Poland took the FIM Speedway of Nations - SON2 world under-21 title as Sweden and Australia rounded out the podium places in a dramatic battle for gold in Manchester on Friday evening.
Polish pair Wiktor Przyjemski and Bartosz Banbor took their country to an impressive 11th consecutive FIM Team Speedway Under-21 World Championship victory, and a second SON2 victory in Manchester – repeating their 2019 triumph at the National Speedway Stadium.
Przyjemski and Banbor, the top two riders from the recent 3P Logistics FIM SGP2 of Sweden – Malilla on June 14, delivered some solid mid-meeting performances to secure the title in heat 27 with a 6-3 win and 41 points overall.
The Swedes started off strong, leading after the first 12 heats. After a perfect performance from Philip Hellström-Bängs in his first three heats, a costly exclusion for the Avesta-born star in heat 16 saw Sweden’s lead start to slip away.
Although Hellström-Bängs and teammate Casper Henriksson managed to recover in their final heat with a 7-2 maximum, it was not enough to catch Poland as they finished on 38 points.
The Aussies matched that total but missed out on a silver medal after Sweden won the teams’ head-to-head 5-4. Keynan Rew was a huge contributor to their bronze-medal success, only dropping one point over the entire event to pile up 27 of their 38 points.
Image: ©Belle Vue Speedway