Croatia’s unique track of Donji Kraljevec is the subject of the first show in a major docu-series on speedway being released this week.
Twist the Throttle allows fans to get up close and personal to the riders, tracks and stories that make this sport so popular.
And no story can be as personal as Donji Kraljevec, outside Goričan, a roar away from the Hungarian border. The hallowed track, constructed from the ground up by top Yugoslav rider Zvonimir Pavlic, has a long history associated with the motorsport.
They built racer Jurica Pavlic a track in his backyard, every racing kid’s dream, catapulting him to success as 2007 Individual European Champion. Jurica went on to ride in the Polish Ekstraliga, the world’s pre-eminent speedway league.
The first part of Twist the Throttle, released on Wednesday, March 20, shows how Croatia is woven into the story of speedway racing. The series culminates with episode five, with “55,000 people in Poland where the sport is the biggest,” according to one rider.
Reopened in 2022, Donji Kraljevec has again become the home of Croatian speedway, with fans flying into Zagreb and making their way to the unique track at Goričan.
This year’s meet takes place on April 27, Round One of the 30th anniversary Speedway Grand Prix series. Soon, bars and trackside will be bubbling with the babble of speedway jargon that connects fans who travel Europe throughout the year, often to places off the typical tourist map.
Look out for our preview and Instagram coverage on Time Out Croatia! Daryl Mersom