Ukraine’s new FIM Speedway Under-21 world champion Nazar Parnitskyi hopes the sound of speedway bikes will roar in his homeland again soon after achieving one of the greatest victories in Ukrainian history on Friday.
Parnitskyi defied a day of wet weather conditions to blaze to a five-ride maximum and win the Deluxe Homeart FIM SGP2 of Denmark – Vojens – night one of the Weekend of Champions at the home of Danish speedway.
With his Polish rival Wiktor Przyjemski battling through the pain of a recent ankle injury to finish 11th in the meeting classification with six championship points, Parnitskyi went from trailing the Lublin star by four points ahead of racing to finishing 10 clear in top spot.
Danish young gun Mikkel Andersen, 17, followed up his fourth place in 2024 by bagging the bronze medal – finishing one point clear of Czech charger Adam Bubba Bednar, who claimed fourth position.
But the night belonged to Parnitskyi, who achieved the biggest victory by a Ukrainian rider since the country parted from the Soviet Union.
He showed nerves of steel in the wet on his Danish home track to deliver five astonishing starts. The 18-year-old has emerged as one of the sport’s most promising talents and provided a welcome ray of light for the country’s speedway community at a time when they face the horrors of war, with racing on hold.
Parnitskyi was delighted to give Ukrainian fans a night of celebration. He said: “I hope this war will soon be over and speedway will come back to Ukraine.
“I am really happy that I did what I planned. The plan was to win this, and I am really happy that I could do it here in Vojens.
“I have always struggled with my starts here in Vojens. I decided to go a completely different way when it comes to the setup, and it worked out. My starts were super, and I am happy about that.”
Parnitskyi’s heroics could see him become Ukraine’s first-ever full-time Speedway GP rider in the coming years. But for now, he’s already hoping for another SGP2 title showdown with Przyjemski in 2026.
He said: “Speedway GP will be my goal, but of course I am still young. Next season will be very interesting – the battle between me and Wiktor.”
Przyjemski raced his first meeting since crashing out of Swedish champions Lejonen’s Bauhaus Elitserien match in Hallstavik on August 19. The Bydgoszcz-born star counts himself fortunate to have made it to the tapes as he claimed a gallant silver medal.
He said: “It was a very difficult night for me and, to be honest, I don’t feel like I lost the gold medal. I feel like I won silver. I felt pain in both of my legs. I was very happy that I was able to race at all.
“In the last race, I was only thinking about surgery – I need to get rid of this metal from my leg and then I will be very relieved. It was a very difficult night, and the conditions didn’t help at all.
“Big congratulations to Nazar. I remember our battle last year. We battled it out for the gold again this season and hopefully it will be the same next season.”
Bronze medallist Andersen admits he revelled in the testing conditions on his Danish home track as he surged from sixth in the SGP2 standings to third by taking third place in the Deluxe Homeart FIM SGP2 of Denmark – Vojens.
He said: “It’s unbelievable. I was sixth before this round and didn’t feel that I was going to win or even finish third. It was possible, but I knew I needed to have the luck on my side.
“I am a rider that likes a difficult track. When it’s too smooth and slick for me, it’s boring. I need something a bit more difficult and technical, so I enjoyed it.”
Celebrating 50 years of racing at Vojens Speedway Center, the Weekend of Champions continues with the FIM SGP4 World Championship for the sport’s 190cc 11-13-year-old stars on Saturday morning at 11:00 CEST.
The event then reaches an epic climax with the Deluxe Homeart FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens at 19:00 as Polish icon Bartosz Zmarzlik and Aussie ace Brady Kurtz both bid for an historic Speedway GP world title.
Zmarzlik aims to win a record-equalling sixth FIM Speedway World Championship and an unprecedented fourth in as many years, while Kurtz aims to become the first rider to win gold in their Speedway GP debut season.
Results
cXktyLsZYA68c6h8uvOpjH6J9iST60-metaVm9qZW5zIFJlc3VsdCBTR1AyIDIwMjUucGRm-Final Standings
D3PNr5ARhEIevKofPTPr4NgWHhdIRY-metaVm9qZW5zIFN0YW5kaW5ncyBTR1AyIDIwMjUucGRm-Feature Image courtesy of Taylor Lanning – Words by SGP
