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SGP QUALIFIERS | VACULIK BOOKS FIM GP CHALLENGE SPOT WITH ZARNOVICA WIN

Slovak star Martin Vaculik took a giant stride closer towards sealing a 2024 FIM Speedway Grand Prix spot by booking his place at the FIM GP Challenge.Vaculik topped the podium on 14 points at the qualifying round in his home city Zarnovica on Saturday to secure his passage to the FIM GP Challenge at Swedish track Gislaved on August 19.The top three riders in the Challenge will be the first riders to qualify for the 2024 Speedway GP series, meaning Vaculik is just five good rides away from securing a return ticket for next season’s World Championship.He’s joined in Gislaved by former Polish champion Szymon Wozniak, who was second on 13 points.A run-off took place to decide the final two qualifiers after Speedway GP rider Robert Lambert tied on 12 points with Denmark’s Frederik Jakobsen and American racer Luke Becker.In one of the shocks of the round, both Becker and Jakobsen overhauled Lambert in the run-off to knock the world No.5 out of the qualifiers. But another top-six finish in this season’s Speedway GP series will also guarantee Lambert’s place in the 2024 SGP line-up.Triple Australian champion Max Fricke was also a surprise casualty in Zarnovica, exiting on 11 points, while former World Under-21 champion Bartosz Smektala fell short on nine. Prague FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic wild card Vaclav Milik missed the cut on five.In the day’s other qualifier, former world No.6 Piotr Pawlicki edged closer to securing a Speedway GP return by winning his qualifier at Italian track Lonigo.The Wroclaw man won the meeting on 13 points on what turned out to be a special day for Italian speedway.Both home heroes Nicolas Covatti and Paco Castagna blazed through to the FIM GP Challenge on 12 points apiece, along with Czech shooting star Jan Kvech. The trio took part in a run-off for second place on the day, with Covatti taking victory ahead of Kvech and Castagna.Sweden’s Oliver Berntzon just missed out on 11 points, falling just short of taking his place at the FIM GP Challenge on his home track in Gislaved. But if no Swedish riders make it through the qualifiers at German track Abensberg or Hungarian circuit Debrecen on Monday, Berntzon could yet receive a wild card for the Challenge as the host nation is guaranteed a representative in the event.Former world No.3 Niels-Kristian Iversen also missed the cut in Lonigo on 10 points, while Finnish international Timo Lahti and former World Under-21 champion Jaimon Lidsey exited on nine and Great Britain star Tom Brennan fell short on eight.Three more Speedway GP riders bid for FIM GP Challenge places at the remaining qualifiers, with Jason Doyle and Kim Nilsson contesting the Abensberg round and Jack Holder heading to Debrecen.ZARNOVICA SCORES: 1 Martin Vaculik 14, 2 Szymon Wozniak 13, 3 Luke Becker 12+3, 4 Frederik Jakobsen 12+2, 5 Robert Lambert 12+1, 6 Max Fricke 11, 7 Bartosz Smektala 9, 8 Filip Hjelmland 8, 9 Nick Skorja 7, 10 Vaclav Milik 5, 11 Victor Palovaara 5, 12 Daniel Klima 4, 13 Nicolas Vicentin 3, 14 Lukas Fienhage 2, 15 Max Ruml 2, 16 Vitalii Lysak 1, 17 Jakub Valkovic 0.LONIGO SCORES: 1 Piotr Pawlicki 13, 2 Nicolas Covatti 12+3, 3 Jan Kvech 12+2, 4 Paco Castagna 12+1, 5 Oliver Berntzon 11, 6 Niels-Kristian Iversen 10, 7 Timo Lahti 9, 8 Jaimon Lidsey 9, 9 Tom Brennan 8, 10 Matic Ivacic 6, 11 Marius Hillebrand 5, 12 Mathias Tressarieu 4, 13 Carlos Eber Ampugnani 3, 14 Andrea Battaglia 2, 15 Facundo Cuello 2, 16 Denis Stojs 2, 17 Matteo Boncinelli DNR.ABENSBERG LINE-UP: 1 Gino Manzares (USA), 2 Mika Meijer (Netherlands), 3 Rohan Tungate (Australia), 4 Eduard Krcmar (Czech Republic), 5 Norick Blödorn (Germany), 6 Przemysław Pawlicki (Poland), 7 Mads Hansen (Denmark), 8 Dimitri Bergé (France), 9 Martin Smolinski (Germany), 10 Jason Doyle (Australia), 11 Kevin Wölbert (Germany), 12 Kim Nilsson (Sweden), 13 Glenn Moi (Norway), 14 Chris Harris (Great Britain), 15 Nicolo Percotti (Italy), 16 Jevgenijs Kostigovs (Latvia). RESERVE: 17 Valentin Grobauer (Germany).DEBRECEN LINE-UP: 1 Michael Jepsen Jensen (Denmark), 2 Andrei Popa (Romania), 3 Mark Barany (Hungary), 4 Norbert Magosi (Hungary), 5 Marko Levishyn (Ukraine), 6 Petr Chlupac (Czech Republic), 7 Andzejs Lebedevs (Latvia), 8 Kai Huckenbeck (Germany), 9 Janusz Kołodziej (Poland), 10 Andreas Lyager (Denmark), 11 Jack Holder (Australia), 12 Adam Ellis (Great Britain), 13 Jacob Thorssell (Sweden), 14 Roland Kovacs (Hungary), 15 Timi Salonen (Finland), 16 Antti Vuolas (Finland). RESERVE: 17 Richard Füzesi (Hungary). 

