Former world No.3 Maciej Janowski’s FIM Speedway Grand Prix return hopes have been reignited after his place in Poland’s Golden Helmet in Opole on April 21 was confirmed.
Janowski was dropped from the national side for 2025 after leaving Poland’s winter training camp in Malta early to attend the wedding of a close friend and sponsor and obtain a new passport and visa ahead of competing in the UK.
It was suggested that the Wroclaw and Oxford Spires star may also be overlooked for the Golden Helmet – the event which decides Poland’s entrants for the Speedway GP international qualifiers.
But his name was included in the field alongside Speedway GP duo Bartosz Zmarzlik and Dominik Kubera, plus former world No.2s Patryk Dudek and Jaroslaw Hampel.
Former SGP regulars Janusz Kolodziej, Przemyslaw Pawlicki, Piotr Pawlicki and Szymon Wozniak also make the start list, along with reigning SGP2 champion Wiktor Przyjemski and double SGP2 gold medallist Mateusz Cierniak.
Explaining his decision to nominate Janowski for the Golden Helmet line-up, Polish team manager Rafal Dobrucki insists he did not want to punish the rider further.
He said: “In terms of sporting merit, he is an obvious candidate. The 2025 penalty should not apply to the 2026 season. Participation in the Golden Helmet is a potential ticket for the rider to the 2026 SGP series. My role is to organise the development of speedway riders, not to block them, so this case will be no different. I did not want to deprive Maciej Janowski of the chance to start in next year's Grand Prix. The rest is in his hands.”
Dobrucki still has the option to select Janowski for the FIM Speedway of Nations Final in Torun on October 4 should he wish to do so, with Poland seeded into the event as host nation.
While many national coaches pick a provisional squad of riders they intend to work with, any rider with a Polish passport can be selected when Dobrucki names his five-rider FIM SON squad in August. This will then be narrowed down to a three-rider starting line-up in the days before the event.
GOLDEN HELMET LINE-UP: 1. Grzegorz Zengota, 2. Bartosz Zmarzlik, 3. Patryk Dudek, 4. Kacper Woryna, 5. Dominik Kubera, 6. Mateusz Cierniak, 7. Wiktor Przyjemski, 8. Janusz Kolodziej, 9. Robert Chmiel, 10. Przemyslaw Pawlicki, 11. Bartłomiej Kowalski, 12. Piotr Pawlicki, 13. Maciej Janowski, 14. Jaroslaw Hampel, 15. Krzysztof Buczkowski, 16. Szymon Woźniak. RESERVES: 17. Oskar Fajfer, 18. Oskar Paluch.