FORMER Belle Vue captain 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 current ATPI Aces 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.
Kurtz missed out on a direct route to the Final after scoring ten points, having been relegated to the back of Heat 14 by Zmarzlik, Jan Kvech and Robert Lambert.
As ever the NSS served up some sensational action but conditions became tricky in the closing stages due to a downpour, and Holder rode a brave race to get the better of Michael Jepsen Jensen and Leon Madsen in the first Last Chance Qualifier.
Kurtz had few concerns and dominated the second LCQ from the inside gate, despite the efforts of Lambert, to take the remaining place in the Final.
Having selected the outside gate, Zmarzlik ran out of room in the early stages and came down, leaving Fricke to lead Kurtz and Holder in the re-run.
Fricke’s outside line turned out to be just enough for him to hold on, although Kurtz was close as he plugged away on the inside.
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.”
Kurtz said: “I’m stoked with it really. I feel like it was another tough one for me, so I’m happy to be up on the podium and well done to Max – he deserved it today.”
Zmarzlik now leads Kurtz by one point in the series after three rounds with Holder four points further back. 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).