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SGP QUALIFIERS | LAMBERT CHASING SPEEDWAY GP MEDAL ALONGSIDE CHALLENGE BID

Great Britain racer Robert Lambert insists racing in the Speedway GP qualifiers won’t make him any less hungry for a World Championship medal as he lines up in Zarnovica on Saturday.The former European champion faces off with the likes of hometown hero Martin Vaculik and triple Australian champion Max Fricke at the Slovak circuit, where the top four riders earn places at the FIM GP Challenge on Lambert’s old home track Gislaved in Sweden on August 19.Lambert started his Speedway GP season with a second place and 18 championship points at the opening round in Croatia, before scoring five at the last round in Warsaw.He’s still fifth in the standings on 23 points – just 13 short of top two Bartosz Zmarzlik and Freddie Lindgren – and a top-six finish would be enough to qualify the world No.5 for the 2024 Speedway GP series automatically.While Lambert is chasing more than a top-six finish in this season’s Speedway GP series, he also sees the qualification rounds as another way to secure his spot for next year.He said: “The whole point of doing these qualification rounds is to take the pressure off the GPs. Last year I qualified on my own merit and finished fifth in the championship and that’s how I want to do it again this year.“But at the same time, the qualifiers are a bit of a back-up. If we go there and get the result, that’s great. If not, we can focus on the GPs.“The goal of the year is to get a medal and that’s still what I want to do. That doesn’t change by me racing these qualification rounds.”Lambert spent two seasons with Swedish side Lejonen – host club for the FIM GP Challenge. With only the top three riders in Gislaved booking their places in the 2024 Speedway GP series, the Norfolk star hopes his track knowledge will come in handy if he makes the qualification cut in Zarnovica.The Smederna star said: “I kind of know Gislaved pretty well. I knew in the middle of last season that the Challenge was going to be there. My old boss at Lejonen came up after the meeting when I was there with Smederna and told me. I don’t know if that was a ploy to try and get me back racing in Gislaved, but it didn’t work!“I have some good knowledge of the Gislaved track and in many kinds of conditions as well. That’s good to have and we will see after this weekend whether I need to use that knowledge or not.”Lambert, Vaculik and Fricke are joined in the Zarnovica qualifier by the likes of Czech charger Vaclav Milik, former World Under-21 champion Bartosz Smektala, former Polish champion Szymon Wozniak, Denmark’s Frederik Jakobsen and American international Luke Becker.Another qualifier also takes place at Italian club Lonigo on Saturday, where former Speedway GP stars Niels-Kristian Iversen, Piotr Pawlicki and Oliver Berntzon are bidding for Challenge places, along with the likes of former World Under-21 champion Jaimon Lidsey, GB star Tom Brennan, Finnish racer Timo Lahti, Czech international Jan Kvech and Italy’s Paco Castagna.There are two further Speedway GP qualification rounds at German track Abensberg and