PEDERSEN’S WARNING AHEAD OF FIM YOUTH EVENT

Denmark’s Villads Pedersen made a real statement of intent ahead of next Saturday’s FIM SGP4 showdown in Malilla by lifting the FIM Speedway Youth Gold Trophy in Holsted on Saturday, July 8.

Pedersen raced to a 15-point maximum to win the 85cc event in his homeland, finishing ahead of fellow Danish star Elias Jamil, who was second on 13, and Germany’s Carlos Gennerich, who took third spot on 12.

The 85cc championship originally fired 2001 winner and now world number two and double European champion Leon Madsen into the international spotlight. The trophy has been consistently dominated by the northern European nations, with other countries staging youth events on 125cc machines.

But Pedersen is set for a different challenge when he faces off with riders aged 11-13 from all over the world on the brand-new FIM SGP4 190cc bike designed by six-time world champion Tony Rickardsson in the first-ever FIM Speedway Youth World Cup on the Malilla training track at 14:30 CET next Saturday afternoon (July 15).

He will come up against Germany’s Niklas Bager, who took fourth spot in the Holsted meeting on 11 points. Australia’s Cooper Antone is also among the SGP4 contenders. He was seventh in the 85cc event on eight points. He will face off with Finland’s Niko Hatva, who was 12th in Denmark on six points.

Great Britain’s SGP4 rider Oliver Bovingdon also heads to Malilla on a high after winning the 125cc class in the British Youth Championships. He topped the podium after winning a run-off with Archie Rolph, who won the final round in Scunthorpe and chased him hard for four laps in the title decider.

FIM SGP4 LINE-UP: 1 Villads Pedersen (Denmark), 2 Augustin Kreder (Argentina), 3 Lustiuk Zakhar (Ukraine), 4 Oliver Bovingdon (Great Britain), 5 Elias Jamil (Denmark), 6 Arvid Björkeroth (Sweden), 7 Niklas Bager (Denmark), 8 Antone Cooper (Australia), 9 Boris Charbonnier (France), 10 Niko Hatva (Finland), 11 Karel Prusa (Czech Republic), 12 Jesper Kvarnström (Sweden), 13 Damian Andre (Romania), 14 Niklas Barger (Germany), 15 Kobi Canning (Australia), 16 Kensei Matsudaira (USA). RESERVES: 17 Otto Autere (Sweden), 18 Oscar Kull (Sweden).