Andžejs Smuļkevičs Finishes 9th in SGP3 Final Debut
Latvian 13-year-old speedway rider Andžejs Smuļkevičs placed 9th in the SGP3 World Championship final in his first season.
Andžejs Smuļkevičs, a rider from Daugavpils "Lokomotīve" and a student of the IK "Auseklis" speedway school, ended his debut SGP3 (250cc) World Championship season with a 9th-place finish in the final held in Wrocław. After placing 4th in the semifinal in Pardubice, he hoped for a higher result, but the final field was much stronger, including the top eight from the other semifinal.
The event saw many crashes, with two riders failing to finish; they were replaced by local reserves. For instance, Poland's Damian Beltkovskis scored 11 points and even contended for a medal. Smuļkevičs had a poor start in his first heat but recovered to second place, and also finished second in his second heat. After two heats he was 6th, but then placed third in two heats before crashing in his final heat. He accumulated 6 points for 9th overall.
Polish rider Franciszek Szczyrba became world champion with 14 points; last year he won an R500 event in Daugavpils. Silver went to American Brady Landon, bronze to Danish rider Elias Jamill Jensen, both with 13 points alongside Australian Cooper Einton – Landon won the runoff. The SGP3 format is in its fifth edition, while the 250cc class has existed since 2010. Polish riders have won three times, including twice in SGP3.
