RICKARDSSON & SUNDSTROM SET TO COACH AT FIM SGP ACADEMY IN MALILLA AS REGISTRATIONS OPEN

Six-time FIM Speedway world champion Tony Rickardsson and new Swedish coach Linus Sundstrom will train the stars of tomorrow at the FIM SGP Academy in Malilla, Sweden from July 3-5.

Registrations are now open for the second FIM SGP Academy of 2025, which takes place alongside Sweden’s biggest speedway event, the FIM Speedway GP of Sweden – Malilla on Saturday, July 5 and the FIM SGP2 of Sweden – Malilla on Friday, July 4 – the opening round of the FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship.

The first of two European academies in 2025 follows the successful FIM SGP Academy – Down Under in Adelaide, South Australia from January 22-24. This saw 23 riders from Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain train under the watchful eyes of Rickardsson, Speedway GP star Max Fricke, FIM Track Racing Commission director Armando Castagna and FIM Speedway race director Phil Morris. 

Staged in partnership between motorcycle racing’s global governing body, the FIM, and FIM Speedway global promoter Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, the Malilla event is for riders aged 11-15, riding youth bikes ranging from 85cc to the 190cc SGP4 bike and the academy is designed to hone their skills, with coaching both on and off the track.

The FIM SGP Academy supports the sport's youngest riders at grassroots level as they prepare to take their first steps on to the FIM Speedway pyramid with SGP4, before hopefully progressing all the way through the SGP3 category for under-16s and SGP2 for under-21s and one day competing in the Speedway GP World Championship.

As well as on-track coaching and practice races, riders and their parents will be given a mechanical masterclass and learn about racing lines as they take a track walk with the coaching team. They will also get the chance to meet their Speedway GP heroes and learn more about life as an SGP rider. 

The event includes a behind-the-scenes experience of a Speedway GP round, watching Qualifying with Rickardsson and touring the pits, as well as taking part in a gate selection experience, visiting the television broadcast truck and meeting the TV crew. Riders will receive media and social media training and gain interview and press conference experience. Riders and their families will then watch the SGP2 and Speedway GP World Championship action at trackside.

The successful launch of the FIM SGP Academy project in Prague in 2024 follows the birth of SGP4 in 2023 – a championship for 11-13-year-olds racing the 190cc bike designed by Rickardsson. The competition was granted world-championship status by the FIM for 2025.

Rickardsson is delighted to be joined by Sundstrom, who has been appointed Swedish national team manager for 2025.

The 2015 FIM Speedway World Cup winner works tirelessly with Sweden’s young riders and has launched the Swedish Speedway Academy, working in cooperation with a host of Swedish racing legends, including Rickardsson, to run coaching sessions at various tracks around the country for the nation’s next generation of speedway stars.

There will be one further FIM SGP Academy as part of the FIM Speedway of Nations in Polish city Torun, which takes place from September 30 until October 4.

For further details about the FIM SGP Academy in Malilla or to register your interest, riders should contact their national federations.