FIM SPEEDWAY: BLODORN IS GERMAN GP WILD CARD

German teenager Norick Blodorn has been handed a dream World Championship call-up as wild card for the Trans MF FIM Speedway GP of Germany – Landshut on May 18.

The 19-year-old, who was crowned German Senior Champion in 2022, dons the famous number 16 race jacket for Germany’s biggest speedway event, which returns to Landshut’s OneSolar Arena for the first time since 1997.

Blodorn has firmly established himself as German speedway’s brightest future prospect and is already a regular member of the national team for the FIM Speedway of Nations (FIM SON) and FIM Speedway World Cup (FIM SWC).

He raced in the 2023 SGP2 series – the FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship – finishing ninth overall, and he could be among the favourites for the 2024 SGP2 title as he becomes one of the more experienced performers in the under-21 class.

Blodorn raced for Landshut when they competed in the 2023 Polish First Division and has continued his career in the same league, which is now known as the Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga, with Polish club Rybnik in 2024.

He also competes for British giants Belle Vue, where he helped the Manchester club win the 2022 Premiership title – the club’s first league-championship win for 29 years.

Blodorn is joined in the Landshut line-up by German star Kai Huckenbeck, who makes his full-time Speedway GP debut in 2024.

The field for the Trans MF FIM German Speedway GP is completed by two double FIM Long Track World Championship winners, Martin Smolinski (number 17) and Erik Riss (number 18).

Reigning FIM Long Track World Champion and long-time German international Smolinski is no stranger to Speedway GP, having raced in the 2014 series, famously winning the season-opening FIM Speedway GP of New Zealand – Auckland to become Germany’s first and, so far, only SGP winner.

Riss, who won his FIM Long Track World Championships in 2014 and 2016, has represented his country in the FIM SON and FIM SWC and currently competes for Landshut in Poland’s National Speedway League – formerly known as the Second Division. He also signed for Oxford Spires in Britain’s Rowe Motor Oil Premiership earlier this week.