Welcome to a new era of Speedway!

PEDERSEN NAMES DANISH SQUAD FOR 2024

Speedway GP duo Leon Madsen and Mikkel Michelsen are among the contenders to lead Denmark into the 2024 FIM Speedway of Nations after coach Nicki Pedersen confirmed his provisional squad for next year.Madsen and Michelsen are both named as senior riders along with 2023 Speedway GP star Anders Thomsen and 2022 Danish champion Rasmus Jensen.They are joined on the list by Denmark’s “sub-elite team”, which consists of 2021 FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship runner-up Mads Hansen, Andreas Lyager and former SGP2 rider Benjamin Basso.Denmark’s junior list features William Drejer, who raced to an unforgettable third place at the Jørgen Hansen Biler FIM SGP2 of Denmark – Vojens last September, despite starting the night as a track reserve and racing just four heats instead of five.FIM SON2 silver medallist Jesper Knudsen also features on the junior list along with 2023 SGP2 star Nicolai Heiselberg and Bastian Pedersen, Nicki’s nephew and son of his brother Ronni Pedersen, a former SGP reserve.The list is completed by 2022 SGP3 champion Mikkel Andersen and Villads Nagel, who finished runner-up in that Wroclaw event, as both riders move into the under-21 category and step up their professional careers.Pedersen must select three riders for the FIM SON in Manchester from July 9-13 – two starters and one reserve rider.But despite naming this provisional squad, there is nothing to stop Denmark’s rider-manager from adding other names as the season progresses, with final FIM SON squads not due to be submitted until June.

Discover

WORLD NO.2 LINDGREN LEADS SWEDISH SQUAD FOR 2024

World No.2 Fredrik Lindgren leads the Swedish team into 2024 after next year’s national squad list was revealed.Sweden fell short of the Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup Final in Wroclaw last summer. But with the FIM Speedway of Nations returning after a year’s break, taking place from July 9-13 in Manchester, Morgan Andersson’s side will be determined to build on the bronze medal they won at the 2022 tournament in Vojens.Lindgren was part of that team alongside former Speedway GP star Oliver Berntzon, who was the highest-scoring rider of all 15 countries on 40 points.Both are named in Sweden’s provisional squad, and they are joined by 2023 Speedway GP rider Kim Nilsson, plus former SGP veteran Antonio Lindback and double Swedish champion Jacob Thorssell.Timo Lahti is a surprise inclusion, despite racing for his native Finland in the 2023 Monster Energy FIM SWC. The line-up is completed by Filip Hjelmland, Mathias Thornblom, Joel Andersson, Anton Karlsson, Victor Palovaara, Daniel Henderson and Jonatan Grahn – brother of former SGP2 rider Gustav Grahn.Swedish junior coach Alexander Edberg has also named a talented list of under-23, under-21 and under-19 stars, headed by Casper Henriksson, who finished fifth in the 2023 SGP2 series.He is joined by 2023 SGP2 rival Philip Hellstrom-Bangs, who famously starred at the 2021 FIM SON in Manchester. The junior list also features Noel Wahlqvist, Ludvig Selvin, brothers Avon and Sammy van Dyck, Eddie Bock, Anton Jansson and Erik Persson.With Andersson not required to name his FIM SON squad until June, there is nothing stopping him from adding more names to the list as the tournament approaches should he wish to do so.

Discover

POLAND'S MONSTER ENERGY FIM SWC'S HEROES RETURN AS DOBRUCKI NAMES SQUAD FOR 2024

Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup winners Poland have named all of their 2023 heroes in their national squad for 2024 as they chase their first FIM Speedway of Nations world title in Manchester in July.Four-time world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik leads a stellar cast of riders as the sport’s ultimate test of team riding returns to the National Speedway Stadium from July 9-13.The squad also features former world No.3 Maciej Janowski, who sealed Poland’s ninth FIM SWC gold medal, passing Great Britain’s Robert Lambert in the last-heat decider of an unforgettable Final in Wroclaw on July 29.This gave Magic a taste of revenge after he suffered a fall in the 2021 FIM SON Grand Final in Manchester, which allowed Great Britain duo Lambert and Dan Bewley to end the Lions’ 32-year wait for a world team title.Having delivered the goods in his home city, he will bid to swap FIM SON silver for gold as the competition heads back to the National Speedway Stadium, with Speedway GP newcomer Dominik Kubera, Patryk Dudek and Janusz Kolodziej also selected after playing their part in Poland’s Monster Energy FIM SWC title triumph last summer.Speedway GP newcomer Szymon Wozniak also earns a place in the squad for 2024. While he missed out on the Monster Energy FIM SWC, he has experience of the FIM SON, having partnered Zmarzlik to silver in the 2020 FIM SON Final in Lublin.Six-time FIM SWC winner Jaroslaw Hampel completes the seniors list after a strong season in Poland, which saw him skipper Lublin to their second straight PGE Ekstraliga championship.The Polish squad also features its FIM SGP2 medal winners, as double FIM Speedway Under-21 world champion Mateusz Cierniak joins bronze medallist Bartlomiej Kowalski on the list.With the pair stepping out of the under-21 ranks for 2024, Lublin signing Wiktor Przyjemski, who joined Cierniak and Kowalski in Poland’s FIM SON2 gold medal-winning side, and Leszno talent Damian Ratajczak look set to be the country’s top junior stars next year. Antoni Mencel, also from Leszno, completes Poland’s list of under-21s.With the FIM SON replacing the Monster Energy FIM SWC on the FIM Speedway calendar for next year, team manager Rafal Dobrucki faces an even greater selection headache as he can only choose three riders – two starters and one reserve – to race in white and red in Manchester. The under-21s get their chance to shine in SON2 on July 12, with Przyjemski, Ratajczak and Mancel emerging as selection favourites.But Dobrucki and any other team manager selecting a provisional squad to work with can add other riders ahead of the tournament in July.

