SWEDISH DUO AMONG SGP2 QUALIFIERS

Swedish young guns Casper Henriksson and Philip Hellstrom-Bangs will represent the host nation in the 3P Logistics FIM SGP2 of Sweden – Malilla next Friday after sealing FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship qualification on Saturday.

Henriksson finished fifth in the 2023 SGP2 series and he sealed his spot in this year’s three-round championship with victory at the qualifier in Macon, France on 14 points. 

Meanwhile, Hellstrom-Bangs took fourth place on 11 in the qualifier at German track Ludwigslust. He will now do double duty, having already been named as second track reserve for the 3P Logistics FIM Speedway GP of Sweden – Malilla on Saturday night.

Henriksson was followed into the series by Poland’s double FIM SON2 gold medallist Wiktor Przyjemski, who was second in Macon on 13 and is likely to start as one of the championship favourites as he returns to the SGP2 series after a year’s break.

Danish racer William Drejer, who finished third in the FIM SGP2 of Denmark – Vojens final as a track reserve last year will now race full time in the 2024 series after finishing third in France.

He won a three-way run-off for the last two qualification spots, which also saw Great Britain’s Leon Flint make the cut. Former SGP3 gold medallist Mikkel Andersen was the unlucky man after the trio tied on 12.

Ukrainian racer Nazar Parnitskyi, first substitute rider in the 2023 SGP2 series, blazed into the full 2024 line-up with a 15-point maximum, which won him the Ludwigslust qualifier.

Jesper Knudsen was second on 12 and follows in the footsteps of his brother Jonas, who competed in the 2022 series. Jesper beat Norwegian racer Mathias Pollestad in a run-off for second place, but Pollestad still qualifies in third, with Hellstrom-Bangs taking the final spot in Germany on 11. Polish star Bartosz Banbor and American youngster Slater Lightcap just fell short on 10.

Poland’s Sebastian Szostak booked his place in SGP2 as winner of the qualifier at former FIM Italian Speedway GP venue Terenzano, scoring 14 points.

Danish racer Bastian Pedersen – nephew of triple Speedway GP world champion Nicki Pedersen – qualified in second place on 13. Poland’s Jakub Krawczyk and Latvia’s Francis Gusts came through a three-way run-off for the last two qualification places, with 2022 SGP3 runner-up Villads Nagel of Denmark missing out after they tied on 12.

British rider Dan Thompson fell short on 10, with 2023 SGP2 star Anze Grmek exiting on nine.

The full SGP2 line-up will be confirmed very soon, with the 12 qualifiers set to be joined by three permanent wild cards, selected by the SGP2 Commission, as well as a wild card for each of the rounds in Malilla, Latvian capital Riga on September 6 and Polish city Torun on September 27.

2024 SGP2 LINE-UP SO FAR: Nazar Parnitskyi (Ukraine), Jesper Knudsen (Denmark), Mathias Pollestad (Norway), Philip Hellstrom-Bangs (Sweden), Sebastian Szostak (Poland), Bastian Pedersen (Denmark), Jakub Krawczyk (Poland), Francis Gusts (Latvia), Casper Henriksson (Sweden), Wiktor Przyjemski (Poland), William Drejer (Denmark), Leon Flint (Great Britain).