SWC QUIZ | FIM SPEEDWAY WORLD CUP FINAL VENUES

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FIM SPEEDWAY TOP 5 MOMENTS | CROATIA

As speedway celebrates its 100th anniversary season, FIMSpeedway.com looks back at the top five moments celebrated at each of our 2023 FIM Speedway venues. Today, we feature Speedway Stadion Milenium, venue for the 2023 FIM Speedway GP of Croatia – Donji Kraljevec on April 29.   1. LIFT OFF FOR HANCOCK – 2010 When American legend Greg Hancock arrived in Croatia for the nation’s first-ever Speedway GP event, some feared his first visit to the Speedway Stadion Milenium may be his last. Having reached just two semi-finals and one final in the opening seven rounds, a man who had appeared in every single Speedway GP event up to this point was in real danger of not qualifying for 2011. But lining up in the Sunday afternoon sunshine after the event was delayed due to heavy downpours on the Saturday, Hancock proved he wasn’t going to go quietly into the speedway sunset. Racing on some revamped equipment, Grin powered to a famous victory that played a key role in helping him end the season fifth overall. It was the day when Hancock proved he still had not only the speed, but also the desire to mix it with the world’s best. It truly was the start of something special …   2. HANCOCK MAKES HISTORY – 2011 Riders racing into their 40s has become normal across the speedway world in recent times – but only one rider has won the FIM Speedway World Championship after celebrating their 40th birthday. Those who assumed Hancock wouldn’t add to his 1997 Speedway GP world title were taken aback as the Californian swept all before him in 2011. The longest gap between title wins was the seven years between British legend Peter Craven’s World Final victories in 1955 and 1962. Hancock doubled the record to 14 years, with third place in heat 20 enough to finish the job, sealing his second world title with a round to spare at the age of 41, before he kissed the Speedway Stadion Milenium shale on which he had reignited his career a year earlier. If some riders enjoy an Indian summer in the autumn of their careers, Hancock’s was more of a record-breaking, freak heatwave. He lifted two more Speedway GP world titles in 2014 and 2016, before racing his final Speedway GP in October 2018 and officially hanging up his kevlars just a few months short of his 50th birthday in early 2020.   3. NEW ERA, FAMILIAR RESULT – 2022 Croatia wasn’t just the stage for the rebirth of Greg Hancock; it was also the venue where new global promoter Discovery Sports Events launched its new era of FIM Speedway in 2022. The Speedway Stadion Milenium was transformed with a brand-new pit area, fanzone, central stage, push-off area and TV studio as Discovery introduced its vision for FIM Speedway to the world for the first time. The Donji Kraljevec stands were packed for the first FIM Croatian Speedway GP since 2012, and fans were rewarded with some of the best racing ever witnessed in Croatia. Polish icon Bartosz Zmarzlik made no secret of the fact the Speedway Stadion Milenium’s tight and technical circuit was not his favourite track on the tour. But it didn’t stop him from opening his season with a big win, topping the standings. And he stayed top all the way to the end of the season as he lifted his third world title in four years.   4. AJ IN SEARCH OF SILVER – 2011 Amid the jubilation of Hancock’s title triumph, it’s easy to forget there was another big winner in Croatia in 2011 – Swedish star Andreas Jonsson. In the form of his life, Jonsson stormed to what was his third Speedway GP victory in just five rounds, beating Britain’s Chris Harris, Sweden’s Freddie Lindgren and Hancock in the final before sealing World Championship silver. Had Jonsson reproduced such red-hot form in the first half of the season, there’s every chance it would have been the Stockholm-born racer rather than Hancock, who collected the Speedway GP trophy that year.   5. PEDERSEN IN PURSUIT – 2012 Jonsson nearly made it two Croatian wins in a row in 2012, but Danish icon Nicki Pedersen had other ideas as he tightened the screw on his rivals in the Speedway GP title race. Pedersen topped the podium ahead of the Swede, Polish racer Tomasz Gollob and local wild card Jurica Pavlic, who finished fourth on a track built, owned and operated by his family. With Pedersen picking up 19 championship points, it was a pivotal moment as he took the title race all the way to the final round in Torun, falling just eight points short of eventual champion Chris Holder.   BE THERE! – 2023 Don’t miss this year’s FIM Croatian Speedway GP action on Saturday, April 29. Tickets are available online here now: https://www.entrio.hr/event/fim-speedway-grand-prix-of-croatia-12783

