SUNDSTROM'S SWEDISH SPEEDWAY ACADEMY STEPS UP FOR 2025
Swedish team manager Linus Sundstrom insists he’s determined to give something back to the sport in his homeland as he steps up his Swedish Speedway Academy project in 2025.Sundstrom was appointed as national coach last autumn, replacing Vastervik boss Morgan Andersson, and the 2015 FIM Speedway World Cup winner will lead the side into his first FIM Speedway of Nations in Torun from September 30 until October 4.Aside from his managerial commitments to Poland’s senior and junior sides, Sundstrom continues to build his Swedish Speedway Academy, which he launched in 2023. He will also coach alongside six-time FIM Speedway world champion Tony Rickardsson at the FIM SGP Academy in Malilla from July 3-5.Sundstrom’s aim is to equip more young riders with the skills needed to take on the sport’s biggest stars as he continues his involvement in speedway following his retirement due to injury in 2021.He explained: “I am not done in the sport. I want to give back to it and I feel I have it in me to help Swedish speedway going forward.“We kicked off this academy as a pilot project in 2023, just to try it out, and we went full gas in 2024. Last year we had five weekends, and we had competitions on the 250cc bikes and the 500s. It was open to under-21s. This year, the 85cc and 190cc SGP4 riders will also be with us.“This year’s first weekend will be in Gislaved on April 19-20. We will also invite Lejonen’s own speedway school kids to come. I think we will have between 35 and 45 kids on this weekend. “We will be running on both tracks at the same time – the small track and big track. We will have our training weekends in Gislaved, Kumla and Eskilstuna, and the reason why we go to those places is the same reason why they had SGP4 in Malilla – the small track and its pits are separate. We have the chance to run both tracks at the same time. That’s what we are going to do.”Sundstrom’s efforts have been well supported by his fellow Swedish stars, with both current and former riders taking part as coaches. He said: “I had Pontus Aspgren and Ricky Kling with me as training instructors last year. At one of the weekends, Tony Rickardsson was with us. (Four-time Speedway GP world champion) Greg Hancock was with us when we were in Vastervik.“We had training in Mariestad, and we had PK (Peter Karlsson) and Oliver Berntzon, who chipped in and helped the youngsters. Andreas Jonsson is involved – supporting us financially through the building company he is running today. Freddie Lindgren has also been involved, along with Peter Nahlin and Magnus Zetterstrom.“There are a lot of current and former riders involved, and it was a good first year. We will build on that now for 2025.“I am really thankful and really happy to have all of these guys involved. The response has been better than I could have ever wished for. I am just trying to get a little bit of help and involve as many people as possible in one way or another to share their experience and support the kids.”Sundstrom admits that the Swedish Speedway Academy isn’t only about supporting the young riders. He said: “It’s 50 percent for the riders and 50 percent for their mechanics, which is normally the mums and dads.“We want to help them to save money and give them some tips and tricks to not waste money. We can advise them how and where they need to spend their time, how to look after the bikes and how to make them work well. The academy is not only for the riders.”While Sundstrom admits clubs must still offer youngsters the chance to get a first taste of the sport, he is ready to support Sweden’s young guns as they establish themselves on the shale.He added: “As soon as the youngsters and their parents decide to start with speedway – when they get a bike and a licence – I will look after them in the academy with training sessions and all the help we can offer.“It is still up to each club to make sure they have speedway schools and training sessions, so that they can offer kids the chance to try speedway. But once they are in the sport and have their own bike, I will look after them together with Ricky, Pontus and all of the guys involved in the academy.”
2025 DANISH CHAMPION SET TO JOIN FIM SPEEDWAY WEEKEND OF CHAMPIONS IN VOJENS
This year’s Danish champion will earn a dream call-up for the nation’s biggest speedway event for a generation, the Deluxe Homeart FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens on September 13.The Danish Championship Final takes place in Brovst on June 25 and Denmark’s Motor Union (DMU) and national team manager Nicki Pedersen have agreed to nominate the winner as wild card for the final Speedway GP of 2025. If the Danish title is won by reigning champion Anders Thomsen or 2023 winner Mikkel Michelsen, who are already members of the Speedway GP line-up, the highest-placed non-SGP rider will receive the wild card. The two track reserves will be nominated by Pedersen.The coveted wild card was previously awarded to a rider by the national coach, but Pedersen hopes the change will raise the stakes when the country’s finest battle it out for Danish Championship gold.
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.
