Title's defender, Bartosz Smektała was second in the first round of FOGO FIM Speedway U21 World Championship, which was held in Lublin (Poland). Polish rider admits that Saturday's meeting was far from being a good one for him.
After three series of starts, Smektała had only four points and his racing didn't look like the champion got us used to. In the second series, however, Pole made a decision to change some setups, which were effective enough to get him into the second step of the podium.
- It was a very tough meeting. Track in Lublin was a challenging one, but equal for all of us. In the beginning, outside gates were better, however in the later phase, it all changed and I made use of it. I was struggling a lot in the beginning, which you all surely saw, but later on, we used totally different setups, which got me back on the right path - Smektała said.
Despite a second position in Lublin, Smektała is currently fifth overall, losing four points to the leaders - Gleb Chugunov and Dominik Kubera.
- Right now, I'm fifth overall, so this podium is to wipe away the tears. Points are more important. I will do my best to make it better in the second round.
Second round of FOGO Fim Speedway U21 World Championship is planned on 14th of September in Güstrow. Title's defender has got some great memories from this track. Nearly two years ago, he won the U21 World Championship round, which was held at German track.
- In Güstrow, I have started twice and have some good memories from there. However, this meeting was taken two years ago. I would like to repeat that score, but I'm aware it's gonna be extremely hard to do. This year, there are many candidates to reach for the World Champion title - Smektała ended.
