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PRZEDPELSKI SEALS PIRATES RETURN IN SWEDEN

Former Speedway GP rider Pawel Przedpelski has completed Swedish side Piraterna’s 2023 Bauhaus Elitserien squad. Przedpelski last raced for the Pirates in 2019 and was due to stay in Motala for the following year – until the Covid-19 pandemic halted his return. He spent the 2022 season in Vastervik colours, averaging 1.585 points per race. The Torun rider is joined in the side by the likes of Polish brothers Piotr and Przemyslaw Pawlicki, their compatriots Oskar Fajfer and Oskar Polis, Czech racer Vaclav Milik, Sweden’s Mathias Thornblom and Danish prospect Jonas Seifert-Salk. Piraterna boss Daniel Davidsson believes Przedpelski joins what should be a deeper and more injury-resistant squad. He said: “Pawel raced with us in the 2019 season and had a very good season. With him in the squad, we have a really sharp one-to-seven, as well as a wider squad that stands against injuries in a better way than we had before.”

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MONSTER ENERGY RELEASES EXCLUSIVE TWISTING THE THROTTLE FILM

Great Britain’s triple world champion Tai Woffinden speaks movingly about his incredible journey to the top of the sport as part of Monster Energy’s exclusive behind-the-scenes film Twisting the Throttle – play it above now. Cameras were given exclusive access throughout the 2022 Speedway GP season to the six men wearing the M-claw. Digging deeper to find out what makes them tick and the path they have taken to land at the top, the film features Woffinden, Patryk Dudek, Freddie Lindgren, Dan Bewley, Chris and Jack Holder and Paweł Przedpelski. As part of the film, Woffinden speaks movingly about his Speedway GP debut season. Emerging as GB’s next top talent, he was awarded a wild card for the 2010 Speedway GP series in late 2009. Woffinden has gone on to become Britain’s most successful speedway rider, winning his first Speedway GP World Championship as a 500/1 outsider with the bookmakers in 2013, before becoming the nation’s first three-time gold medallist with wins in 2015 and 2018. With 11 Speedway GP victories to his name and an FIM Speedway of Nations World Championship gold medal from 2021, Woffy has established himself as one of the sport’s modern-day icons. But his first Speedway GP season was far from easy after his father Rob passed away following a year-long battle with cancer in January 2010. The Wroclaw rider admits making the biggest step of his career just months after losing his dad was incredibly tough. “My whole career was doing stuff with him,” he told Twisting the Throttle. “We would drive together, wash the bikes together, prepare the bikes together and travel together. “They said he would just fall asleep and not wake up. The last eight hours of his life was him screaming. It was really tough. It was a nightmare. But finally the moment came when he stopped breathing and it was obviously tough, but it was kind of a little bit of a relief. I just didn’t want to see him in pain anymore.” Before his dad’s passing, Woffinden admits Rob advised him not to take up the Speedway GP opportunity he was offered for 2010. He said: “I remember we were sat in the house. We had a hospital bed in the house because he was pretty sick. I was sat on the sofa and we were talking about sponsorship deals and if should do the GPs or I shouldn’t. “He said ‘don’t do it, Tai. You’re not ready.’ I just thought ‘how can I turn this opportunity down?’ When he wasn’t there, 2010 was a strange year. I had some really tough times in the GPs. But I wasn’t ready physically, mentally or mechanically. “I think before the first round, I was out on the Friday night – before the first round of the World Championship on the Saturday. I wasn’t ready. I was still having fun partying. It is what it is. “That year was tough and I went back to Australia and went completely off the rails with my mates for three months, which was pretty fun but super, super reckless. But then in 2013, they gave me another wild card and then we took off to the moon.” Watch the full film from Monster Energy above now.

