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LINDGREN STILL HUNGRY FOR GOLD

Swedish star Fredrik Lindgren is pleased with his rock-solid FIM Speedway Grand Prix run but admits he's searching for something more after ending 2024 with Speedway GP World Championship bronze.Since he returned to the full-time Speedway GP line-up in 2017, Lindgren has claimed one silver and three bronze medals.He has firmly established himself as one of the world’s top riders and raced to his best-ever season in 2023 – finishing just eight points short of becoming Sweden’s first Speedway GP world champion since Tony Rickardsson clinched his sixth and final title in 2005.Fast Freddie turns 40 in September 2025 but insists the desire to be the best in the world still burns bright as he bids to take that final step.He said: “I have been pretty high in the standings since I came back into the GPs in 2017. I have won a silver and three bronze medals. I probably would have had another bronze in 2017, when I broke my neck. Since 2018, I haven’t been outside the top five.“It has been pretty good, but not good enough to get on to the top step. You need to eliminate your bad rounds. You can’t afford to miss the semi-finals on a few occasions like I have been.“It has been an okay season, I guess, but I don’t know. I want something more and that’s probably why I keep going! I am going to do my best again next year. We are already in the planning stages for 2025. Hopefully I can find some improvements and give it another go.”

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LEN SILVER 1932-2024

Former FIM Speedway World Team Cup-winning England and Great Britain manager Len Silver has passed away at the age of 92.Silver spent a lifetime in the sport, starting his racing career with the Ipswich Witches in 1953, before also competing for Exeter and Hackney.He retired from racing due to injury following a crash at Hackney in 1964, with his biggest victory as a rider coming in the 1962 Provincial League Riders’ Championship – the equivalent of the modern-day Championship League Riders Championship.Silver then started a storied career as a team manager and promoter – including two separate spells managing his country.He led Great Britain to World Team Cup gold at Wembley in 1973, before taking England to victory at the 1974 competition in Chorzow, Poland and making it three in a row at German track Norden in 1975.Silver was also a skilled track curator and prepared the surface for Wembley’s last-ever FIM Speedway World Final in 1981, which produced one of the sport’s most memorable meetings – won by American legend Bruce Penhall.He had a long and hugely successful promoting career, which included two decades at East London club Hackney, as well as involvement in teams like Rayleigh, Rye House and Eastbourne.He bought Rye House Stadium, returning for a second spell promoting the Rockets when he revived the club in 1999, winning the Premier League (now Championship) title in both 2005 and 2007.In 2013, he launched the Kent Kings at Central Park Stadium, continuing as promoter of the club through to his retirement at the end of the 2021 season.Silver was inducted into British Speedway’s Hall of Fame in 2021 and continued to attend the sport regularly following the successful revival of Oxford in 2022. He was in attendance at Cowley for the first leg of the Cab Direct Championship Grand Final between the Cheetahs and Poole on October 5.Everyone involved in the FIM Speedway World Championships sends their condolences to Len’s family and friends at this sad time.

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SPEEDWAY GP TRIO HONOURED AT PGE EKSTRALIGA GALA IN WARSAW

Speedway GP riders Bartosz Zmarzlik, Robert Lambert and Anders Thomsen all carried off prizes at the PGE Ekstraliga Gala in Warsaw on Friday.The stars of the world’s biggest speedway league gathered in the Polish capital, where the Szczakiels – named in honour of Poland’s first FIM Speedway world champion Jerzy Szczakiel – were presented.Five of the honours were voted for by fans online and five-time Speedway GP world champion Zmarzlik of Lublin was named Polish Rider of the Season for the ninth time with 29.83 percent of the vote. He saw off Wroclaw racer Artem Laguta (21.53%), Torun’s Emil Sayfutdinov (14.63%), Lublin’s Dominik Kubera (8.18%) and Torun’s Patryk Dudek (8.06%).The Foreign Rider of the Season prize was claimed by Britain’s new world No.2 Robert Lambert after a stellar season for Torun, who claimed PGE Ekstraliga bronze. Lambert finished fourth in the average charts on 2.278 points per race.The double FIM Speedway of Nations world champion topped the public vote on 37.11 percent ahead of Gorzow duo Anders Thomsen (11.19%) and Martin Vaculik (10.89%), plus Grudziadz racer Max Fricke (9.31%) and outgoing Czestochowa rider Leon Madsen, who finished fifth on 8.63 percent. But the Dane was the foreign rider with the highest average on 2.416 points per race – a mark beaten only by 2021 Speedway GP world champion Laguta, who topped the average charts on 2.462, and Zmarzlik, who registered 2.419 in second place.Despite missing out on the Foreign Rider award to Lambert, Thomsen was handed the Race of the Season award by PGE Ekstraliga broadcaster Canal+ for his performance for Gorzow in heat 14 away to arch-rivals Zielona Gora on May 5.The Junior Rider of the Season vote was won by SGP2 champion Wiktor Przyjemski, who starred for Lublin in the under-21 positions, finishing an impressive 13th in the average charts on 2.060 points per race. Przyjemski topped the poll on 44.94 percent, beating Gorzow rookie Oskar Paluch (20.54%), Wroclaw’s SGP2 star Jakub Krawczyk (12.29%), Grudziadz rider Kacper Lobodzinski (8.85%) and Lublin’s SGP2 racer Bartosz Banbor (5%).Despite Leszno suffering relegation to Metalkas 2. Ekstraliga, Aussie sensation Ben Cook still topped the Surprise of the Season vote after racing to 17th in the PGE Ekstraliga average charts on 1.976 points per race in his first season competing in the world’s top league. He will now follow Leszno into the second tier, where he could play a pivotal role in their promotion hopes.Cook received 36.43 percent of the vote, getting the better of former Speedway GP star Michael Jepsen Jensen (34.02%), who roared back into form with Grudziadz after starting the season without a Polish club to earn a contract with the team for 2025.Wroclaw’s former SGP2 bronze medallist Bartlomiej Kowalski (17.04%), Zielona Gora’s Rasmus Jensen (7.72%) and Czestochowa’s Mads Hansen (4.79%) were also in contention.Grudziadz boss Robert Kosciecha won the Coach of the Season award on 28.64 percent after guiding his club into the PGE Ekstraliga play-offs for the first time. He defeated Lublin’s title-winning boss Maciej Kuciapa (16.38%), Gorzow’s outgoing coach Stanislaw Chomski (15.60%), Torun’s Piotr Baron (15.45%) and Wroclaw’s Dariusz Sledz (11.24%).Lublin won the Team of the Season prize after racing to a third straight PGE Ekstraliga championship.And the Golden Szczakiel – a special recognition award – was handed to Torun’s legendary rider and coach Jan Zabik, who continues to train the stars of tomorrow at the Marian Rose Motoarena and on its nearby training track.

