Zorro: Speedway is easy when I gate!

http://www.worldspeedway.com/artman/publish/article_13378.shtml

It may not have been the successful night the Swedes were hoping for at Kings Lynn on Monday in Round 2 of the Speedway World Cup bit it did feature 38 year old Magnus Zetterstrom making his World Cup debut in the sport.


After scoring four points on the night (dropping three points when leading in his first race and retiring almost on the line) how was he feeling after seeing his side finishing third on the night behind Great Britain and Australia? Leandra Graves caught up with the GP rider after the event.

“I’m happy that we qualified in the end but I feel a bit in two minds. We didn’t have the best start to the night. After the race was rerun in heat 1, Lindgren was excluded. Then I broke down when the chain snapped whilst in the lead, so we could have asked for a bit better start. I think overall we need to be happy because it could have been much worse. Now we know are in the race off. So if we couldn’t win, the main thing was to qualify for Thursday. We know only one team could qualify at Kings Lynn. To beat England or Australia, we needed a better start than we made today. We were missing one more rider to be scoring big points.”

I didn’t change my bike after my first ride. After my chain had broken, we fixed everything but as everyone knows in sport, a lot of it’s the mental side of things. After you have been leading and made such a good start, its tough to come back but I just need to look forward. If I had picked up the heat win, I would have scored 7 points on the night. That is a small difference to say whether I’m happy or not happy.”

Lakeside star Jonas Davidsson was a late addition to the Swedihs national side after GP star Andreas Jonsson declared himself unfit to race. However, Davidsson proved to be the best Swede on show scoring 14 points! Was the Gdansk star surprided that Davidsson had not originally been called up?

“Everyone knows he should have been put in the team from the beginning. I can only answer how I know the team manager was looking at it. It was to do with his injury. After that, he came back to race a few meetings and he didn’t score points. You can’t live on old history. Then all of a sudden he turned it around to score points. I guess you could say he was lucky but unlucky that AJ got injured so he could come back to this side. He belongs to this team. Comparing league averages, he’s much higher than me, Antonio etc, so I’m sure there were a few people who did question why he hadn’t been selected in the team. The only answer is from looking at the current form. I’m glad to see Jonas was doing so well. He’s one of the top riders in Sweden so he should definitely be here.”

Facing tough opposition in the race-off, Sweden will be hoping the Bydgoszcz star if ok to return to the saddle to help the chances of them progressing through to Saturday’s elusive final.

“It’s too early to say whether AJ will be back for Thursday’s race-off. We will contact him but the doctor has said one week’s break. Fingers crossed he can ride but we don’t want him to ride not 100% fit. Maybe those few days have done him good.” It has since been announced he’s fine to ride in the race-off.

The Swedish team will face Denmark on home soil in Vojens who were World Cup Champions in 2008 – does Zorro believe they can join Poland Great Britain in the final?

“It’s going to be a really tough one. In that sort of meeting it’s going to be different. In this event we had Finland who we could take points from, but in Vojens you need to score in every race, zero points isn’t acceptable. That’s not going to be easy against Russia, Australia and Denmark. We will see, if we can get the team going and be a bit stronger then I’m sure we can make it.”

The previous Poole rider admits Vojens isn’t a track he’s too familiar with.

“Vojens isn’t a track I really know. Last time I rode there, I believe I was still a junior rider. So it was years ago! We get a good chance though to get things right at practice so I think I will be ok.”

Many other teams will be looking at rotating their squad for Thursday and Saturday, will Sweden be the same (AJ will return of course)?

“We will definitely be keeping as a team in the lead up to the race off. If we can find another rider for the team, we will change the side, but the team that has ridden here at the Norfolk Arena will stick together in Denmark at the event. Everybody is still part of this.”

Zorro has been a surprise to amny this season with some wonderful GP performances. A fourth place in Prague has been the best display so far and there was also a superb result in Gothenburg when he made the semi-finals. Being one of the oldest riders in the sport, it seem’s that he is maturing like a fine wine and proving the best is still yet to come!

“If I can gate like I did in my first heat, then I find speedway very easy. I might not fight as hard as the youngsters when I get behind, but I’m really pleased for how the GP series has gone and also how the rest of my season has been going. I’m just going to try and keep it up now for the remainder of the year. I want to make something good out of this world team cup. The next GP in August in Malilla, it would be nice to do something good at my home track with the fans behind me. It will be great if that can happen.”

Zorro’s press officer and close friend, Ola Lindholm had suffered a freak accident in the past week with news still to reach us of his condition. Zorro is hoping for good news of his friend soon and to make sure Sweden are successful in this very important World Cup week.

Speedway Grand Prix: Unlucky Zorro.

You had to feel sorry for the hard done by Magnus Zetterstrom, at the Copenhagen GP.

Scoring six points after his four rides, he desperately needed a win to guarantee a semi-final spot. He had seemingly secured it, with leading over Danish favourite, Hans Andersen. It looked as though the likeable Swede was due to be another spoiler, until Tai Woffinden lost control of his bike and the race was brought to a holt.

As ever, in speedway, when a race is re-run, the result is never the same. The 37 year old could only manage a third place, costing him the chance of making the semi-final for the third time in four GP’s.

Speaking to the Indianerna racer before the meeting, his confidence wasn’t high, “It’s not a track I really enjoy racing. It’s a really short track and reminds me of Eastbourne and Lakeside. This style of race-track doesn’t really suit me, so I think tonight will be difficult to repeat the success I had in Prague.”

However, any negativity was put aside once the helmet was on and for a track that he’s not at his most comfortable, it was another impressive performance. It wasn’t all bad for the Gdansk rider as the seven points scored on the night, increased his championship position, moving him to 9th in the standings. Ahead of more established rivals, Greg Hancock, Freddie Lindgren and Rune Holta.

Zorro is riding consistently well in the Grand Prix and if he can maintain this form, he has a very favourable chance of finishing in the top eight and booking his place direct for 2011 series. Not bad for an old guy! I caught up with him after the GP.

“I’m really happy with the way I am riding in the GP’s. I made a mistake in the semi-final and that’s it but I am enjoying my racing. This series suits me.”

The following day saw the Swede score 13 points in Poland in for his league team Gdansk and he helped his team secure an important win. There had been some criticism aimed at Zorro, by his Polish fans who were unhappy with his league performance when he scored just four points after his marvellous display in Prague when he made the final. Hopefully the double figures have put the smiles back on the enthusiastic fans!

Article by and courtesy of Leandra Graves.
http://www.worldspeedway.com/artman/publish/article_12759.shtml