With reigning and two-time champion Mateusz Cierniak from Poland now too old to defend his title, the competition to crown his successor in the FIM Speedway Under 21 World Championship (SGP2) gets under way this coming Saturday (8 June) with three Qualifying events taking place in Germany, Italy and France.
An integral part of promoter Warner Bros. Discovery Sport’s mission to develop the next generation of Speedway stars, SGP2 represents the final stepping stone for the sport’s brightest young talents before they make the move into the FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship (SGP) with riders who have won at this level before claiming SGP titles including Poland’s Bartosz Zmarzlik and Australian Jason Crump.
The Qualifying rounds will be staged in Ludwigslust in Germany, Terenzano in Italy and Mâcon in France with a combined field of fifty-three talented young hopefuls from eighteen nations spread across four continents currently putting the finishing touches to their preparations. The top four from each will progress to the three-round Final series where they will be joined by three FIM SGP Commission season wild cards along with one local wild card and two track reserves chosen by the relevant National Federation.
With the top four riders from the 2023 series not competing there will be a comprehensive shake-up of the podium positions. While it is too early to speculate on the final top three, using last year’s SGP2 standings as a guide does give some indication of riders to watch.
Highest ranked out of last year’s competitors who will be in action on Saturday is Sweden’s Caspar Henriksson who finished 2023 in fifth and lines up at the Circuit de la Grisière in Mâcon. The Motodrom Ludwigslust will see Norway’s Mathias Pollestad and Philip Hellström-Bängs from Sweden – who finished sixth and seventh last year – renew their on-track rivalry while Latvian Francis Gusts, who rounded out the 2023 top ten, will race in the Terenzano Speedway Arena.
Australia is one of the sport’s powerhouse nations and has produced five FIM Speedway Under 21 World Champions so it is no surprise to see three hopefuls from Down Under following in their compatriots’ footsteps and making the journey to Europe to get behind the tapes at the Qualifying events with Michael West racing in Ludwigslust, Harrison Ryan in Terenzano and Tate Zischke in Mâcon.
The first of the three Finals is scheduled for Målilla in Sweden on 14 June followed by Riga in Latvia on 6 September. The winner will then be crowned on 27 September at Toruń in Poland.
Saturday’s on-track action will get under way at 17:00 local time in Germany with the opening heat in Italy scheduled for 19:15 local time. The tapes are scheduled to go up in France at 21:00 local time.
FIM Communications