Hungarian circuit Debrecen on Monday.Former world champion Jason Doyle is among the contenders in Abensberg, along with Swedish Speedway GP rival Kim Nilsson. Former SGP stars Chris Harris and Przemyslaw Pawlicki also race in Bavaria, along with the likes of Aussie racer Rohan Tungate, Denmark’s Mads Hansen, French star Dimitri Berge and German SGP2 shooting star Norick Blodorn.Australian champion Jack Holder races in the Debrecen qualifier. He takes on the likes of Speedway GP first reserve Andzejs Lebedevs, German ace Kai Huckenbeck, Poland’s Janusz Kolodziej, Denmark’s Michael Jepsen Jensen, French racer David Bellego, double Swedish champion Jacob Thorssell, former British champion Adam Ellis, Finland’s Timi Salonen, Ukrainian star Marko Levishyn and Czech SGP2 rider Petr Chlupac.Four riders from each round qualify for the FIM GP Challenge, provided at least one rider from Sweden makes the cut. If not, only three riders progress from the Debrecen round and one Swedish wild card will be nominated for the Challenge.ZARNOVICA LINE-UP: 1 Lukas Fienhage (Germany), 2 Vitalii Lysak (Ukraine), 3 Daniel Klima (Czech Republic), 4 Bartosz Smektala (Poland), 5 Nick Skorja (Slovenia), 6 Filip Hjelmland (Sweden), 7 Luke Becker (USA), 8 Nicolas Vicentin (Italy), 9 Martin Vaculik (Slovakia), 10 Max Ruml (USA), 11 Victor Palovaara (Sweden), 12 Szymon Woźniak (Poland), 13 Robert Lambert (Great Britain), 14 Max Fricke (Australia), 15 Vaclav Milik (Czech Republic), 16 Frederik Jakobsen (Denmark). RESERVES: 17 Jakub Valkovic (Slovakia), 18 Adam Carada (Slovakia).LONIGO LINE-UP: 1 Matic Ivacic (Slovenia), 2 Michele Castagna (Italy), 3 Niels Kristian Iversen (Denmark), 4 Denis Stojs (Slovenia), 5 Oliver Berntzon (Sweden), 6 Tom Brennan (Great Britain), 7 Timo Lahti (Finland), 8 Piotr Pawlicki (Poland), 9 Marius Hillebrand (Germany), 10 Facundo Martin Cuello (Argentina), 11 Mathias Trésarrieu (France), 12 Nicolas Covatti (Italy), 13 Andrea Battaglia (Italy), 14 Jan Kvech (Czech Republic), 15 Jaimon Lidsey (Australia), 16 Eber Ampugnani (Argentina). RESERVE: 17 Matteo Boncinelli (Italy).ABENSBERG LINE-UP: 1 Gino Manzares (USA), 2 Mika Meijer (Netherlands), 3 Rohan Tungate (Australia), 4 Eduard Krcmar (Czech Republic), 5 Norick Blödorn (Germany), 6 Przemysław Pawlicki (Poland), 7 Mads Hansen (Denmark), 8 Dimitri Bergé (France), 9 Sébastian Kössler (Austria), 10 Jason Doyle (Australia), 11 Kevin Wölbert (Germany), 12 Kim Nilsson (Sweden), 13 Glenn Moi (Norway), 14 Chris Harris (Great Britain), 15 Nicolo Percotti (Italy), 16 Jevgenijs Kostigovs (Latvia). RESERVES: 17 Martin Smolinski (Germany), 18 Valentin Grobauer (Germany).DEBRECEN LINE-UP: 1 Michael Jepsen Jensen (Denmark), 2 Andrei Popa (Romania), 3 David Bellego (France), 4 Norbert Magosi (Hungary), 5 Marko Levishyn (Ukraine), 6 Petr Chlupac (Czech Republic), 7 Andzejs Lebedevs (Latvia), 8 Kai Huckenbeck (Germany), 9 Janusz Kołodziej (Poland), 10 Andreas Lyager (Denmark), 11 Jack Holder (Australia), 12 Adam Ellis (Great Britain), 13 Jacob Thorssell (Sweden), 14 Roland Kovacs (Hungary), 15 Timi Salonen (Finland), 16 Antti Vuolas (Finland). RESERVES: 17 Mark Barany (Hungary), 18 Richard Füzesi (Hungary).

