World Championship leader Patryk Dudek would love to win an SGP

World Championship leader Patryk Dudek would love to win an SGP in his debut season, insisting “I don’t know where, but I hope this year!”

With his compatriot Piotr Pawlicki topping the podium at the Rietumu Bank Latvian SGP in Daugavpils, Dudek goes into tonight’s Mitas Czech SGP as the only full-time member of the series yet to win a round.

He has only had four attempts, including his wild card outing at the 2016 LOTTO Warsaw SGP.

But having gained a one-point lead at the top of the standings, with Jason Doyle and Freddie Lindgren just a point behind, victory in Prague would be the ideal way to consolidate his position.

Dudek isn’t rushing himself to achieve his maiden win, but he hopes it will come this season. He said: “I don’t know where, but I hope this year! I don’t know. We need to wait and see. I hope it will be tonight. But let’s take it easy. We’ve only had three rounds this season, so maybe later.”

Dudek has enjoyed seeing his name at the World Championship summit. But with eight points separating the top eight riders, he knows he faces a huge battle to stay there.

He smiled: “I have been the world champion for only two weeks! I hope I can do that in the future and stay there all the time.

“I know this very tough because of the riders behind me. They are very near me with the points. All the time I am focused and I will fight in every Grand Prix.”

Despite a strong start to the season and hitting the front, Dudek insists leading the way changes nothing for him. He added: “I am focused all the time and my whole team is the same. Nothing changes and everything is okay.”