Slovakian star Martin Vaculik won a thrilling British Grand Prix at Cardiff as Bartosz Zmarzlik took another step towards a fourth World title.
But the night ended in disaster for GB and Sheffield star Tai Woffinden, who crashed out of the event in Heat 16 and suffered a broken hand, having looked to be firmly in contention for victory.
Vaculik, who is third in the standings, won the Final ahead of a brave Jack Holder on his return from injury, whilst Zmarzlik overtook his main title rival Fredrik Lindgren on the last bend to extend his lead to series 24 points with two rounds remaining.
Robert Lambert reached his first semi-final at the Principality Stadium on an impressive 11 points, but went out at that stage, whilst a tapes exclusion in Heat 19 left Dan Bewley outside the semi-finals and unbale to repeat his 2022 triumph. Wild Card Steve Worrall scored three.
Vaculik said: “Amazing! What a night! I have said it before; winning a Grand Prix has always been my dream since I was a kid.
“I used to watch the Cardiff Grand Prix on television. I think all the riders had the same dream, to win one time in Cardiff. It’s something special and I did it today. I am so happy.
“In my eyes, it was the best prepared track I have ever seen here. It was a good job by the organisers. We put on a good show.”
FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 8
BRITISH GRAND PRIX, Cardiff
1. Martin Vaculik 20, 2. Jack Holder 18, 3. Bartosz Zmarzlik 16, 4. Fredrik Lindgren 14, 5. Robert Lambert 12, 6. Kim Nilsson 11, 7. Patryk Dudek 10, 8. Max Fricke 9, 9. Dan Bewley 8, 10. Andzeis Lebedevs 7, 11. Jason Doyle 6, 12. Mikkel Michelsen 5, 13. Tai Woffinden 4, 14. Maciej Janowski 3, 15. Leon Madsen 2, 16. Steve Worrall 1.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (After round 8 of 10)
1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 138, 2 Fredrik Lindgren 114, 3 Martin Vaculik 105, 4 Jack Holder 97, 5 Jason Doyle 87, 6 Dan Bewley 86, 7 Robert Lambert 83, 8 Leon Madsen 75, 9 Max Fricke 65, 10 Tai Woffinden 64, 11 Patryk Dudek 58, 12 Maciej Janowski 43, 13 Mikkel Michelsen 42, 14 Anders Thomsen 36, 15 Kim Nilsson 36, 16 Andzejs Lebedevs 21, 17 Jacob Thorsell 6, 18 Bartlomiej Kowalski 4, 19 Francis Gusts 2, 20 Matej Zagar 1, 21 Vaclav Milik 1, 22 Szymon Wozniak 1, 23 Kai Huckenbeck 1, 24 Steve Worrall 1.
Photo credit: Ian Charles