SON
Championship rules

For the first time since the FIM SON was launched in 2018, the entire competition takes place across four straight nights of racing at one venue.
Vojens Speedway Center, widely regarded as Denmark's national speedway stadium, hosts the action as 15 countries compete for the FIM SON world title.
FIM SON Semi-Final 1 opens the event on Wednesday, July 27, with Semi-Final 2 on Thursday, July 28.
The sport’s under-21 stars take centre stage on Friday, July 29 as Esbjerg hosts SON2 – the revamped FIM Team Speedway Under-21 World Championship.
The week then concludes with the FIM Speedway of Nations Final on Saturday, July 30, which will see the winners crowned world team champions for 2022.

Seven teams battle it out in each FIM SON Semi-Final.
Semi-Final 1 sees Poland take on Australia, Latvia, Germany, USA, Finland and Ukraine.
Reigning champions Great Britain then launch their title defence in Semi-Final 2 against Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Italy and tournament newcomers Slovakia.
The top three countries in each Semi-Final progress to the FIM SON Final, where they are joined by hosts Denmark.
SON2 features the Danes and 14-time FIM Team Speedway Under-21 world champions Poland, plus Great Britain, Australia, Latvia, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

Each nation selects a squad of five riders three weeks before the tournament starts.
They then narrow their team down to a three-rider starting line-up six days before their Semi-Final – two starters at No.1 and No.2 and one reserve at No.3.
In a change for 2022, every team manager can now select THREE senior stars to compete in each FIM SON event – they are no longer required to select an under-21 rider at No.3 or track their reserve in at least one race.
But the No.3 rider can take part in any of the team’s races, with team managers free to rotate their riders and decide who they think will bring home the points for their country.
While under-21 riders are no longer guaranteed to race in the senior FIM SON, they get their chance to shine in SON2, which sees three riders represent each nation.
Riders must wear team race suits in their national colours, with their team manager and mechanics also wearing the country’s colours – creating a national identity.

On each night, all seven countries meet each other over 21 heats.
In a change from the FIM Speedway Grand Prix scoring system of 3-2-1-0, a 4-3-2-0 format is used in the FIM SON.
There will be four points on offer to a race winner, three for second, two for third and zero points for finishing last, failing to finish or being disqualified.
British fans will recognise the format from the SGB Championship Best Pairs event.
The scoring system is designed to reward team riding. It also ensures no race will end in a draw.
Last year’s FIM SON Grand Final saw Poland’s Bartosz Zmarzlik win the heat. But with Great Britain duo Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley taking second and third place, the Lions were crowned world champions with a 5-4 heat advantage.
Avoiding last places is crucial to success in the FIM SON. Stay out of fourth spot, and your team will always score a heat advantage.
For each race, teams will be allocated either gates one and three (wearing the red and blue helmets) or two and four (white and yellow helmets). Team mates are able to swap gates with each other up until the start of a race, deciding which gate may work best for which rider.
Rider No.1 wears red or white with rider No.2 in blue or yellow – unless they are replaced by reserve rider No.3.

The two countries with the most points at the end of 21 heats in each Semi-Final will qualify automatically for the FIM SON Final.
The third and fourth-placed teams at the end of each Semi-Final then battle it out in the Final Qualifier, with the team scoring a heat advantage also making it into the FIM SON Final.

In a change for 2022, the FIM SON Final will now be contested over just one day.
The highest scoring nation after 21 heats qualifies automatically for the Grand Final.
The second and third-placed countries on the scorechart contest the Grand Final Qualifier.
The winner of this joins the top-scoring team in the Grand Final, with the winners being crowned FIM SON world champions.
SON2 follows the same format.

If two countries are tied on points after 21 heats, the nation that scored a heat advantage in their head-to-head race is placed higher.
In the event three or more teams finish level on points, the countries are awarded a bonus point for each heat where they finished first and second or second and third. The team with the most bonus points is placed higher.
Should that fail to resolve the tie, the countback system is used, with the team that achieved the most race wins placed highest.
If they are still level, seconds, thirds and then fourth places are taken into account, with finishing fourth considered better than being disqualified or failing to finish.
In the very unlikely event the teams are still deadlocked, the country with the highest FIM ranking will be placed highest.

SONChampionship rules