SON FORMAT FOR TEAM U21 CHAMPIONSHIP

This year’s FIM Team Speedway Under-21 World Championship will take the FIM Speedway of Nations format as seven countries battle it out in Bydgoszcz on August 27.

The meeting will feature champions Poland, Denmark, Great Britain, Latvia, Sweden, Australia and the Czech Republic, with Germany listed as the first standby team.

Teams will compete for the title in the one-off pairs-style Final, featuring two riders from each country plus one substitute.

The under-21 world team competition was previously contested over a version of the FIM Speedway World Cup format – with four teams of four riders and one substitute each. Semi-Final rounds were also staged for a competition that has previously featured between six and nine teams.

But FIM Track Racing Commission director Armando Castagna admits that with the uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of countries available to compete has been hit.

He said: “We went into this year with no security over how many teams we would have due to the Covid situation.

“In November last year, we had seven countries willing to participate in this championship and other countries on standby.

“So we decided to make only one event with seven countries, and the Speedway of Nations system is perfect.”

Castagna believes a pairs-style meeting will allow more countries to track stronger sides.

He said: “In my opinion, it will balance out the countries more. There are not many countries that can put out so many good under-21s.

“In Italy we have been struggling with under-21s for years, but now we have two decent under-21s. Finding three is much easier for many countries. Some countries have a good youth programme and can develop a certain amount of under-21s. But there are some others that do not.

“This is why, in my opinion, the format for this year of seven countries and three riders per team will be okay. It’s only one meeting and there are no qualifying rounds. We have the seven countries that will enter the final this year. Germany is the substitute country in case of problems.”

Photo: Taylor Lanning