JACK HOLDER QUALIFIES FOR FIM GP CHALLENGE

Aussie racer Jack Holder took a giant stride closer towards securing a second straight Speedway GP season after qualifying for the FIM GP Challenge with a 15-point maximum.

Hot on the heels of his first-ever Speedway GP semi-final in Teterow last Saturday, Holder blazed to five straight wins to top the podium at the qualifying round in Debrecen, Hungary on Monday.

He will now line up at the FIM GP Challenge at British track Glasgow on August 20, where the top three riders will be guaranteed places in the 2023 FIM Speedway Grand Prix series.

Holder is joined in qualifying by former Polish champion Szymon Wozniak. The FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Gorzow wild card cruised to 13 points to claim second place.

Current Speedway GP first reserve Andzejs Lebedevs of Latvia finished third with 12 points to punch his ticket to Glasgow. Australia’s Rohan Tungate took the fourth and final qualification place on 11 points after beating Denmark’s Michael Jepsen Jensen in a run-off.

Danish champion Anders Thomsen also booked his spot at the FIM GP Challenge with victory at the Abensberg qualifier in Germany.

Thomsen topped the podium on 13 points after winning a run-off with FIM Speedway GP of Germany – Teterow wild card Kai Huckenbeck. Both riders now head to Glasgow, where Thomsen spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons with the Tigers in the old British Premier League.

Aussie champion Max Fricke also heads to Glasgow after finishing third on 12 points. He booked his Speedway GP spot for 2022 with a second place at the 2021 FIM GP Challenge in Zarnovica and will bid for a repeat performance.

There was heartbreak for former world champion Chris Holder in the battle for the final spot after Swedish international Kim Nilsson beat him in a run-off for fourth place. The pair finished on 11.

Poland’s Patryk Dudek was unable to follow up his victory in Teterow last Saturday by securing a spot in the FIM GP Challenge. He was eliminated on 10 points.

Further qualifiers take place at Slovak circuit Zarnovica and Hungarian track Nagyhalasz on Saturday.

DEBRECEN SCORES: 1 Jack Holder 15, 2 Szymon Wozniak 13, 3 Andzejs Lebedevs 12, 4 Rohan Tungate 11+3, 5 Michael Jepsen Jensen 11+2, 6 Bartosz Smektala 9, 7 Erik Riss 8, 8 Hynek Stichauer 8, 9 Olegs Mihailovs 8, 10 Frederik Jakobsen 7, 11 Tomas H Jonasson 5, 12 Anze Grmek 4, 13 Steven Goret 4, 14 Roland Kovacs 4, 15 Norbert Magosi 1, 16 Andrei Popa 0, 17 Miran Praznik 0, 18 Sandor Konya 0.

ABENSBERG SCORES: 1 Anders Thomsen 13+3, 2 Kai Huckenbeck 13+2, 3 Max Fricke 12, 4 Kim Nilsson 11+3, 5 Chris Holder 11+2, 6 Patryk Dudek 10, 7 Mathieu Tressarieu 8, 8 Norick Blodorn 8, 9 Valentin Grobauer 7, 10 Danny Gappmaier 6, 11 Jesse Mustonen 6, 12 Petr Chlupac 6, 13 Broc Nicol 5, 14 Adam Ellis 3, 15 Glenn Moi 1, 16 George Congreve 0, 17 Sandro Wasserman 0.