Team action is the centre of track racing attention this weekend with the Long Track title being contested in Finland and the junior version of the Speedway World Cup being fought over in Denmark. Four teams including some of the best young prospects in world speedway will contest 20 heats of action to determine the Under 21 World Champion team for 2014.
The team declarations and draw are:
| Team | Riding N° | RIder |
|---|---|---|
| SWEDEN | 1 | Jacob Thorssell (capt) |
| Red | 2 | Victor Palovaara |
| 3 | Fredrik Engman | |
| 4 | Oliver Berntzon | |
| CZECH REPUBLIC | 1 | Vaclav Milik (capt) |
| Blue | 2 | Eduard Krcmar |
| 3 | Zdenek Holub | |
| 4 | Michal Skurla | |
| DENMARK | 1 | Mickkel Bech Jensen |
| White | 2 | Mikkel Michelsen (capt) |
| 3 | Nicklas Porsing | |
| 4 | Lasse Bjerre | |
| POLAND | 1 | Bartosz Zmarzlik |
| Yellow | 2 | Piotr Pawlicki (capt) |
| 3 | Kacper Gomolski | |
| 4 | Pawel Przedpelski |
On home ground the Danish team would appear to have a slight advantage. Twice winners of this competition since its inception in 2008 they have in Mikkel Jensen and Mikkel Michelsen two of the brightest prospects on the international scene, both having experience at Grand Prix level. Anders Secher is an experienced and wily Team Manager who will use his tactical knowledge to the fullest extent. We can expect the Danes to capitalise on their memorable win in the Speedway World Cup.
Fellow Scandinavians Sweden retain the team which qualified from the semi-final in Motala with top scoring captain Jacob Thorsell warming up with an impressive 14 points for his British Elite League team Wolverhampton on Monday. Also included is Oliver Berntzon, so impressive in the Speedway World Cup Race Off in Bydgoszcz last month. However, the sudden resignation of Team Manager Stefan Andersson this week will undoubtedly affect the team spirit and could have an impact on the performance of the Swedes on Saturday.
For the Czech Republic, Vaclav Milik is in fine form at the moment and, although relatively unknown outside his country, Eduard Krcmar is another who caught the eye in Bydgoszcz. Zdenek Holub has a good speedway pedigree but his limited experience at this level might limit his contribution.
The Polish team have also won this title on two occasions and have a squad which has an impressive record. Surprisingly perhaps, they include Pawel Przedpelski in place of Szymon Wozniak who top scored for them in their semi final but this merely emphasises the strength in depth of Polish speedway. Piotr Pawlicki seems almost certain to take the Under 21 Individual title later this year and will undoubtedly make his mark on this meeting. Similarly, Kacper Gomolski can be expected to reproduce the form he showed in last week’s individual meeting in Ostrow.
Englishman Dan Holt is Referee with Frank Zeigler the FIM Jury President. The meeting at the Slangerup Speedway Center starts at 14.00 local time and by late afternoon we should know the destiny of the 2014 championship.