Friday 17th August 2012, 08:41

Mikkel B Jensen is planning to overlook Elite League racing in 2013 as he prepares for tonight’s FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship Final third round at Coventry.

The FIM Monster Energy Speedway World Cup winner is second in the standings on 23 points – just a point behind defending champion Maciej Janowski after two of the seven rounds.

He is in the process of going full-time as a speedway rider, having left school in June. Mikkel B hasn’t been short of offers from the Polish Ekstraliga and Swedish Elitserien since his SWC triumph with Denmark at Malilla on July 14.

It was initially thought the Esbjerg rider would pursue a job in Britain at the start of next year.

But having become a world champion with his country at just 17-years-old, his stock has risen and Jensen admits he is planning to give the hectic British fixture list a miss.

The former Swindon man said: “I’m set on doing the best leagues in Poland, Sweden and Denmark and Great Britain is a bit out of my mind right now. I think it would be too much for me.”

Jensen has gained plenty of British fans with his exploits in the SGP series, SWC and World Under-21s. So he is determined to put on a big performance at Brandon tonight.

He said: “There are a lot of British fans who have asked me to come and ride for their club, but I won’t be there in 2012. There are a lot of people who expected me to ride, but I can’t do it.

“It’ll be good to come and see all my fans, have a good race and hopefully put on a good show for them to enjoy.”

Jensen knows life on the shale will become serious business next term as he makes the transition from doing it as a hobby to making his living from racing. But he knows it’s the next step towards the big time.

He said: “Next year I think I’ll be even stronger in the first corner when I’m riding in the best leagues all over Europe. That will be a good experience for me. It will be quite a test, but I think I’ll be a better speedway rider for it.

“Michael Jepsen Jensen has been riding in the best leagues for a lot of years and you can see he has got more experience by riding against the better riders.

“It’s going to be really serious now and I have to do everything I can and dedicate my life to it. It will be a really tough year for me in 2013 and there will be a lot of meetings.”

COVENTRY LINE-UP: Aleksandr Loktaev, Kyle Newman, Nicolaj Busk Jakobsen, Mikkel B Jensen, Vaclav Milik, Tobiasz Musielak, Patryk Dudek, Michael Jepsen Jensen, Tom Perry, Bartosz Zmarzlik, Przemyslaw Pawlicki, Damian Adamczak, Maciej Janowski, Mikkel Michelsen, Sam Masters, Piotr Pawlicki.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Maciej Janowski 24, 2 Mikkel B Jensen 23, 3 Michael Jepsen Jensen 22, 4 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 21, 5 Bartosz Zmarzlik 20, 6 Piotr Pawlicki 17, 7 Mikkel Michelsen 16, 8 Aleksandr Loktaev 14, 9 Tobiasz Musielak 13, 10= Patryk Dudek 11, Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 11, 12= Damian Adamczak 10, Vaclav Milik 10, 14= Pontus Aspgren 8, Nicklas Porsing 8, 16 Sam Masters 6, 17 Michele Paco Castagna 2, 18= Nicolas Vincentin 1, Matic Ivacic 1.

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