Australia’s Beau Bailey and Polish rider Maksymilian Pawełczak took starring roles in the Swedish city of Västervik in today’s Semi-Finals to decide the sixteen qualifying riders for the 2023 FIM Speedway Youth World Championship (SGP3) Final in nearby Malilla on 14 July.
Results - FIM SGP3 semi final 1 - Västervik (SWE) - 12.07.2023
Relaunched last season as SGP3 by promoter Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, the championship is designed to give riders aged under sixteen on 250cc machines the chance to shine in front of a global audience and the bright young talents did exactly that, despite heavy rain causing the second Semi-Final to be delayed.
Competing in the afternoon’s first Semi-Final, Bailey trailed Poland’s Kacper Mania home in his first Heat after super-fast Dane Villads Pedersen proved to be every bit as quick on a 250cc as he is racing the 85cc that he dominated the FIM Speedway Youth Gold Trophy on when he got the meeting under way with victory in the afternoon’s first Heat from Polish rider Filip Bęczkowski.
There were also early wins for Britain’s Cooper Rushen and Swedish rider Leo Klasson before Bailey claimed his first win in the second block of Heats ahead of Rushen and he backed this up with victory in his third Heat from Sven Cerjak from Slovenia.
Sweden’s Rasmus Karlsson pushed Bailey back to second in his fourth Heat before the Australian signed off on top with his third win of the afternoon to seal his place in the Final on equal points with Rushen who also carded three wins.
Mania completed his own hat-trick of wins in his fifth and final Heat for third overall with Pedersen, another rider to claim three victories, looking comfortable in fourth despite failing to score second time out.
Results - FIM SGP3 semi final 2 - Västervik (SWE) - 12.07.2023
The four remaining qualifying positions were filled by Cerjak, Bęczkowski, Karlsson and Klasson.
Following the rain-enforced break, when the tapes went up on the second Semi-Final it was Australia’s Mitchell McDiarmid who struck first from Pawełczak, but that was the only time all evening that the Pole tasted defeat as he raced to four victories to end the meeting on the top step of the podium.
Back to defend the title he won last year, Denmark’s Mikkel Andersen also had to settle for second in his opening Heat when he chased British rider William Cairns across the line and he took another second in his next Heat behind Pawełczak.
However, the fast fifteen-year-old then made amends by reeling off three wins to assure himself of second overall ahead of McDiarmid who also recorded a trio of victories on his way to the final step of the podium.
After the opening two blocks of racing, Cairns and Poland’s Damian Miller were setting the early pace with a pair of wins each, but a no-score in his third Heat put Cairns on the back foot before he recovered to sign off in fourth with another two wins as Miller made sure of his place in Malilla with three second places.
Australia’s Alexander Adamson took a Heat win as he raced to sixth overall with Otto Raak from Finland and home rider Alfred Aberg taking the final two qualifying positions.
The top sixteen riders from Västervik plus reserves Patrick Kruse from Denmark and the Czech Republic’s Jan Hlacina now have the chance to showcase their skills in Malilla’s famous Skrotfrag Arena the night before the FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden.
FIM Communications