AUSSIE ICON DARCY WARD BELIEVES TAI WOFFINDEN AND BARTOSZ ZMARZLIK WILL FIGHT OVER THE SGP WORLD TITLE "FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS."
Aussie icon Darcy Ward believes former rivals Tai Woffinden and Bartosz Zmarzlik will fight over the FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship “for the next five years.”
Polish star Zmarzlik won his first world crown in 2019, with Woffinden becoming Britain’s first triple world champion in 2018.
Ward was hotly-tipped for multiple world titles before his career was cruelly ended by spinal injuries in 2015, but there’s no doubt he knows what it takes to become a champion.
And he’s backing Bartek and Woffy to be the frontrunners for speedway’s biggest prize in the years to come.
He said: “There are only two guys who I think will win the championship for the next five years, and that’s either Bartosz Zmarzlik or Tai Woffinden.
“I know Woffy personally and he is super strong-minded. Nothing really fazes him. Zmarzlik sometimes still has that Polish mentality of not really relaxing.
“But I’d have to tip Zmarzlik for the win and Woffy for silver. Woffy can come out strong. He can start strong and he is prepared this year. I know he’s looking fitter than he ever has been. I have heard he’s looking slim. He’s going to be light and he’s going to be ready.
“Zmarzlik is special, though. He can do some of the stuff on a bike I used to do. I think Zmarzlik is faster, but Woffy is stronger-minded and has the determination, which is very dangerous.”
Ward has been impressed with Zmarzlik for a long time, and admits there is still room for improvement from the Gorzow favourite.
“I don’t like him throwing his right leg off the bike a lot,” Ward said. “I think could gain a bit more speed if he didn’t do it as often. But who am I to say that? He’s world champion.
“He is quick. He can be explosive and make moves. He makes quick decisions and cutbacks, those split-second decisions you make on race instinct. He is really race-orientated and makes decisions without thinking about them. You don’t have time to think in those situations. He has a real race brain. He’s also a good gater. That’s something you have to be.”
Ward believes Zmarzlik’s education under the tutelage of 2010 world champion Tomasz Gollob made all the difference.
He added: “His early days when Gollob was at Gorzow were vital. If you asked Zmarzlik, I think he would look back and say ‘I learned a lot off that guy when I was a junior.’ I remember going to Gorzow and Gollob was always helping him.
“I can imagine he learned pretty much everything he knows off the master Gollob. Zmarzlik has a good style. He sits well on the bike. He can put the bike anywhere. He’s an all-rounder and he has everything.”