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DOYLE: BRITAIN IDEAL FIRST DESTINATION FOR AUSSIE YOUNG GUNS

Ipswich top gun Jason Doyle believes Britain is still the place for Aussie riders to start their European careers as his fellow countryman Keynan Rew makes his long-awaited UK debut with the Witches in 2023. While Aussies almost always took their first professional laps in the UK, an increasing number are opting to start in the Polish or Danish leagues, with 2020 FIM Speedway Under-21 world champion Jaimon Lidsey and Rew both showing their potential in Poland in recent years. While both will continue to race there, Leszno man Lidsey is also back in the British league with Belle Vue after a three-season absence, while Gdansk signing Rew has joined Doyle at Ipswich for his first UK campaign. Doyle, who also races for PGE Ekstraliga newcomers Krosno and Swedish side Indianerna in 2023, is delighted to see his former Leszno teammate making the move, and he believes a spell in Britain gives riders the track craft needed to succeed in mainland Europe. He said: “It’s good to finally get this young Aussie over to Britain. It’s a big mistake when these young kids go straight to Poland and try to ride there instead of coming to Britain first. “Hopefully they can break this habit. Perhaps they see the dollar signs and don’t see that British speedway gives you your track craft and skill. You can see when the rough tracks come up, the boys who only ride big tracks really struggle. “I spoke to Keynan a few times about coming to Britain. He needed to make that decision himself and it took him a little while to feel it was the right thing for him. He has a great setup in Poland, so he will be flying from Poland back to Britain a lot. “It’s going to be different for him, but it’s a great move for him to be at Ipswich. I will help him as much as he wants me to help him, and I think we will have an ace card with him in the team.” Rew appeared in the 2022 SGP2 under-21 series, as well as scoring 12 points for Australia in SON2 – the FIM Team Speedway Under-21 World Championship at Vojens on July 29. With his PGE Ekstraliga experience gained at Leszno, Rew could emerge as a real trump card for Ipswich this season on a 4.00 starting average. Doyle knows having a rider capable of making huge progress makes all the difference in the title race. The former Swindon hero said: “When we have won with Swindon, we always had that one rider who came through and proved the trump card. Rasmus Jensen was that rider in the 2019 season. “Hopefully having Keynan in the team at Ipswich will be similar to what Rasser did at Swindon, coming in on a low average and hopefully putting a couple of points on it.” Doyle won the 2011 Elite League with Poole, and then the 2012 Elite League and 2017 SGB Premiership in Swindon colours, followed by a league and cup double with the Robins in 2019 – the most successful but sadly also the last season in the club’s history. He’s set for his second straight season at Ipswich in 2023 and admits extending his stay was far from a difficult decision. “I had a great season at Ipswich last year,” he said. “I see similarities to Swindon, where they are very professional, and they know what they are doing. I just feel it was the right decision to ride for Ipswich. I would only stay at a club if I really enjoyed myself and the club pays their money on time. That’s the main thing for us speedway riders. It’s not about having more money; it’s about being treated well.”

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TEAM PEDERSEN SET FOR TV DEBUT

Fans can follow the life of Speedway GP legend Nicki Pedersen and his family when his brand-new reality show Team Pedersen debuts on Denmark’s Kanal 5 at 20:00 CET tonight – or stream now on Discovery+ Denmark. Pedersen has had an incredible past 12 months, starting the 2022 season in red-hot form with Grudziadz in the PGE Ekstraliga, only for his season to be ended by a badly broken hip and pelvis suffered on June 5. Alongside his fight to get back on track for this season, Pedersen has taken on a new role as Denmark’s rider-manager ahead of the FIM Speedway World Cup in Wroclaw from July 25-29. The series of 10 episodes follows Pedersen from Denmark to Dubai and everywhere in between, also featuring Nicki’s partner Natascha, her daughter Liva, 13, and Nicki’s daughter Mikkeline, 13, and his son Mikkel, 10. Pedersen admits he had numerous offers from TV broadcasters to star in a reality show in the past. He said: “Over the last 10 years, some different TV stations and programmes have asked, but it hasn’t been the right time. “Family wise, things are good now. Everything is working very well around me, so it was just the right time. The amount of money we get out of it could be an income for me, Natascha and the family. “I could also feel that the production company is very, very professional. It’s about having that belief and trust in them too. From day one, there was a friendship with them. I trust them and they loved us. They could see there was potential. “They followed us for some years, especially over the last six months on our social media. They said: ‘we just have to make a TV series about you guys because we love the way you are.’ “We are celebrity people, but we are still normal people. We are not trying to be posh people. We just want to be ourselves. If people like to watch that and follow it, they are more than welcome. “They started filming with us in Dubai last February. They have been in Poland to watch some meetings. They have been with us in Sweden, Spain and of course Denmark. “There were a lot of private things. A little bit was my racing. But 80 percent of it was about the family – the normal things we do with the family and the way we are. Viewers are going to get a good picture of me, the kids and the family. They have edited it in a good way and it’s an honest show, which I like very much.” Pedersen is no stranger to the spotlight after two decades on world speedway’s biggest stage, which have seen him become one of the most talked-about riders in the sport’s history. But he is pleased with the way his children also adapted to life in front of the camera. He said: “I didn’t know for 100 percent how they were going to react. I just want them to be themselves – that makes the best TV series and programme. “I am very proud of the kids and Natascha. They have been so honest, and they have been very, very good on the programme. You don’t know how it will be with kids. Sometimes when the camera comes on, they pretend to be different people. They have just been themselves. That’s all I wanted.”

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TICKETS FOR 2023 FIM TORUN SPEEDWAY GP FINALE ON SALE NOW

Be there when the 2023 FIM Speedway Grand Prix world champion is crowned in Torun on September 30 – tickets for the FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Torun are on sale now. Polish icon Bartosz Zmarzlik lifted the Speedway GP trophy at the iconic Marian Rose Motoarena for the third time last year. Can he make it No.4 and cement his status among the top riders of all time this season? Or will the likes of last year’s runner-up Leon Madsen or new world No.3 Maciej Janowski take gold this season? For the ninth time in the Motoarena’s history, the famous venue will host the final round of the Speedway GP season, with Torun riders Patryk Dudek and Robert Lambert bidding to make the most of home advantage. With fans from all over Poland and around the world heading to the birthplace of legendary astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus to create a real party atmosphere in this lively city, this is one Speedway GP you will not want to miss! Book your FIM Torun Speedway GP tickets online here now: https://kstorun.kupbilety.pl

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