VACULIK EXCITED FOR SLOVAKIA'S SON OPPORTUNITY

Slovak hero Martin Vaculik hopes his country’s debut in the FIM Speedway of Nations – presented by Cloudfactory can help Slovakia’s future stars to shine on the world stage.

Slovakia makes its FIM SON debut at Semi-Final 2 in Danish city Esbjerg on Thursday, July 28 as they take on defending champions Great Britain, Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Italy.

For many years, Vaculik has been Slovakia’s sole representative on the world stage. He famously won the 2012 FIM Gorzow Speedway GP on his series debut and has proudly flown the flag ever since.

But the four-time Speedway GP winner won’t be alone in the FIM SON, with the likes of Jakub Valkovic and Patrik Buri in contention to race alongside him in Esbjerg. Vaculik can’t wait to represent his country in a world team championship event for the first time later this month.

He said: “It is our very first time and we are looking forward to this meeting. It will be tough because the level of speedway in Slovakia is not like it is in Poland, Britain, Denmark, Sweden or the other speedway countries.

“We are a small country in speedway. Speedway is not our biggest sport. But every opportunity to be in the Speedway of Nations is very good and we are very pleased with the opportunity we have got. We are looking forward to representing our country as a team. We will do our best.”

Valkovic races for Lublin in the PGE Ekstraliga Under-24 league in Poland, but very few of Vaculik’s compatriots race regularly outside of Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

FIM SON Semi-Final 2 is the biggest fixture of their careers to date and Vaculik is confident they will benefit from the experience.

He said: “Every meeting like this will help them a lot. This is only a good thing for the young guys – if they can race a meeting like this. We will work as a team and they can use all my experience. We will speak about everything – setup and style.”

Vaculik is delighted to have raised Slovakia’s standing in the sport, but admits his hometown team Zarnovica, which races in the Czech league, has also played a key role.

He said: “Some of my good results have helped to develop speedway in my country and I am glad to see this.

“I am just keeping my fingers crossed for the riders and our team in Slovakia – in Zarnovica. They really try to push speedway, but it is not easy in a country like Slovakia. There are other very strong sports. They are pushing and trying and that’s very good.”