Polish 1-2-3 in SGP2 Championship denies Rew podium by a single point

SGP2 2023

FIM Speedway Under 21 World Championship

Mateusz Cierniak topped an incredible Polish 1-2-3 in SGP2 for season 2023, the official FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship.

The FIM SGP2 of Denmark – Vojens season closer though went to Damian Ratajczak, who topped the podium in the final round to secure second overall in the championship.

Bartlomiej Kowalski took third overall, just pipping Australian Under-21 champion Keynan Rew (41) to third place by one point.

Lublin and Lejonen racer Cierniak went into the Vojens round with a 10-point lead over Rew and Kowalski, and the Tarnow-born star just needed to avoid last place in semi-final one to seal the SGP2 crown. But disaster struck when Cierniak’s front wheel caught the bottom tape, with referee Craig Ackroyd forced to disqualify him from the re-run.

Victory in the final for either Rew or Kowalski would have seen the title snatched away from Cierniak, who won the opening two rounds in Prague and Gorzow – the second of those with a sensational seven-ride maximum. But both riders finished third in their semi-final, missing out on qualification for the final, handing gold to a very relieved Cierniak.

The 20-year-old is only the fourth double FIM Speedway Under-21 world champion in history, following in the footsteps of former world No.3 Emil Sayfutdinov, Aussie icon Darcy Ward and Polish star Maksym Drabik.

Despite being tipped as red-hot favourite to grab gold, Cierniak feared his tapes slip-up had cost him junior speedway’s biggest prize.

Mateusz Cierniak
2023 FIM Speedway Under 21 World Champion

“Everyone was telling me over the last few weeks, ‘Oh, you have it! No-one will take this from you.’ But I was telling everyone, ‘Keep calm, I still have a lot of work to do.’

“This competition was very difficult. There was a lot of pressure, a lot of stress and I had every emotion. I was sad, I was happy, I was angry – everything. I wanted to cry! It’s just unbelievable what happened.

“In my mind, this very short moment before the tapes went up in the semi-final was very long. I was waiting, waiting and maybe I was a little bit too nervous.

“When I hit the tapes, my first thought was, ‘Oh, my God! We have worked all season for this, I hit one tape in this heat and now it’s possible to lose everything.’ For sure, luck smiled on me and Bartek and Keynan had pressure too.”

Cierniak graduates from the under-21 class at the end of this season and is now setting his sights on Speedway GP qualification in the years to come. But he is not ready to rush such a big step in his burgeoning career.

Asked about his Speedway GP ambitions, he admitted: “Of course I want to be there, but now I don’t think I have enough experience. But for sure that’s my next destination.”

Reaching Speedway GP would pit Cierniak against Zmarzlik. The Polish icon, who could become a four-time world champion at the season closing FIM Speedway GP round in Torun late this month, broke off from his preparations to support Cierniak in the SGP2 pits.

Cierniak was delighted to share the podium with international teammates Damian Ratajczak and Bartlomiej Kowalski.

“This is very cool,” Cierniak finished. “Bartek and I started racing together in Tarnow. It’s very good to stand on the same World Championship podium as him. I also want to say congratulations to Damian. It’s great for the national team and our country and it’s beautiful for Polish speedway. It’s a good day for us.”

Ratajczak was delighted to realise a racing dream and become an FIM SGP2 silver medallist. He said: “I don’t know what to say now. I am very happy. Being here was my goal when I started to race speedway. It was a very good night for me. I did it!”

Kowalski had a very turbulent day after crashing during the Vojens practice session early on Friday afternoon, so he’s elated to have bagged the bronze medal. “I am really happy,” he said. “Before that meeting, I would have taken a bronze medal after the practice session for sure. I wasn’t very satisfied with the practice, so I am very happy that I am sitting here with the bronze medal. We have a Polish podium tonight with Mateusz and Damian. Big congrats to them. I remember when I started racing with Mateusz in Tarnow. We were both 12 years old and that was a great time. It’s great to be together again on the Polish podium.”

Jørgen Hansen Biler FIM SGP2 of Denmark – Vojens runner-up Casper Henriksson was delighted to end his series with a second straight final appearance – taking fifth place in the championship. This was some feat after he scored just one point at round one in Prague.

Danish racer William Drejer started the night as first track reserve – meaning he would only race in the event of the main 16 riders in the field suffering an injury or committing a starting offence.

He scored eight points from four rides – one outing less than the main 16 – to book his place in the semi-finals, before charging to a jaw-dropping third place in the final.

Drejer was stunned to have played such a stellar role in the meeting.

William Drejer

“In the morning, I expected maybe two heats. I could only dream of this right now. There was no pressure on me. I just took it one heat at a time.  Danish team manager Nicki Pedersen told me to do my best to make the starts, and if I didn’t get there, just use my brain. I tried to do that and hopefully I did it well. Getting into SGP2 is my goal for next year.”

20-year-old Queenslander Keynan Rew may have missed the outright championship podium by a single point, but he did spend time up front at Vojens and cemented his place as a star of the future.