BERGE LEADS SEC QUALIFIERS AT EPIC CHALLENGE IN HUNGARY

French racer Dimitri Berge sealed his place in the 2023 Speedway European Championship at an epic SEC Challenge at Hungarian track Nagyhalasz on Sunday afternoon.

Berge topped the podium on 13 points, winning his opening four races to seal his spot in the four-round continental series. It also moves him a step closer to FIM Speedway Grand Prix qualification, with the SEC champion guaranteed a spot in the 2024 Speedway GP series.

Last year’s FIM Torun Speedway GP wild card Kacper Woryna also booked his SEC spot, finishing second on 10, with Czech shooting star Jan Kvech qualifying in third place – also on 10. Polish racer Grzegorz Zengota continued his fine start to 2023 by making the cut on 10 too.

The race for the fifth and final qualification place ended in a marathon, five-rider, four-heat run-off after former Speedway GP riders Antonio Lindback and Niels-Kristian Iversen finished on nine points, along with Andreas Lyager, Szymon Wozniak and Mads Hansen.

Lindback won the opening race ahead of Iversen and Wozniak, while Lyager beat Hansen in the second race, meaning Lindback and Lyager were safely through to the all-important fourth and final heat. The third race to eliminate the fifth rider saw Wozniak take the win ahead of Iversen in second and Hansen in third. 

Hansen was out of the running and Wozniak and Iversen joined the final run-off. That was won by Danish racer Lyager, who held his nerve to win European Championship qualification ahead of Lindback, Wozniak and Iversen.

Today’s qualifiers are joined by 2022 SEC champion Leon Madsen, plus his fellow top-five finishers Janusz Kolodziej, Mikkel Michelsen, Patryk Dudek and Dominik Kubera.

The 2023 SEC field will be completed by permanent five wild card riders, who will be selected by the SEC Commission soon, with each round featuring one wild card for the night.

The SEC series gets underway at Polish club Czestochowa on June 17, before visiting German venue Gustrow on August 5 and Polish circuit Bydgoszcz on September 9. The champion will be crowned on Golden Helmet weekend in Czech city Pardubice on September 22.

SEC CHALLENGE SCORES: 1 Dimitri Berge 13, 2 Kacper Woryna 10, 3 Jan Kvech 10, 4 Grzegorz Zengota 10, 5 Andreas Lyager 9, 6 Antonio Lindback 9, 7 Szymon Wozniak 9, 8 Niels-Kristian Iversen 9, 9 Mads Hansen 9, 10 Andzejs Lebedevs 8, 11 Timo Lahti 8, 12 Antti Vuolas 6, 13 Frederik Jakobsen 5, 14 Jacob Thorssell 4, 15 Norbert Magosi 1, 16 Mark Barany 0, 17 Roland Kovacs 0.