THOMSEN SET FOR SPEEDWAY GP QUALIFIERS AS LYAGER TOPS VOJENS PODIUM

Danish star Anders Thomsen took a step closer to regaining his FIM Speedway Grand Prix status after booking his place in the Speedway GP and Speedway European Championship qualifiers at Vojens on Tuesday.

Denmark’s national qualifier for the SGP and SEC international qualification rounds was won by Andreas Lyager on 13 points.

Thomsen took second spot on 12, tying with 2022 Danish champion Rasmus Jensen, before beating him in a run-off for second on the night as both men take their places in the qualifiers.

Former SGP2 rider Benjamin Basso made the cut on 10 points, while Frederik Jakobsen won the fifth and final berth on offer, triumphing in a run-off with Kevin Juhl Pedersen and Jonas Seifert-Salk after the trio tied on nine.

Former Speedway GP regulars Peter Kildemand and Michael Jepsen Jensen both fell short of qualification on eight and seven points respectively. Mads Hansen missed out on six.

It was a tough night for former world No.3 Niels-Kristian Iversen and Jesper Knudsen, who collided in heat one, with both withdrawing from the meeting.

Lyager, Thomsen, Rasmus Jensen, Basso and Jakobsen will now advance to the Speedway GP qualifiers for the 2025 World Championship, which take place in Abensberg (Germany) and Debrecen (Hungary) on May 20 and Lonigo (Italy) and Zarnovica (Slovakia) on May 25. 

The top three or four riders in these qualifiers head to the FIM SGP Challenge at Czech track Pardubice on the city’s famous Golden Helmet weekend on October 4, when the top four riders will be guaranteed places in the 2025 Speedway GP series.

The top five in Vojens will also take their places in the Speedway European Championship qualifiers in early May, with the leading riders advancing to the SEC Challenge at Latvian club Daugavpils on May 12. The top five riders there will join this year’s SEC line-up. The winner of the SEC series earns automatic qualification for the 2025 Speedway GP World Championship.

Denmark’s current Speedway GP riders Leon Madsen and Mikkel Michelsen will not contest the SGP qualifiers, but both are already certain of places in this season’s SEC field after Michelsen won his third European title in 2023, while Madsen took the silver medal.

They are joined in the SEC line-up by fellow automatic qualifiers Janusz Kolodziej and Patryk Dudek of Poland, plus Latvia’s Andzejs Lebedevs, who makes his full-time Speedway GP debut this season.

VOJENS SCORES: 1. Andreas Lyager 13, 2. Anders Thomsen 12+3, 3. Rasmus Jensen 12+2, 4. Benjamin Basso 10, 5. Frederik Jakobsen 9+3, 6. Kevin Juhl Pedersen 9+2, 7. Jonas Seifert-Salk 9+1, 8. Peter Kildemand 8, 9. Michael Jepsen Jensen 7, 10. Matias Nielsen 6, 11. Mads Hansen 6, 12. Bastian Borke 5, 13. Bastian Pedersen 5, 14. Tim Sorensen 5, 15. Nicolai Klindt 4, 16. Sam Jensen 0, 17. Jesper Knudsen 0, 18. Niels-Kristian Iversen 0.