Club Championship day 2

Report by Mike Hack

Day 2 of the European Cycle Speedway Club Championships saw all twelve teams racing their second group qualifying matches, at the TSZ Torun track in Poland.

Wroclaw took a convincing win in match D, with Swietochlowice finishing three points clear of Kaszczorek for second place, and Poczesna a distant fourth. Mateusz Pacek and Bartosz Grabowski both raced unbeaten for Wroclaw.

Match D result: Wroclaw 54 Swietochlowice 42 Kaszczorek 40 Poczesna 21.

Match E saw Leszno and Horspath tie for 1st place on 48 points, with Zoledowo third on 42 and the Track Reserves team last on 20. Horspath’s Zac Payne top scored in the match, with 15 points.

Match E result: Leszno 48 Horspath 48 Zoledowo 42 Track Reserves 20.

Gniezno ran out comfortable winners of Match F, scoring 52 points, eight clear of Torun, with Birmingham third on 32 and Zielona Gora bringing up the rear on 23. Jakub Kosciecha, of Torun, raced to a 16 points maximum score.

Match F result: Gniezno 52 Torun 44 Birmingham 32 Zielona Gora 23.

As a result of the six qualifying group matches, the top six teams qualified for the semi-finals. The finishing order of the group qualifiers was: Gniezno, Swietochlowice, Horspath, Wroclaw, Zoledowo, Torun. The remaining five clubs contested a Repechage match, to determine the final two qualifiers for the semi-finals. (The Track Reserves team dropped out, having only been included to make an equal number of teams in each qualifying match).

Leszno and Birmingham took the top two places in the Repechage match (Match G), to secure their places in the semi-finals. Birmingham finished 4 points behind Leszno, but had a 7 points margin over Kaszczorek, with Zielona Gora fourth and Poczesna fifth. Leszno’s Mateusz Ludwiczak and the Birmingham duo of Chris Timms and Paul Heard all jointly top scored in the match, with 15 points each.

Match G result: Leszno 53 Birmingham 49 Kaszczorek 42 Zielona Gora 36 Poczesna 20.