Grzegorz Zengota is unfortunately one of the most injury-prone Polish speedway riders in recent years. The last two seasons were particularly significant for the FOGO UNIA Leszno rider due to this. Together with the team, he was first relegated from the PGE Ekstraliga and was one of the few to participate in every match, and then got promoted back, becoming the 10th speedway rider of the METALKAS 2nd Division. How have his past injuries and returns to racing looked like?
Zengota is a product of STELMET FALUBAZ ZIELONA GÓRA, having obtained his license in 2004. For the first eight seasons of his career, he represented his home club, changing surroundings only in 2012. Even before moving to KRONO-PLAST Włókniarz Częstochowa, while representing Zielona Góra, he suffered his first major injury, a fractured right femur. The incident occurred during a preseason practice in Gniezno, requiring a long pause from league racing. As it turned out, the break lasted „only” four months, and his first match after the injury was quite successful for Zengota. The match in Rzeszów ended with a tally of seven points. The season was capped with a gold medal in the Polish Team Championships.
After his episode in Częstochowa, Grzegorz Zengota moved to FOGO UNIA. During his first five-year stay in Leszno, the rider fortunately did not suffer any significant injuries. The most serious injury during this period occurred in 2016 in Sweden, specifically in Hallstavik, when the back of Zengota was hit by Andreas Jonsson. As it turned out, this did not affect his performances in Poland. The most serious injury in the career of the Zielona Góra rider was yet to come.
In 2018, Zengota returned to STELMET FALUBAZ, from where he later moved to ORLEN OIL MOTOR Lublin. It was before the 2019 season, during preparations in Spain, that the rider suffered a horrific motocross accident. His ankle was fractured, and to make matters worse, necrosis set in on the injured part of the leg. As the rider himself recalled, doctors even considered amputating the limb. The break from racing lasted almost two years in total, during which time Zengota underwent 15 surgeries in both Polish and Spanish hospitals, with consequences he still feels today. Ultimately, he was not able to score points for the Lublin team. He left ORLEN OIL MOTOR for ABRAMCZYK POLONIA Bydgoszcz.
Another ill-fated day for him was June 6, 2021. In a match against the team INNPRO ROW Rybnik, the rider had two serious falls on the track. The first was in the third, and the second in the ninth race of that event. While battling with Rune Holta, Zengota fell to the track and was then hit with full force by David Bellego. This time, the diagnosis did not involve his leg, but was equally terrifying: four broken ribs and a pneumothorax. Nevertheless, the absence did not last long, and the 2021 season was completed by the rider with an average of 1.870 points/race.
Zengota spent the year 2022 in Rybnik, before moving to Leszno, where he is currently playing. His last serious injury was a fractured collarbone sustained in Gorzow for FOGO UNIA. At that time, the rider failed to control the bike while entering the second turn, fell to the track, and consequently did not finish the event. The break in racing lasted four matches, allowing him to return for the crucial part of the season and help keep his team in the PGE Ekstraliga. Relegation hit the team from Leszno the following season when an injury-plagued FOGO UNIA finished last in the league. This time, Zengota was spared from injuries, and thanks to him, in 2025 the team quickly returned to the elite, with the 37-year-old once more completing a full season.
Marcin Rusewicz
