It's time for SEC Challenge!

On 13 June at 7.00 pm in Lonigo, Italy, riders in the SEC Challenge tournament will compete for six places that will secure their participation in this year’s Speedway Euro Championship series.

There were three qualifying rounds this season. On April 25, speedway riders competed in Stralsund, Germany. The competition was won by Rasmus Jensen, who found out about the nomination a few days before the competition. The Dane replaced the injured Anders Thomsen, who suffered injuries in Pardubice, Czech Republic. The Pawlicki brothers stood next to Rasser on the podium. Second place went to Piotr and third to Przemysław. The remaining two places went to Tom Brennan and Kim Nilsson. The Swede recovered from a difficult start when he fell painfully onto the track in his first start.

A few hours later, the competition in Austria started. Mureck is one of the two towns where classic speedway competitions are organized in the country with its capital in Vienna. For several years now, almost traditionally, qualifying rounds for the SEC series have been held there. This season, the stadium located near the Austrian-Slovenian border turned out to be primarily lucky for Paweł Przedpełski. The Pole won the competition with 14 points. Only Timo Lahti beat him. Behind the Apator Toruń graduate was Adam Bednar, who will be the youngest nominal participant of the SEC Challenge. In addition to the duo representing Gezet Stal Gorzów, Jan Kvech, Maciej Janowski and the already mentioned Timo Lahti were promoted.

The last round of eliminations took place on May 16. The French Lamothe-Landerron hosted a competition of this rank for the second year in a row. Mikkel Michelsen, a three-time European champion, dominated this competition. The Dane finished with a total of 15 points. David Bellego also stood on the podium, to the delight of local fans. Adam Ellis completed the top three. The last two places went to Kai Huckenbeck and Mads Hansen.

According to the regulations, the local organizer could designate a competitor who would go with a wild card. The choice fell on Nicolas Covatti. This speedway rider from Argentina has been a pillar of the Italian national speedway team for years. Covatti is a seven-time Individual Champion of Italy, as well as a five-time Individual Champion of Argentina. His greatest success with the Italian team was in 2016, when he was one of the architects of the speedway riders from the Apennine Peninsula winning the European Pairs Championship in Riga. This competitor knows the Lonigo track like the back of his hand. In 2014, this track was one step away from a sensational promotion to the Speedway Grand Prix series. He was only one point short of success.
Young speedway riders will play the role of reserves. They will be Giovanni Nichele and Kevin Melato. For several years, the Italians have been implementing a training system so that speedway can develop in this country. These players, among others, are its result.

The best six competitors will advance to the Speedway Euro Championship series. They will join the top six in the general classification from last season. It includes last year's medalists: Patryk Dudek, Andzejs Lebedevs and Leon Madsen. Kacper Woryna, Nazar Parnitskyi and Michael Jepsen Jensen also continued in the series.

After the competition in Italy, three permanent wild cards will also be awarded for the entire SEC series.

The competition is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.

SEC Challenge starting list:
1. Kai Huckenbeck (Germany)
2. Jan Kvech (Czech Republic)
3. Rasmus Jensen (Denmark)
4. Mads Hansen (Denmark)
5. Nicolas Covatti (Italy)
6. Paweł Przedpełski (Poland)
7. Kim Nilsson (Sweden)
8. Adam Ellis (Great Britain)
9. Timo Lahti (Sweden)
10. Piotr Pawlicki (Poland)
11. Maciej Janowski (Poland)
12. David Bellego (France)
13. Mikkel Michelsen (Denmark)
14. Przemysław Pawlicki (Poland)
15. Adam Bednar (Czech Republic)
16. Tom Brennan (Great Britain)
17. Giovanni Nichele (Italy)
18. Kevin Melato (Italy)