KVECH READY TO JOIN MENTOR VACULIK IN SPEEDWAY GP ELITE

Czech racer Jan Kvech looks forward to facing former mentor Martin Vaculik in the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series as he becomes his country’s first full-time SGP rider for 16 years.

Kvech is the first Czech star to compete regularly in the Speedway GP series since Lukas Dryml raced in the 2008 championship.

The opportunity came his way after he finished fifth at the FIM SGP Challenge in Gislaved, Sweden last August. 

While only the top three riders were due to qualify, runner-up Vaculik finished third in the 2023 Speedway GP standings – vacating a spot in the series. With fourth-placed Robert Lambert also finishing inside the SGP top six, the call-up was handed to Kvech.

It’s fitting that Vaculik’s 2023 Speedway GP heroics opened the door for a rider who looked up to the Slovak ace as a youngster.

He said: “Martin helped me at the start of my career and now we will be rivals in Speedway GP. It’s amazing for Czech speedway that I am here. It’s a long time since there has been a Czech rider in the Grand Prix. 

“I am very happy to be here. From the start of my career, I have wanted to be in Speedway GP. This is my dream.

“It’s very hard to qualify for the FIM SGP Challenge, and then to qualify for Speedway GP is very hard again. I was a little bit lucky because I was fifth, but Martin and Robert finished in the 2023 top six. I got the chance to be in Speedway GP and that’s amazing for me.

“I have no pressure because this is my dream, and I am living it. I have prepared well, and I feel good. I want to say thank you to all of my sponsors and my team. We go together.”

Kvech hopes racing regularly in Poland’s PGE Ekstraliga for Zielona Gora will help him establish himself among the best riders in the world – as he also takes them on in the planet’s top speedway league.

He said: “Last year I was in the First Division, but now I am in the PGE Ekstraliga. I will be in contact with guys from Speedway GP. Racing these rivals in Poland will be good for me because I will always have contact with the best riders in the world. I think I will be looser if I am always competing at this level. It will be good.”

Kvech is the first of the SGP2 generation – since the FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship was revamped under the Warner Bros. Discovery Sports umbrella in 2022 – to make it into Speedway GP full-time. The Prague racer finished second in the SGP2 series, as well as winning a silver medal in SON2 – the FIM Team Speedway Under-21 World Championship – with the Czech Republic team two years ago.

Now his sights are firmly set on Speedway GP success. Kvech said: “I was a little bit unlucky in SGP2 – I wanted to be the winner. I was second. But my dream was to be in Speedway GP. Now I am here. I am very happy with that, and I am doing everything I can to stay in the GP.”