Danish speedway fans can already mark Friday 15 September and Saturday 16 September in their calendars. On Friday, the 3rd and last round of next year's U21 WC series will be run, and the following day it will be the Danish WC Grand Prix, which this year will be the penultimate of the series.
By Ib Søby
Since the Grand Prix system was introduced in 1995, it is not unusual that the WC decision has fallen in the penultimate division. With this particular location, the Vojens Speedway Center will play an extremely important role when the intense hunt for gold, silver and bronze approaches its conclusion in 2023.
As in the completed season, Denmark has three drivers among the world's very best. It is the double World Cup silver winner Leon Madsen, SES – Sønderjylland Elite Speedway profile Anders Thomsen, and Mikkel Michelsen from North Zealand.
This year, Anders Thomsen managed to become Denmark's latest Grand Prix winner with a great victory in Gorzow, before breaking one of his legs during the rough Grand Prix qualifying final in August in Glasgow. Thomsen is now training diligently with Team Denmark in Aarhus, and is expected back on the speedway bike after the New Year.
Next year's Grand Prix series begins in Croatia's Donji Kralevec on April 29, with the field visiting a total of eight nations, finishing in Torun, Poland on September 30 – a fortnight after the race at Vojens Speedway Center.
In 2023, speedway sport turns 100 years old, and the FIM, together with Discovery Events, had hoped for a branch in Australia, where athletics chairman Johnnie Hoskins organized the first speedway race in history in November 1923. However, it has not been successful in relation to 2023, but the plans for a Grand Prix in Australia are still on the drawing board
Keep the WC back
On the other hand, the classic Team WC, with national teams consisting of four drivers and a reserve, will return next year, when Poland's Wroclaw will be the host. For the past five seasons, the FIM, and now Discovery, have used the Speedway of Nations format, which is an amalgamation of the Pairs and Teams WC, with three drivers on the team.
It is the intention that from now on there will be a Team WC every 3 years – and Speedway of Nations in the two seasons in between.
Also the U21 WC decision in Vojens
In the completed season, Discovery Events' first, SGP 2 – the U21 WC series – had been put on the same weekend as three selected Grand Prix races. This model will be continued in 2023, where the young talents will compete in Prague, Gorzow and Vojens.
- It is a great gift from the FIM and Discovery that Vojens also gets the SGP2 decision, the day before our WC Grand Prix. After all, it sends a strong signal to our young talents to give it a shot when qualification for the SGP 2 series itself is run in the spring, says director Jacob Olsen from Vojens Speedway Center.
Also SON 2 – U21 Team WC – and SGP 3, the individual WC for 250 cc, are run on Grand Prix weekends in Latvian Riga and Swedish Målilla.
With this, the youth get exactly the same event set-up and the same TV coverage as the world's elite in the Grand Prix series.
2023 FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX CALENDAR:
April 29 – FIM Speedway GP of Croatia – Donji Kraljevec
May 13 – FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Warsawa
June 3 – FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic – Prague
June 10 – FIM Speedway GP of Germany – Teterow
June 24 – FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Gorzow
July 15 – FIM Speedway GP of Sweden – Malilla
August 12 – FIM Speedway GP of Latvia – Riga – not finally confirmed.
September 2 – FIM Speedway GP of Great Britain – Cardiff
September 16 – FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens
September 30 – FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Torun
2023 WORLD CUP – TEAM WC – Wroclaw's Olympic Stadium in Poland
Tuesday, July 25 – FIM Speedway World Cup Semi-Final 1
Wednesday, July 26 – FIM Speedway World Cup Semi-Final 2
Friday, July 28 – FIM Speedway World Cup Race Off
Saturday, July 29 – FIM Speedway World Cup Final
2023 SGP2, U-21 INV. WC
Friday, June 2 – FIM SGP2 of Czech Republic – Prague
Friday, June 23 – FIM SGP2 of Poland – Gorzow
Friday, September 15 – FIM SGP2 of Denmark – Vojens
2023 SON2, U-21 TEAM WC
Friday, August 11 – FIM Speedway of Nations – SON2 – Riga, Latvia – not finally confirmed
2023 SGP3, INV. 250 CC WC
Friday, July 14 – FIM SGP3 Final – Malilla, Sweden