BECKER: MY TIME WILL COME IN SPEEDWAY GP

American ace Luke Becker believes his time will come in the race for FIM Speedway Grand Prix qualification as he leads his country into their first home international for 35 years on Saturday at 12.30pm California time (8.30pm UK).

Becker gets a golden opportunity to test himself against some top European opposition when the USA faces a Rest of the World Team led by double Speedway GP winner Dan Bewley at Kern County Raceway in Bakersfield, California – around 100 miles from Los Angeles.

It’s the USA’s first home fixture since the 1988 FIM Speedway World Team Cup Final in Long Beach, which saw the Americans pipped to gold by the dominant Danes.

Since four-time world champion Greg Hancock retired in February 2020, FIM North America champion Becker has established the USA’s greatest hope on the world stage and will contest this year’s Speedway GP qualifiers.

Becker is bidding to make it to the FIM GP Challenge in Gislaved on August 19, where the top three riders earn guaranteed places in the 2024 Speedway GP series. While he knows it will be no easy task to reach the rostrum in world speedway’s most cutthroat meeting, the Wolverhampton rider believes his time will come in Speedway GP.

He told Speedway Star: “I’ve missed out on making it into the Challenge by a point or two the last few years. I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason and when the time is right, my time will come, and I can qualify.

“Everybody I’ve talked to that’s been in the series says it’s a whole different ball game at that level. You can be consistently beating these guys and doing well in the leagues, then go to the Grand Prix and it will be a whole different story.

“It’s definitely not easy and I know I’m still young, but I think this will be a crucial year of taking it to that next level.

“There’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes with preparations and taking the sport in general a lot more seriously and I’ll see where it takes me.

“I do put a lot of pressure on myself, but at the same time I feel that it makes me do what I need to do. I believe that extra pressure pushes me just that bit more and helps me perform. I’ve still got a lot more time in my career, but I hope 2023 is the year to take it to that next step.”

Becker lines up alongside 2022 FIM Speedway of Nations team mates Broc Nicol and Dillon Ruml at Kern County Raceway. They are joined by former FIM North America champion Max Ruml, veteran Billy Janniro, Gino Manzares, Alex Martin and No.8 Slater Lightcap.

Bewley is joined in the Rest of the World team by fellow Great Britain stars Adam Ellis and Tom Brennan, Danish champion Rasmus Jensen, double Swedish champion Jacob Thorssell, Canadian racer Kyle Legault and Wilbur Hancock – the Swedish-born son of Speedway GP great Greg Hancock.

Becker can’t wait for the chance to take on some of European speedway’s big guns in California.

He added: “I’m really looking forward to it. Being able to line up against Europeans back home in the States isn’t something we get to do often. It will also be the standard team racing format from Europe when we normally only have the individual racing.

“I’m hoping this will attract not only more riders from overseas to come over and train in their off-season, but also more sponsors to get involved as well.”

The test match can be watched online worldwide on pay per view via the British Speedway Network. Click here to tune in: https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk/programs/live-wthvqmoxqna?categoryId=106106