NORWEGIAN STAR POLLESTAD PLOTS ROUTE TO SGP2 SUCCESS IN RIGA

Norwegian racer Mathias Pollestad hopes to enjoy a smoother ride to the 2025 DeWalt FIM SGP2 of Latvia – Riga this Friday after a breakdown on his way to Bikernieki Speedway Stadium left him without equipment in 2024.

Pollestad goes into round two of the 2025 FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship, bidding to build on the 12 championship points he earned at round one in Malilla, Sweden on July 4.

He scored 12 points in the Latvian capital last summer, and that was a minor miracle after his van broke down on the way to catching the ferry in Sweden. Luckily, his Danish SGP2 rival Villads Nagel saved the day by loaning him bikes and safety clothing.

Pollestad went on to win the final SGP2 round in Torun to secure the 2024 bronze medal and is very much in contention for top honours again as he heads to Riga fifth in the standings on 12 points. Poland’s reigning SGP2 champion Wiktor Przyjemski leads the way on 20 points after winning the Virkvarn FIM SGP2 of Sweden – Malilla with a six-ride maximum, with Denmark’s William Drejer second on 18, Poland’s Kevin Malkiewicz third on 16 and Ukrainian racer Nazar Parnitskyi fourth on 14.

Pollestad is aiming high in his final season at under-21 level. “I hope to have a gold medal – that’s the plan,” he said. “But we will see. I am really looking forward to Riga. I hope I can make the starts all night on Friday.” 

The 2024 Riga SGP2 round saw Parnitskyi pick up the biggest win by a Ukrainian rider since the country split from the Soviet Union.

But he was nearly pipped to victory by Denmark’s Mikkel Andersen, who fought him furiously for the lead in the final, before crashing out as he battled for top spot – forcing him to settle for third place.

Andersen admits inexperience cost him that night. He said: “I almost finished first in the final, but I think I proved I was still young and needed a bit more experience in that race. If I had a bit more experience, I would have probably popped it to the line instead of going for the dirt line. Of course, you want to win whenever you put the helmet on and especially when I had the speed and the opportunity to pass. But when I look back, I should have probably gone to the easy line on the inside instead of just chasing the fast line, which cost me first place.

“It’s something I will learn from. It was my first year on a 500cc bike, so hopefully I will improve on that for this year.” 

Like Pollestad, Andersen also has his sights set on a medal after taking fourth place in 2024.

He said: “It would be nice. I was only four points away from getting third place last year, so hopefully I can get a medal this year. But there is still a long way to go and it’s a strong line-up we have.

“I will just take it round by round and it’ll be nice to have the final round at Vojens on September 12 – that’s my home track in Denmark.”

The Latvian flag will be flown by Lokomotiv Daugavpils star Nikita Kaulins, who races as wild card in round two of the series on Friday. 

DeWALT FIM SGP2 OF LATVIA – RIGA LINE-UP IN FIM RANKING ORDER WITH RIDER NUMBERS:

999. Mathias Pollestad (Norway)
37. Norick Blodorn (Germany)
97. Mikkel Andersen (Denmark)
505. Wiktor Przyjemski (Poland)
785. Nazar Parnitskyi (Ukraine)
72. Jake Mulford (Great Britain)
545. William Drejer (Denmark)
802. Kevin Malkiewicz (Poland)
310. Jan Przanowski (Poland)
226. Anze Grmek (Slovenia)
305. Antoni Mencel (Poland)
43. Casper Henriksson (Sweden)
27. Mitchell McDiarmid (Australia)
79. Adam Bubba Bednar (Czechia)
237. Dan Thompson (Great Britain)
16. Nikita Kaulins (Latvia – wild card)
17. Damirs Filimonovs (Latvia – first track reserve)
18. Artjoms Juhno (Latvia – second track reserve)

WHERE TO WATCH

Coverage of the DeWalt FIM SGP2 of Latvia – Riga can be enjoyed via HBO Max and discovery+ platforms in markets where these are available. Viewers in other countries around the world can find coverage on the Racer Network HERE.