Danish star Anders Thomsen took a step closer to Speedway European Championship qualification after storming through his qualifier with a 15-point maximum in Debrecen on Wednesday.

Thomsen is bidding for an instant Speedway GP comeback for the 2025 season and lifting the SEC title this year would offer him an automatic return to the SGP stage.

He qualified for the SEC Challenge at Latvian track Daugavpils with an unbeaten display in Hungary, with former Swedish champion Jacob Thorssell making it through on 14 points.

There was a three-rider run-off for the final two places, with Poland’s Kacper Woryna taking the win ahead of Latvia’s Jevgenijs Kostigovs as former SGP regular Antonio Lindback missed out in third place. The trio tied on 12.

Ukrainian international Stanislav Melnychuk fell short on nine points, with Great Britain international Adam Ellis and Germany’s Marius Hillebrand exiting on eight.

Swedish international Timo Lahti took a step closer to an SEC return with victory in the day’s other qualifier at Austrian circuit Mureck. The former Finnish international collected 14 points with only Denmark’s Frederik Jakobsen beating him in his opening heat.

Jakobsen made the cut on 12 alongside two-time FIM Long Track world champion Erik Riss of Germany. Poland’s 2023 SGP2 bronze medallist Bartlomiej Kowalski was the final qualifier on 11 points after winning a run-off with GB’s Tom Brennan.

Former world No.2 Jaroslaw Hampel was a surprise casualty on 10 points – a total matched by Latvian international Ricards Ansviesulis.

The remaining qualifiers for the SEC Challenge take place at German venue Stralsund and former FIM Slovenian Speedway GP track Krsko on Saturday.

The top four riders in both meetings advance to Daugavpils, where the first five book their places in the four-round SEC series, which visits Debrecen on June 8, Polish club Grudziadz on July 20 and German circuit Gustrow on August 24, before concluding at Chorzow’s legendary Stadion Slaski in Poland on September 21.

Reigning European champion Mikkel Michelsen and Speedway GP rivals Leon Madsen and Andzejs Lebedevs have already qualified for the SEC series after finishing in the continental championship’s 2023 top five, along with Poland’s Janusz Kolodziej and Patryk Dudek.

DEBRECEN SCORES: 1. Anders Thomsen 15, 2. Jacob Thorssell 14, 3. Kacper Woryna 12+3, 4. Jevgenijs Kostigovs 12+2, 5. Antonio Lindback 12+1, 6. Stanislav Melnychuk 9, 7. Marius Hillebrand 8, 8. Adam Ellis 8, 9. Marko Levishyn 7, 10. Sandro Wassermann 6, 11. Norbert Magosi 5, 12. Jan Janicek 4, 13. Tino Bouin 3, 14. Nicklas Sayrio 2, 15. Luka Omerzel 1, 16. Julian Kuny 1, 17. Roland Kovacs 1, 18. Richard Fuzesi DNR.

MURECK SCORES: 1. Timo Lahti 14, 2. Frederik Jakobsen 12, 3. Erik Riss 12, 4. Bartlomiej Kowalski 11+3, 5. Tom Brennan 11+2, 6. Jarosław Hampel 10, 7. Ricards Ansviesulis 10, 8. Andrei Karpov 7, 9. Daniel Gappmaier 7, 10. Jan Macek 6, 11. Hynek Stichauer 5, 12. Mathias Tresarrieu 4, 13. Jakub Valkovic 4, 14. Nicolas Vicentin 3, 15. Roman Kapustin 3, 16. Milen Manev 0.

SGP QUIZ | FIRST SPEEDWAY GP WINS IN POLAND

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