Ļebedevs' Smederna Crush Kolodinskis' Piraterna in Swedish Speedway

In the Swedish Bauhaus-Ligan speedway championship, two teams with Latvian riders met. Andžejs Ļebedevs' Eskilstuna Smederna dominated Motala's Piraterna, featuring Daniil Kolodinskis, winning 63:27 at home. The "Smiths" tightened their grip on first place in the standings before the last round of the regular season.

The match looked like a meeting between two different weight classes from the start. After the first three heats, the hosts led 13:5, and after ten heats the score had grown to 41:19. Smederna won seven heats 5:1, while the visitors managed to win only one heat, 4:2.

Four Eskilstuna riders scored at least ten points: Poland's Maciej Janowski collected 13, Kim Nilsson 12, Andžejs Ļebedevs 11 in only four heats, and Dane Mikkel Andersen, currently the leader of the junior world championship (SGP2) standings, also reached double figures. Only one of the eight Smederna riders failed to score at least seven points.

For the visitors, only Viktor Palovaara, a former Daugavpils Lokomotīve rider, managed more than five points, finishing with eight. Daniil Kolodinskis scored just two points in four heats, taking two third places. Despite the modest score, he did not look hopeless – he stayed close to third or second place, and Janowski only overtook him at the end of the third lap. The riding was not poor, but like the rest of the team, Kolodinskis lacked points.

After 13 of 14 rounds, Smederna are first with 28 points and have already secured a semifinal berth. Defending champions Vastervik Speedway trail by three points and are also through to the semifinals. Piraterna, with two points, sit eighth and lost their chance to reach the quarterfinals long ago.

In the individual standings, Ļebedevs moved up to third with an average of 2.373 points per heat. World champion Bartosz Zmarzlik leads with 2.789 from eight matches, while Britain's Robert Lambert – winner of the previous SGP round and one of three contenders for the world title – is second with 2.421.

On Wednesday, Ļebedevs will race again in the Danish league, representing Vojens SES at home against Esbjerg Vikings. Vojens are the league leaders and are fighting for a top-two finish to advance directly to the final four.