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MICHELSEN MAKES SWEDISH MOVE TO VASTERVIK

Danish racer Mikkel Michelsen admits he looks forward to teaming up with Speedway GP rival Tai Woffinden as he returns to Sweden’s Bauhaus Elitserien with Vastervik.The Speedway GP star, who last raced in Sweden for Piraterna in 2019, replaces French international David Bellego in the side after he crashed out of Sheffield’s home match with King’s Lynn in Britain’s Sports Insure Premiership on Thursday.While it appears Michelsen may not race every match, he will make his debut for the coastal club at home to Rospiggarna on Tuesday.The double European champion faces off with new team mate Woffinden in the Prague FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic on June 3. But he looks forward to lining up alongside him in Vastervik colours first. He told the club’s website: “I know most of the riders in Vastervik’s team and I'm glad we managed to find some gaps in the calendar to help the team in the situation they are in. “Morgan and I will have continuous contact to see how many meetings I have the chance to participate in, but I'm really looking forward to competing in the Bauhaus Elitserien again. “It will be extra fun to get to race with Tai, who I am good friends with. See you on Tuesday.”Vastervik has already recruited Swedish star Fredrik Lindgren to replace Aussie star Chris Holder, who suffered neck injuries in Grudziadz last month. So Vastervik’s sporting manager Morgan Andersson is pleased to have secured the services of another Speedway GP star.He said: “We have been working behind the scenes to find solutions to the injury problems we have, and these are both short-term and long-term solutions.“Mikkel and I had discussions last fall regarding a full season in Sweden, which unfortunately could not happen. But at the same time, Mikkel said that we could get in touch if there were problems during the season and that's where we are now. “We are very happy that Mikkel and his team have managed to find some gaps in their calendar to help the club in this situation we are in. “We will see how many matches there will be during the journey, but his debut will be on Tuesday against Rospiggarna.”

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EKSTRALIGA | MAGIC HITS MAX AS WROCLAW KO KROSNO

Polish ace Maciej Janowski piled up a 14 paid 15-point maximum as table-topping Wroclaw racked up a 62-28 victory at home to Krosno in the PGE Ekstraliga on Friday.Magic followed home team partner Piotr Pawlicki in race three before reeling off four straight wins at the Olympic Stadium – home of the 2023 Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup from July 25-29.It was a fine result for Janowski as he warms up for the Prague FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic on June 3.Triple world champion Tai Woffinden also raced to a strong 11 paid 12 points, while Speedway GP star Dan Bewley and Pawlicki picked up 10 paid 12 each. Former Speedway GP world champion Artem Laguta added nine paid 11, with SGP2 star Bartlomiej Kowalski collecting seven paid eight.Aussie icon Jason Doyle topped the Krosno score chart on eight paid nine points, while Andzejs Lebedevs notched seven and Krzysztof Kasprzak scored six, just 24 hours after missing King’s Lynn’s Sports Insure Premiership trip to Sheffield due to illness.In the day’s other meeting, triple world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik raced to 14 points as Lublin triumphed 55-35 at home to Grudziadz.He was well supported by 12 points from Orlen FIM Warsaw Speedway GP runner-up Jack Holder and 11 points from former world No.2 Jaroslaw Hampel. SGP2 champion Mateusz Cierniak collected nine paid 10, with world No.4 Fredrik Lindgren scoring six paid 10.Triple Australian champion Max Fricke continued his strong recent form on 14 points for Grudziadz, with Vadim Tarasenko scoring six.Sunday’s matches see Gorzow host Leszno, while Czestochowa play host to Torun.For full details of the day’s results, scorers and the latest league table, visit: https://speedwayekstraliga.pl/en/ 

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KLIMA CLAIMS PRAGUE FIM SGP2 WILD CARD

Czech racer Daniel Klima makes his return to the FIM SGP2 stage as wild card for the Prague FIM SGP2 of Czech Republic on Friday, June 2.Staged the night before the Prague FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic on Saturday, June 3, the opening round of the 2023 FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship features the sport’s top young riders from nine different countries as the battle for junior speedway’s biggest prize gets underway.A member of Prague’s AK Marketa club, Klima dons the No.16 race jacket and joins full-time 2023 FIM SGP2 rider Petr Chlupac in flying the Czech flag at the famous Marketa Stadium.Klima, 20, was a full member of the 2022 FIM SGP2 series, scoring eight championship points from three rounds, finishing 19th in the final standings.He is joined in the Prague FIM SGP2 of Czech Republic by track reserves Jaroslav Vanicek and Matous Kamenik, who line up in the No.17 and No.18 race jackets respectively.They will be called into action if any of the 16 riders in the starting line-up are forced out of a race due to injury, illness, a starting offence or other reasons.Tickets for both the Prague FIM Czech Speedway GP and the FIM SGP2 event are on sale now. To attend both Speedway GP and SGP2, book HERE.For Speedway GP on Saturday, June 3 only, book HERE.And for SGP2 on Friday, June 2, book HERE.

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SGP QUALIFIERS | VACULIK BOOKS FIM GP CHALLENGE SPOT WITH ZARNOVICA WIN

SGP QUALIFIERS | LAMBERT CHASING SPEEDWAY GP MEDAL ALONGSIDE CHALLENGE BID

MICHELSEN MAKES SWEDISH MOVE TO VASTERVIK

EKSTRALIGA | MAGIC HITS MAX AS WROCLAW KO KROSNO

KLIMA CLAIMS PRAGUE FIM SGP2 WILD CARD