DANISH DUO RASMUS JENSEN & JESPER KNUDSEN HANDED WILD CARDS FOR VOJENS FIM SPEEDWAY WEEKEND

Former Danish champion Rasmus Jensen gets the chance to build on his impressive FIM Speedway Grand Prix debut in 2022 when he returns as DeluxeHomeart FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens wild card.

Jensen lines up in the famous No.16 race jacket at Denmark’s national speedway stadium on Saturday, September 16.

Ahead of the Speedway GP showdown, the iconic track also stages the Jørgen Hansen Biler FIM SGP2 of Denmark – Vojens on Friday, September 15. 

The grand finale of the 2023 FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship sees local Danish star Jesper Knudsen compete as wild card on a night when Poland’s Mateusz Cierniak needs just 11 points or more to become only the fourth double World Under-21 champion in the sport’s history.

Following the SGP2 event on the Saturday night, Jensen takes on the sport’s biggest stars including Poland’s Bartosz Zmarzlik, who could also make history and seal his fourth Speedway GP World Championship at Vojens.

Zmarzlik won the 2022 FIM Danish Speedway GP, but Jensen also impressed – reaching the semi-finals on his first-ever SGP appearance, leaving with a very healthy 12 championship points. It was the best wild-card performance of last year and Jensen, who lifted the 2022 Danish Championship, will hope to go a step further in 2023.

He has already starred for his country in this summer’s Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup Final in Wroclaw on July 29, topping the Danish score chart on 13 points as a team managed by triple Speedway GP world champion Nicki Pedersen won the bronze medals in Poland.

Jensen is joined in the Speedway GP event by track reserves Mads Hansen and Benjamin Basso, who line up in the No.17 and No.18 race jackets respectively. They will race if any of the main 16 riders are forced out of a heat due to injury, illness, a starting offence or other reasons.

Both men race for Vojens club Sønderjylland Elite Speedway in the Danish Speedwayligaen. Local favourite Hansen was runner-up in the 2021 FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship and Basso took fifth place in last year’s competition, which was rebranded as SGP2.

The Jørgen Hansen Biler FIM SGP2 of Denmark – Vojens on Friday, September 15 sees Jesper Knudsen – also a Sønderjylland Elite Speedway rider – don the No.16 race jacket to take on the world’s top under-21 riders.

He featured for Denmark in the 2023 DeWalt FIM Speedway of Nations – SON2 event in Riga on August 11, helping his country win silver. He was crowned 2019 FIM Speedway Youth world champion at 250cc level – the competition now known as SGP3 – winning the title two years after his older brother Jonas, who triumphed in 2017. Jonas competed in SGP2 last year. 

Jesper will hope to make the most of his home-track knowledge as he joins fellow Danish talents and SON2 teammates Emil Breum and Esben Hjerrild in Vojens. Medal contender Breum is currently fourth in the SGP2 standings on 26 points – just four short of second-placed Aussie rider Keynan Rew and Poland’s third-placed Bartlomiej Kowalski, who both have 30 points. Hjerrild is 11th on 12 points.

The SGP2 track reserve spots go to No.17 William Drejer and No.18 Bastian Pedersen – nephew of Speedway GP legend Nicki.

Tickets for Vojens’ epic FIM Speedway double-header on Friday, September 15 and Saturday, September 16 are still available online. 

For Speedway GP tickets, CLICK HERE.

And for SGP2, BUY HERE.