SMOLINSKI ON STANDBY FOR SGP 2020

Germany’s Martin Smolinski leads the list of 2020 FIM Speedway Grand Prix substitute riders.

07 / 10 / 2019, 15:00

German ace Martin Smolinski will serve as the 2020 FIM Speedway Grand Prix first substitute rider as the full SGP 2020 line-up is confirmed.

The 2018 FIM World Longtrack champion heads the list of substitute stars and will be called into SGP 2020 events if any of the 15 permanent riders are forced out of action for any reason such as injury or illness.

Smolinski famously won the 2014 New Zealand SGP on his full World Championship debut at Auckland’s Western Springs Stadium.

The charismatic Munich-born man has also played a pivotal role in helping Germany reach two straight Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations Finals – the country’s first world team finals of the 21^st century.

He’s joined on the substitutes list by second stand-in Mikkel Michelsen of Denmark – the new European champion having won a run-off with Russia’s Grigory Laguta at the final round in Chorzow last month.

Last year’s FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship winner Bartosz Smektala of Poland is the third reserve, with Denmark’s Anders Thomsen – who finished fifth in his first-ever GP Challenge in August – the fourth substitute.

Swedish racer Pontus Aspgren suffered cruel luck in his quest for SGP qualification at the GP Challenge with an engine failure in his final ride. He will be the fifth reserve for SGP 2020.

The list is completed by French star Dimitri Berge – the new FIM World Longtrack champion and a Speedway of Nations star for his country in 2018 and 2019.

2020 FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX RIDER LINE-UP (in FIM ranking order):

1. Bartosz Zmarzlik (Poland)

2. Leon Madsen (Denmark)

3. Emil Sayfutdinov (Russia)

4. Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden)

5. Martin Vaculik (Slovakia)

6. Maciej Janowski (Poland)

7. Jason Doyle (Australia)

8. Patryk Dudek (Poland)

9. Matej Zagar (Slovenia)

10. Niels-Kristian Iversen (Denmark)

11. Artem Laguta (Russia)