MAGIC HAS EYES ON GP PLACE

20/09/14

Poole's current captain Maciej Janowski faces a vital meeting in Lonigo, Italy this evening as he stands on the verge of becoming a Grand Prix qualifier.

Tonight's GP challenge provides three places in next year's Grand Prix series and Janowski who has been superb for the Pirates particularly in their run-in to the play-offs, but is sure to face stern competition from Peter Kildemand and Hans Andersen.

The Danish duo are leading contenders for a top three finish with ex-Pirates Jason Doyle and Tomas H Jonasson also strongly fancied to feature in the chase for a rostrum spot that would secure a full-time Grand Prix berth for them in 2015.

Janowski's Pooole team-mate Przemyslaw Pawlicki is far from fit with a collarbone injury, as was witnessed last weekend when he was pressurised into riding for his Polish league club but managed just a gift point from three outings. "Shamek" has however made the trip to Italy, unlike Kenneth Bjerre who sustained a similar injury in last weekend's Nordic GP.

Having withdrawn from the Challenge field, Bjerre's absence means that just two riders from this year's championship - Matej Zagar and Chris Harris - could pick up an early ticket to next year's competition.

Zagar is already well positioned to gain an automatic place in the 2015 series as he stands 5th in this year's standings on 97 whilst Harris, languishing fifteenth has secured this safety net as he was offered a Challenge berth in place of the banned Pole Patryk Dudek.

Lonigo Line-up: 1 Chris Harris (Great Britain); 2 Adrian Miedzinski (Poland); 3 Nicolas Covatti (Italy); 4 Oliver Bernzton (Sweden); 5 Hans Andersen (Denmark); 6 Linus Sundstrom (Sweden); 7 Maciej Janowski (Poland); 8 Mads Korneliussen (Denmark); 9 Matej Zagar (Slovenia); 10 Janusz Kolodziej (Poland); 11 Mattia Carpanese (Italy); 12 Peter Kildemand (Denmark); 13 Thomas H. Jonasson (Sweden); 14 Przemyslaw Pawlicki (Poland); 15 Jason Doyle (Australia); 16 Nicolai Klindt (Denmark); 17 Martin Smolinski (Germany);