Polish star Przemyslaw Pawlicki raced to a seven-ride maximum as he took victory in the World Speedway Invitational at Industry Hills Speedway near Los Angeles on Saturday.
In front of a sizeable Californian crowd, Pawlicki topped the podium ahead of American international Broc Nicol in second, 2021 Speedway GP world champion Artem Laguta in third, with former world No.3 Maciej Janowski placed fourth.
In a meeting staged over the old Speedway GP format, Pawlicki topped the score chart with a perfect 15 points over five rides, before winning semi-final one ahead of Janowski, American racer Slater Lightcap and Speedway GP star Andzejs Lebedevs. The Latvian scored 10 points in the heats, despite suffering a crash in his second ride.
The second semi-final was won by Laguta ahead of Nicol, with Max Ruml third and Billy Janniro in fourth place.
Former FIM North America champion Ruml made a superb start to his evening, scoring 13 points from five races – winning all four of his opening heats, including a victory over Lebedevs and Laguta in heat 15. But he lost out to Pawlicki and Nicol in heat 17, with Nicol getting the better of his compatriot again in their semi showdown.
Pawlicki and Nicol clashed in the first run of the final. The Pole got the verdict at the second time of asking, with the American second and Laguta joining them on the podium. Janowski slipped off on lap two, finishing fourth.
PHOTO: Peter Szilagyi