A combined entry of fifty-four ambitious racers from nineteen nations spread across four continents are preparing to go into battle in just a few days’ time when FIM Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) Qualifying rounds powered by Anlas, Kineo, Blackburst and HKC Koopmann are staged in Slovakia and Italy this coming Saturday (7 June) and Germany the following Monday (9 June).
- International entry lined up for this year’s SGP Qualifying rounds
- Events in Slovakia, Italy and Germany to decide 2025 SGP Challenge entry
- At stake are four places in FIM Speedway Grand Prix in 2026
Up for grabs at each Qualifying round are five places behind the tapes at the 2025 SGP Challenge event at Holsted in Denmark on 9 August where the top-four will earn the ultimate prize of a coveted and potentially career-changing automatic start in the 2026 SGP series.
With only the top seven from the 2025 SGP series guaranteed a start next season, it is standard practice for current SGP permanent riders to compete in the Qualifying rounds and the Slovakian event – that gets Saturday’s racing under way inside the famous Speedway Stadium Žarnovica – features four big names intent on retaining their places in the sport’s elite.
If you are looking for a pre-race favourite for Žarnovica, Brady Kurtz has started the season in great form and currently lies second in SGP with his best result so far a super-strong second at round two in Poland. However, the Slovakian event will be no walk in the park for the Australian and he can expect strong opposition from Latvian rider Andzejs Lebedevs – who also recorded an SGP podium finish this season when he was third at the opening round in Germany – as well as fellow 2025 SGP competitors Anders Thomsen from Denmark and Martin Vaculik who will have home advantage.
Another rider who must be consider a contender on his current form is twenty-year-old Norwegian Mathias Pollestad who claimed an unbeaten maximum at last month’s FIM Speedway Under 21 World Championship (SGP2) Qualifying round in the Czech Republic.
With just one 2025 SGP permanent rider in action at the Qualifying round at Lonigo in Italy on Saturday evening, on paper it could be considered as an easier option, but Czech rider Jan Kvěch – who has scored in every SGP round so far this season and lies eleventh in the points table – knows better than to take anything for granted.
The twenty-three-year-old will face fierce opposition from a field that includes hugely-talented Polish riderMateusz Cierniak – who won back-to-back FIM SGP2 titles in 2022 and 2023 – along with three-time German national champion Kevin Wölbert, up-and-coming Slovenian racer Anze Grmek and Tom Brennan from Great Britain who helped his country to gold in the 2021 and 2024 FIM Speedway of Nations (SoN).
The final Qualifying round is set for Abensberg in Germany this coming Monday where 2025 SGP regulars Jack Holder from Australia, Germany’s Kai Huckenbeck and Dominik Kubera from Poland will have to fight for every point up for grabs.
Out of the trio, Holder has started the season in the better form, and he sits third in the current SGP standings and claimed the top step at round two in Poland, although Kubera has also shown his speed this year and is seventh while Huckenbeck lies seventeenth.
Among their opposition and hoping to make full use of home advantage is Erik Riss – himself a two-time FIM Long Track World Championand an accomplished Speedway rider – and France’s Mathias Trésarrieu, a member of his nation’s 2024 SoN team. Fellow German Martin Smolinski - three-time and reigning FIM Long Track World Champion, who is also vastly experienced at Speedway’s highest level having made his SGP debut almost twenty years ago, will hope to get his opportunity in front of his home fans, but will have to wait his turn as the current second reserve.
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The action at Žarnovica gets under way on Saturday at 14:20 (local time) with the first Heat in Lonigo scheduled to start at 19:00 (local time). Racing is due to start at Abensberg on Monday at 14:00 (local time).
Fans who sign up for an SGP Qualifiers and Challenge 2025 Streaming Pass can watch the Qualifying action from Lonigo and Abensberg and the 2025 SGP Challenge from Holsted LIVE on FIM-MOTO.TV. Priced at €42.50, last month’s 2025 FIM Speedway Under 21 World Champion(SGP2) Qualification round from Glasgow is also included in the package along with unlimited replay of all events.
Alternatively, a LIVE streaming pass for the 2025 SGP Challenge from Holsted, complete with replays and special contents, is priced at just €9.90.
For more information on the 2025 FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship Qualifying rounds and SGP Challenge click here.
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