Discover

SPEEDWAY GP CALENDAR EXPANDS TO 11 ROUNDS FOR 2024 AS MANCHESTER STAGES FIM SPEEDWAY OF NATIONS

- Speedway GP set for 11 rounds for 2024 with Polish city Wroclaw returning and German club Landshut hosting SGP action for the first time since 1997.- The 2024 FIM Speedway of Nations heads to Manchester’s National Speedway Stadium – scene of Great Britain’s 2021 title triumph.- The Speedway GP series launches in Croatia on April 27, before climaxing at Torun’s Marian Rose Motoarena on September 28.- FIM Speedway’s next generation takes the spotlight in a three-round SGP2 series for under-21 riders, with the SGP3 category for under-16s and SGP4 for 11-13-year-olds also returning for 2024. 

Discover

ALLEN: WOFFY DELIVERED MORE THAN POINTS FOR GB

Joint Great Britain team manager Oliver Allen says Lions skipper Tai Woffinden “brought more to the team than the points” during the Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup.Woffinden scored seven at the Final in Wroclaw on July 29, winning his opening two heats, before scoring one point from his final three rides.The Brits were forced to settle for silver as they fell just two points short of their first title over the four-team World Cup format since 1989, with Poland claiming a record ninth victory in the competition.Taking to social media after the Final, Woffinden expressed his frustration with his own performance. But Allen insists the triple Speedway GP world champion’s contribution to the side was huge.He said: “Tai probably didn’t score as many points as he would have wanted to. But if you look at what Tai brings to the team, he brought more points than the ones he scored. “It’s not common knowledge, but he bought an engine from Ash-Tech for Adam Ellis to use – specifically for the World Cup. Can you tell me another captain who has done that?! Things like that are invaluable, and also his experience and calmness around the team. Okay, he dropped more points than he would have wanted to, but he also brought more to the team than the points.”Lambert lined up against Poland’s Maciej Janowski in the all-important heat 20, with the Wroclaw hero slipping past him as he chased race leader Max Fricke going into the final lap to deny GB a run-off for first place and seal the Ove Fundin Trophy.But with the Norfolk ace scoring 25 points – the highest tally of all the Lions stars over their two Monster Energy FIM SWC meetings, Allen insists the world No.5 could have done no more.“Robert really beat himself up after that last race,” he said. “But he did a fantastic job overall. I have watched that last race back numerous times and I don’t know what Robert could have done differently. He was in the unfortunate position where he was quicker than Max at the front and Max was holding him up. But he knew if he tried to overtake him, he would be opening himself up to a move from Magic. It was a really hard task. How many hundreds of thousands of laps of that track has Magic done?“My memory of that final race is almost slow-motion. I remember thinking after two laps, ‘Who am I putting in the run-off against Bartosz Zmarzlik? What a race that’s going to be!’“I thought we were having a run-off and then Magic came from nowhere. I will never forget the Polish fans when Magic went up the inside of Robert. That will live with me for a long time.”The Lions have now finished in the world’s top two for three straight seasons – massive progress after struggling to reach the rostrum consistently for decades. They may have missed out on the gold medal they desired, but Allen believes the Brits have a lot to be positive about.He said: “If you look at the biggest picture of all, we are all involved in speedway because we love it and it was probably one of, if not the best, World Cup Finals there has ever been. You couldn’t ask for more. It went down to three teams going into the last race and it was a brilliant advert for speedway. From that point of view, great.“As far as where Great Britain has come from and where we are now, that’s also really positive. In the last three years, we have had a gold medal and two silvers. We have been the most consistent team over the last few years, so that’s a bonus as well.“The disappointing thing is to lose the way we did. I would say we led for longer than anyone else in that meeting. "It was heartbreaking to lose it, but I am really, really proud of every one of the five boys. As a team and a unit, I think we had the best team atmosphere we have ever had. I have no complaints.”

Discover

PEDERSEN NAMES DANISH SQUAD FOR 2024

WORLD NO.2 LINDGREN LEADS SWEDISH SQUAD FOR 2024

POLAND'S MONSTER ENERGY FIM SWC'S HEROES RETURN AS DOBRUCKI NAMES SQUAD FOR 2024

SPEEDWAY GP CALENDAR EXPANDS TO 11 ROUNDS FOR 2024 AS MANCHESTER STAGES FIM SPEEDWAY OF NATIONS

ALLEN: WOFFY DELIVERED MORE THAN POINTS FOR GB