KING’S Lynn No.1 Max Fricke led an Australian one-two-three in the first of two weekend FIM ATPI GPs of Manchester on Friday.
Fricke held off the challenge of Belle Vue skipper Brady Kurtz in the closing stages of the Final to take the third GP victory of his career, a result which rockets him up to sixth in the overall standings.
The two were joined on the podium by Sheffield’s Jack Holder, with World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik having crashed out of the first attempt to stage the race.
Zmarzlik led the qualifying scores having pulled off a string of stunning passing moves, whilst Fricke recovered from a last place in his first ride to go through the card thereafter.
Holder bravely came from the back against Michael Jepsen Jensen and Leon Madsen in his Last Chance Qualifier despite tricky conditions due to a late-meeting downpour, whilst Kurtz dominated the second LCQ from the inside gate, despite the efforts of Robert Lambert.
Having selected the outside gate for the Final, Zmarzlik ran out of room in the early stages and came down, leaving Fricke to lead Kurtz and Holder in the re-run.
Fricke said: “I’m happy to be up here. I just kind of kept my head down all night and didn’t get too ahead of myself, and my team have done a great job of giving me a bike that was fast tonight.
“In my last heat it was dry and then by the time we went out for the Final it was wet, and I didn’t ride in the semi (LCQ) so there was a bit of a gap, but I think we stuck with what we knew and it paid off.
“I’ve definitely been pushing uphill in the first couple of rounds, and the fall in Prague didn’t help, but it’s nice to bounce back.”
Fricke’s Lynn team-mate Jan Kvech scored six points which meant he just missed out on a place in the Last Chance Qualifiers.
Zmarzlik now leads Kurtz by one point in the series after three rounds with Holder four points further back whilst Lambert is fifth, level on points with Kacper Woryna who walked away from a heavy crash in his final ride. Fricke is up to sixth place, 16 points off the overall lead.
Round 4 of the World Championship takes place at the National Speedway Stadium on Saturday (7pm).
