SON
Championship rules

After taking a year's break for the 2023 Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup, the FIM Speedway of Nations returns to the calendar in 2024, with Australia bidding to defend the title they won at iconic Danish track Vojens in 2022.
Manchester's National Speedway Stadium, widely regarded as one of the world's finest race tracks, hosts the action as 15 countries compete for the FIM SON world team title. Home of the Belle Vue Aces, the National Speedway Stadium becomes the first venue in the competition's history to stage the Final for a second time, having hosted the 2021 event.
FIM SON Semi-Final 1 opens the event on Tuesday, July 9, with Semi-Final 2 on Wednesday, July 10.
The sport’s under-21 stars take centre stage on Friday, July 12 as Poland defend the SON2 title they won in Latvian capital Riga last summer - this time competing in an epic, eight-nation FIM Team Speedway Under-21 World Championship event.
The week then concludes with the FIM Speedway of Nations Final on Saturday, July 13, which will see the winners crowned world team champions for 2024.

Seven teams battle it out in each FIM SON Semi-Final.
The top three countries in each Semi-Final progress to the FIM SON Final, where they are joined by hosts Great Britain.
For the first time ever, SON2 features eight countries as hosts Great Britain join champions Poland, Denmark, Latvia, Australia, Germany, Czech Republic and Sweden.

Each nation selects a squad of five riders three weeks before the tournament starts.
They then narrow their team down to a three-rider starting line-up six days before their Semi-Final – two starters at No.1 and No.2 and one reserve at No.3.
The No.3 rider can take part in any of the team’s races, with team managers free to rotate their riders and decide who they think will bring home the points for their country.
Riders must wear team race suits in their national colours, with their team manager and mechanics also wearing the country’s colours – creating a national identity.

In the FIM SON Semi-Finals and Final, all seven countries meet each other over 21 heats. In SON2, eight teams will battle it out, all meeting each other over a marathon 28 heats.
In a change from the FIM Speedway Grand Prix scoring system of 3-2-1-0, a 4-3-2-0 format is used in the FIM SON.
There will be four points on offer to a race winner, three for second, two for third and zero points for finishing last, failing to finish or being disqualified.
British fans will recognise the format from the SGB Championship Best Pairs event.
The scoring system is designed to reward team riding. It also ensures no race will end in a draw.
For example, in the 2021 FIM SON Grand Final, Poland’s Bartosz Zmarzlik won the heat. But with Great Britain duo Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley taking second and third place, the Lions were crowned world champions with a 5-4 heat advantage.
Avoiding last places is crucial to success in the FIM SON. Stay out of fourth spot, and your team will always score a heat advantage.
For each race, teams will be allocated either gates one and three (wearing the red and blue helmets) or two and four (white and yellow helmets). Team mates are able to swap gates with each other up until the start of a race, deciding which gate may work best for which rider.
Rider No.1 wears red or white with rider No.2 in blue or yellow – unless they are replaced by reserve rider No.3, who takes the helmet colour of the rider who stands down.

In the FIM SON Semi-Finals, the two countries with the most points at the end of 21 heats will qualify automatically for the FIM SON Final.
The third and fourth-placed teams at the end of each Semi-Final then battle it out in the Final Qualifier, with the team scoring a heat advantage also making it into the FIM SON Final.

In the FIM SON Final, the highest scoring nation after 21 heats qualifies automatically for the Grand Final.
The second and third-placed countries on the scorechart contest the Grand Final Qualifier.
The winner of this joins the top-scoring team in the Grand Final, with the winners being crowned FIM SON world champions.
In a change for 2024, SON2 will now be contested over a straight 28 heats - with no Grand Final Qualifier or Grand Final. The highest-scoring nation after 28 heats will be declared the winner.

If two countries are tied on points after 21 heats, the nation that scored a heat advantage in their head-to-head race is placed higher.
In the event three or more teams finish level on points, the countries are awarded a bonus point for each heat where they finished first and second or second and third. The team with the most bonus points is placed higher.
Should that fail to resolve the tie, the countback system is used, with the team that achieved the most race wins placed highest.
If they are still level, seconds, thirds and then fourth places are taken into account, with finishing fourth considered better than being disqualified or failing to finish.
In the very unlikely event the teams are still deadlocked, the country with the highest FIM ranking will be placed highest.

SONChampionship rules