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IVERSEN BACK IN PANTHERS COLOURS AFTER 13-YEAR ABSENCE

Seven-time Danish champion Niels-Kristian Iversen will be back in Peterborough colours for the first time since 2010 this year. The former world No.3 was due to return for the 2020 season, only for the SGB Premiership campaign to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Iversen moved to Panthers’ neighbours King’s Lynn in 2011 and had raced for them on and off ever since, aside from a stint with Ipswich in 2019 and seasons away from the UK in 2017, 2020 and 2021. He was forced out of the Stars side halfway through 2022 due to Polish rules limiting First Division riders to racing in just two other leagues, which have now been relaxed. Panthers co-promoter Carl Johnson is delighted to have recruited a “proven” performer in Britain’s top flight. He said: “Niels is a proven heat-leader and a proven No.1 in the Premiership, and he has been one of the best in the world throughout his career. “It’s fantastic that we can make a signing like him and bring him back to the club, especially after he never got to ride for us in 2020. “He’s certainly going to be a crowd favourite again, and I think looking at his form from last season, he was the outstanding man at King’s Lynn until he had to leave, and that’s when they disappeared down the table. “We’ve brought in someone who is proven and who we know can go out and score double figures anywhere, and hopefully everywhere. “He loves the Showground, it’s one of his favourite tracks, and it puts another great rider into the line-up. I think what we’ve got so far is a superb starting point.” Iversen is joined at the East of England Showground by fellow countryman Benjamin Basso, plus Aussie racer Ben Cook and Rising Star signing Jordan Jenkins. Photo: Taylor Lanning

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LINDGREN IN BEN FUND BONANZA LINE-UP

Speedway GP star Freddie Lindgren will race to raise cash for the sport’s injured stars when he lines up in the Ben Fund Bonanza at King’s Lynn on Saturday, March 25. While Fast Freddie raced full-time for British club Wolverhampton from 2003 until 2017, missing only the 2014 season, the Swede has not competed regularly in the UK over the past five years. But he is set to warm up for the new Speedway GP season by lining up in an event which raises funds to support riders temporarily or permanently sidelined by racing crashes – some after suffering life-changing injuries. Lindgren is delighted to play his part as he joins Scunthorpe skipper Simon Lambert as one of the first riders to be confirmed for the event. He said: “It’s a very important cause. For myself, I’ve been on that side of things by being injured very seriously. I had some help from the Ben Fund and if I can contribute to some other riders getting help when they have a really tough time, then I am more than happy to do that.” Lindgren will also appear in former Wolves teammate Sam Masters’ testimonial at Monmore Green on Sunday, March 26.

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FRICKE: ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN SPEEDWAY GP

Triple Aussie champion Max Fricke admits “we weren’t where we wanted to be” in 2022 as he bids to scale the Speedway GP ladder in 2023. Fricke powered to an unforgettable victory at the FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Warsaw last May. But this was his sole semi-final and final appearance of the season as the Victorian star ended the campaign 13th in the standings. He also missed the final round of the series in Torun after suffering a broken sternum, bruised lungs, a sprained shoulder, a cracked shoulder blade and concussion in a season-ending crash in the Polish First Division play-off final decider in Zielona Gora on September 24. Having taken eighth spot in 2021, finished that season as the sport’s top Aussie and also booked his place for this year by taking fourth spot at the 2022 FIM GP Challenge in Glasgow last August, Fricke has proved he can mix it with the best riders in the world. But he knows there’s work to be done ahead of the new Speedway GP season. This year’s Australian Championship bronze medallist said: “For sure there are things I can think of that need to be improved. I am working on that at the moment and trying to fix some little inconsistencies that are there. “I am able to do it and I am able to do well. I know that and I have proved that on a couple of occasions. I just need to be there a little more consistently in each heat and that’s what it comes down to. I am doing my best and trying to work on that over this off-season. We are confident as a team that we will be able to move up the order. We weren’t where we wanted to be last year. But we are doing everything possible to make sure we can be a little higher up this year.” Fricke was the only 2022 Speedway GP rider who did not compete in Poland’s PGE Ekstraliga, continuing his contract with Zielona Gora as they dropped into the First Division. He’s back in the top flight with Grudziadz for this year. Asked if he feels missing out on racing in the world’s top speedway league cost him in 2022, Fricke replied: “Yes and no – I don’t think it helped when it came to the GPs and things like that. But there were times when I was still quick enough. “I don’t want to say it hindered me at all, but it was one of the things I wanted to change for next year. I have changed teams and racing those top guys a little more will help.”

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PRZEDPELSKI SEALS PIRATES RETURN IN SWEDEN

MONSTER ENERGY RELEASES EXCLUSIVE TWISTING THE THROTTLE FILM

IVERSEN BACK IN PANTHERS COLOURS AFTER 13-YEAR ABSENCE

LINDGREN IN BEN FUND BONANZA LINE-UP

FRICKE: ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN SPEEDWAY GP