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THORSSELL EXTENDS VASTERVIK DEAL

Double Swedish champion Jacob Thorssell will be part of Vastervik’s Bauhaus Elitserien title challenge in 2025.The Atvidaberg-born racer has extended his stay with the club, where he joins world No.2 Robert Lambert, world No.3 Fredrik Lindgren and Danish star Mads Hansen next year.Thorssell was close to joining Lambert and Lindgren in next season’s Speedway GP series, falling just a point short of qualification at the FIM SGP Challenge in Pardubice on October 4, before being handed the fourth series substitute spot by the SGP Commission.Whether or not his opportunity comes in Speedway GP, Thorssell is determined to play a key role in Vastervik’s chase for Swedish gold.The FIM Speedway of Nations bronze medallist told the club’s website: “I am incredibly happy to remain in Västervik, where I enjoy myself very much with everyone at the club. Hopefully I can go up one or more levels and become a steady scorer for the team in the hunt for gold. “I also want to say a big thank you to all the fans for the awesome support during the season. See you again in the spring!”Vastervik boss Morgan Andersson commented: “There was no hesitation on our part when it came to extending with Jacob. “Overall, he had his best season at the club since his return, but we still see great potential in him. I believe and hope that he will take the next step in his development in 2025.”Elsewhere, Polish racer Robert Chmiel has signed a deal with champions Lejonen after racing for the club’s Allsvenskan League side in a strong season, which saw him qualify for the Speedway European Championship and finish second at the prestigious Golden Helmet in Pardubice.And Swedish racer Joel Andersson has extended his stay with Smederna, joining SGP2 star Philip Hellstrom-Bangs and Anton Jansson in the squad.

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FRICKE: AUSTRALIA'S GOLDEN GENERATION

Returning Speedway GP racer Max Fricke can’t wait to face lifelong rivals Jack Holder and Brady Kurtz in the 2025 FIM Speedway Grand Prix series.Fricke came through a tense final heat at the FIM SGP Challenge in Pardubice last Friday, securing fourth place to make an instant return to the Speedway GP line-up after being forced to settle for the first reserve berth in 2024.He is joined in representing Australia by 2017 Speedway GP world champion Jason Doyle, who received a permanent wild card. Holder secured his spot by finishing sixth in this year’s SGP World Championship, while Kurtz topped the podium at the FIM SGP Challenge to qualify alongside Fricke.Holder, Kurtz and Fricke were born within six months of each other in 1996 and grew up competing against each other at youth and junior level Down Under.Next year sees all three face off on world speedway’s biggest stage, and Fricke believes their rivalry has brought the best out of them as they have gone wheel to wheel around the world.He said: “It’s awesome to have Jack, Brady and myself in the series. We have raced each other since we were nine years old. We are all the same age and have come through the ranks together.“I was talking to Brady about it. It’s pretty cool that we have raced each other our whole lives and we have made it all the way to the GPs.“We are all competitive people, and we have raced each other for a long time. Of course, there is going to be a little bit of pushing each other along. We are all trying to do our best individually, but even in the juniors, we were always pushing each other and that probably helped us to improve.”Doyle was the last Aussie to be crowned world champion seven years ago. Asked if one of his golden generation could reach those heights in the coming years, Fricke replied: “I would like to think so. “All the riders in the GP are super talented. But just to think we have all grown up together and raced together and helped each other to get where we are is great. I definitely think there is the opportunity there for one of us to reach that goal of being world champion.”

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LINDGREN STILL HUNGRY FOR GOLD

LEN SILVER 1932-2024

SPEEDWAY GP TRIO HONOURED AT PGE EKSTRALIGA GALA IN WARSAW

THORSSELL EXTENDS VASTERVIK DEAL

FRICKE: AUSTRALIA'S GOLDEN GENERATION