BECKER BAGS FIM NORTH AMERICA TITLE TO JOIN SGP QUALIFICATION RACE
USA star Luke Becker booked his place in next season’s Speedway GP qualification rounds after lifting his fourth FIM North America Championship in Bakersfield, California last Saturday.Becker claimed his fourth crown at Kern County Raceway with a 15-point maximum – going unbeaten for the third year in a row – as he matched 1993 FIM Speedway world champion Sam Ermolenko’s record of four North American titles.The Leicester rider’s latest success earns him a spot in the international SGP qualifiers, where he will race to reach the FIM SGP Challenge at Danish track Holsted on August 9. The top four riders there earn guaranteed places in the 2026 Speedway GP series.Becker will be joined by former continental champion Max Ruml, who took second overall on 13 after a huge victory in heat 20 over Slater Lightcap, Broc Nicol and Russell Green. A third and final Speedway GP qualification place will be allocated by USA team manager Steve Evans at a later date, with riders racing full-time in Europe taking priority for the nomination.Third place went to 17-year-old surprise package Charlie Trana, who took three race wins to finish on 12, defeating fellow podium contenders Lightcap, Alex Martin and Billy Janniro on the biggest night of his young career so far.In the youth categories, SGP4 champion Brady Landon capped off a sensational 2024 season by lifting the FIM North America 250cc Championship.After starring on the 190cc machine designed by six-time world champion Tony Rickardsson in the 2024 FIM Speedway Youth World Cup in Malilla, Sweden in June, he stepped up to 250cc in the States and triumphed ahead of fellow SGP4 rider Kensei Matsudaira in second and Jameson Hutchinson in third place.Meanwhile, nine-year-old Zaal Farhand won an epic battle for the FIM North America 150cc Championship after just 18 months in the sport, seeing off Riley Rearick in second and Ryder Schultz in third.Rearick and Schultz were battling for the USA’s spot in the 2025 SGP4 event – which was elevated to world-championship status by the FIM last Friday. After both applied for the place, a tense showdown ensued and Rearick held on to punch his ticket to Denmark’s Vojens Speedway Center on Saturday, September 13.Next year’s FIM SGP4 World Championship takes place on the same day as the Speedway GP world title decider, with the final round of the SGP2 series also being staged 24 hours earlier on Friday, September 12 as Vojens marks 50 years of racing by crowning three world champions over two action-packed days.FIM NORTH AMERICA CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES: 1 Luke Becker 15, Max Ruml 13, Charlie Trana 12, Alex Martin 11, Broc Nicol 11, Slater Lightcap 11, Russell Green 8, Austin Novratil, 7, Billy Janniro 7, Levi Leutz 5, Justin Almon 5, Timmy Dion 4, Rees Todd 3, Eddie Castro 3, Greg Moore 2, Jordan Vanderham 2.PHOTO CREDIT: Dale Miller
FIM SPEEDWAY YOUTH WORLD CUP (SGP4) ELEVATED TO WORLD-CHAMPIONSHIP STATUS
The 2025 FIM Speedway calendar will feature four individual world championships after the entry-level SGP4 series for the sport’s 11-13-year-old stars was granted world-championship status by motorcycling’s global governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).Now known as the FIM SGP4 World Championship, the competition was launched in partnership with the FIM in 2023, offering the first step on the FIM Speedway pyramid as riders progress to SGP3 for under-16s, SGP2 for under-21s and Speedway GP.Previously known as the FIM Speedway Youth World Cup (SGP4), the championship has attracted riders from 12 different countries and four different continents for its first two editions, with 15 countries applying to participate in the 2025 edition.Youngsters race on the 190cc bikes designed by six-time FIM Speedway world champion Tony Rickardsson, who also coaches the sport’s stars of the future as part of an unforgettable weekend.The inaugural event in Malilla, Sweden was won by Denmark’s Elias Jamil in 2023, with American shooting star Brady Landon lifting the trophy in 2024.
