Slovak star Martin Vaculik says he realised a childhood dream after sending Marketa Stadium wild with an unforgettable Prague FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic victory on Saturday.
The Bratislava-based racer made regular trips to the famous Marketa Stadium as a child, before honing his skills in the Czech league with his hometown team Zarnovica.
Tonight Vaculik lined up in Prague as one of the world’s top riders and he was elated to triumph in the final ahead of triple world champion Tai Woffinden of Great Britain and Australia’s 2017 world champion Jason Doyle.
After taking his speedway journey full circle at the Czech Republic’s biggest speedway event, Vaculik enthused: “Wow! Racing in Prague is always something special for me. Firstly, I love the city and I have spent a lot of time here since my junior years.
“My big dream was always to win the Grand Prix here. When I was a kid, I came here with my father and I watched the meetings. Now I am in the Grand Prix and my dream has come true.
“I remember, nearly 20 years ago, I stood on a different side of the fence and I shouted for Tony Rickardsson, Tomasz Gollob and other riders I like. I asked if they would take a picture with me, and today somebody asked me for a picture. It really is a dream come true and this is a very special moment for me.”
Vaculik’s victory propels him up to ninth in the Speedway GP World Championship on 29 points. His 20-point haul for topping the Prague podium is a huge improvement on the combined total of nine he scored across the opening two rounds in Donji Kraljevec, Croatia and Polish capital Warsaw.
The Gorzow rider believes he is now finding his form. He said: “Since the beginning of the season, I have been struggling big time. I now feel in a good way with my equipment. I feel I have speed.
“I feel I am gating well and my team is working very well together. We are working hard and keeping calm and composed. We will take things step by step as usual.
“We are trying our best and I am so pleased with a result like today. Speedway is a hard sport. You really need to be focused all the time. The season is long, so you need to be present and enjoy the moment.”
Runner-up Woffinden was pleased to take another step forward in his Speedway GP campaign after reaching his first final of 2022 to move up to fifth place in the standings on 32 points – closing the gap on leader Bartosz Zmarzlik, who has 44 and is 12 ahead.
Woffinden, a former three-time Prague winner, said: “We didn’t have the greatest first round in Croatia, but I made the semis at the second round in Warsaw. Here tonight, the goal was to make the final and we did that. I said before tonight that I don’t mind a challenge and here we are. Let’s see how the rest of the year goes.”
Third-placed Doyle won back-to-back Speedway GP rounds in Prague in 2016 and 2017 and has now reached five Marketa Stadium finals. While he was seeking his third victory, he was pleased to return to the rostrum for the first time since 2020.
He said: “It was not the result I wanted, but to be on the podium is a massive honour – especially when we come to Prague. I love the place and I love the city.
“Today showed the strong riders, not just the ones who ride the slick tracks. I would like to say congratulations to Martin. It’s a great honour to be on the podium tonight.”
The World Championship action comes thick and fast, with the FIM Speedway GP of Germany – Teterow just seven days away on June 4.
SPEEDWAY GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 44, 2 Maciej Janowski 43, 3 Leon Madsen 40, 4 Mikkel Michelsen 33, 5 Tai Woffinden 32, 6 Jason Doyle 31, 7 Max Fricke 30, 8 Fredrik Lindgren 30, 9 Martin Vaculik 29, 10 Anders Thomsen 24, 11 Robert Lambert 22, 12 Dan Bewley 20, 13 Jack Holder 17, 14 Patryk Dudek 15, 15 Pawel Przedpelski 12, 16 Matej Zagar 11, 17 Maksym Drabik 4, 18 Jan Kvech 1.
PRAGUE FIM SPEEDWAY GP OF CZECH REPUBLIC SCORES: 1 Martin Vaculik 20, 2 Tai Woffinden 18, 3 Jason Doyle 16, 4 Maciej Janowski 14, 5 Bartosz Zmarzlik 12, 6 Dan Bewley 11, 7 Leon Madsen 10, 8 Anders Thomsen 9, 9 Max Fricke 8, 10 Jack Holder 7, 11 Fredrik Lindgren 6, 12 Patryk Dudek 5, 13 Robert Lambert 4, 14 Mikkel Michelsen 3, 15 Pawel Przedpelski 2, 16 Jan Kvech 1, 17 Daniel Klima 0, 18 Petr Chlupac 0.