SUNDSTROM'S SWEDISH SPEEDWAY ACADEMY STEPS UP FOR 2025
2025 DANISH CHAMPION SET TO JOIN FIM SPEEDWAY WEEKEND OF CHAMPIONS IN VOJENS
RICKARDSSON & SUNDSTROM SET TO COACH AT FIM SGP ACADEMY IN MALILLA AS REGISTRATIONS OPEN
BECKER BAGS FIM NORTH AMERICA TITLE TO JOIN SGP QUALIFICATION RACE
FIM SPEEDWAY YOUTH WORLD CUP (SGP4) ELEVATED TO WORLD-CHAMPIONSHIP STATUS
sgp4 News
23/03/2025
SUNDSTROM'S SWEDISH SPEEDWAY ACADEMY STEPS UP FOR 2025
Swedish team manager Linus Sundstrom insists he’s determined to give something back to the sport in his homeland as he steps up his Swedish Speedway Academy project in 2025.Sundstrom was appointed as national coach last autumn, replacing Vastervik boss Morgan Andersson, and the 2015 FIM Speedway World Cup winner will lead the side into his first FIM Speedway of Nations in Torun from September 30 until October 4.Aside from his managerial commitments to Poland’s senior and junior sides, Sundstrom continues to build his Swedish Speedway Academy, which he launched in 2023. He will also coach alongside six-time FIM Speedway world champion Tony Rickardsson at the FIM SGP Academy in Malilla from July 3-5.Sundstrom’s aim is to equip more young riders with the skills needed to take on the sport’s biggest stars as he continues his involvement in speedway following his retirement due to injury in 2021.He explained: “I am not done in the sport. I want to give back to it and I feel I have it in me to help Swedish speedway going forward.“We kicked off this academy as a pilot project in 2023, just to try it out, and we went full gas in 2024. Last year we had five weekends, and we had competitions on the 250cc bikes and the 500s. It was open to under-21s. This year, the 85cc and 190cc SGP4 riders will also be with us.“This year’s first weekend will be in Gislaved on April 19-20. We will also invite Lejonen’s own speedway school kids to come. I think we will have between 35 and 45 kids on this weekend. “We will be running on both tracks at the same time – the small track and big track. We will have our training weekends in Gislaved, Kumla and Eskilstuna, and the reason why we go to those places is the same reason why they had SGP4 in Malilla – the small track and its pits are separate. We have the chance to run both tracks at the same time. That’s what we are going to do.”Sundstrom’s efforts have been well supported by his fellow Swedish stars, with both current and former riders taking part as coaches. He said: “I had Pontus Aspgren and Ricky Kling with me as training instructors last year. At one of the weekends, Tony Rickardsson was with us. (Four-time Speedway GP world champion) Greg Hancock was with us when we were in Vastervik.“We had training in Mariestad, and we had PK (Peter Karlsson) and Oliver Berntzon, who chipped in and helped the youngsters. Andreas Jonsson is involved – supporting us financially through the building company he is running today. Freddie Lindgren has also been involved, along with Peter Nahlin and Magnus Zetterstrom.“There are a lot of current and former riders involved, and it was a good first year. We will build on that now for 2025.“I am really thankful and really happy to have all of these guys involved. The response has been better than I could have ever wished for. I am just trying to get a little bit of help and involve as many people as possible in one way or another to share their experience and support the kids.”Sundstrom admits that the Swedish Speedway Academy isn’t only about supporting the young riders. He said: “It’s 50 percent for the riders and 50 percent for their mechanics, which is normally the mums and dads.“We want to help them to save money and give them some tips and tricks to not waste money. We can advise them how and where they need to spend their time, how to look after the bikes and how to make them work well. The academy is not only for the riders.”While Sundstrom admits clubs must still offer youngsters the chance to get a first taste of the sport, he is ready to support Sweden’s young guns as they establish themselves on the shale.He added: “As soon as the youngsters and their parents decide to start with speedway – when they get a bike and a licence – I will look after them in the academy with training sessions and all the help we can offer.“It is still up to each club to make sure they have speedway schools and training sessions, so that they can offer kids the chance to try speedway. But once they are in the sport and have their own bike, I will look after them together with Ricky, Pontus and all of the guys involved in the academy.”
Discover23/03/2025
SUNDSTROM'S SWEDISH SPEEDWAY ACADEMY STEPS UP FOR 2025
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2025 DANISH CHAMPION SET TO JOIN FIM SPEEDWAY WEEKEND OF CHAMPIONS IN VOJENS
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RICKARDSSON & SUNDSTROM SET TO COACH AT FIM SGP ACADEMY IN MALILLA AS REGISTRATIONS OPEN
09/12/2024
BECKER BAGS FIM NORTH AMERICA TITLE TO JOIN SGP QUALIFICATION RACE
06/12/2024
FIM SPEEDWAY YOUTH WORLD CUP (SGP4) ELEVATED TO WORLD-CHAMPIONSHIP STATUS
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SPEEDWAY GP ICONS SET TO COACH AT FIM SGP ACADEMY – DOWN UNDER IN JANUARY
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AMERICAN SHOOTING STAR BRADY LANDON WINS SGP4 CROWN WITH 15-POINT MAX IN MALILLA
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SWEDISH LEGEND RICKARDSSON BACKS SGP4 YOUNG GUNS TO ENTERTAIN IN MALILLA
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FIM SPEEDWAY ICON RICKARDSSON SET FOR SGP ACADEMY LAUNCH IN PRAGUE
21/05/2024
SGP ACADEMY FOR FIM SPEEDWAY’S YOUNGEST RIDERS LAUNCHES IN PRAGUE