Speedway GP star Nazar Parnitskyi bids to do double duty in FIM Speedway this season as he lines up in the SGP2 qualifier at Czech track Pardubice on Saturday.
Parnitskyi won the 2025 FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship – the biggest victory by a Ukrainian rider in the nation’s modern history.
This saw him handed a first substitute role for the 2026 Speedway GP series by the SGP Commission, before he became his country’s first-ever Speedway GP rider when triple world champion Tai Woffinden withdrew due to injury.
If Parnitskyi qualifies for SGP2, he will be racing in the World Under-21 series on Friday nights ahead of the Saturday Speedway GP rounds in Malilla, Lodz and Vojens, potentially giving him some added insight into track conditions going into the senior event.
Getting there will be no easy task, though, as only the top four riders from the three qualifiers at Pardubice, Slovenian track Krsko and Danish venue Fjelsted make the cut for the three-round series.
Former SGP2 champion Wiktor Przyjemski also lines up in the Pardubice qualifier. He is joined by Czech internationals Adam Bubba Bednar and Adam Nejezchleba, along with Aussie talent Mitch McDiarmid and Sweden’s former SGP3 champion Rasmus Karlsson.
Denmark’s William Drejer seeks an SGP2 return, while Wilbur Hancock – son of American great Greg Hancock – heads to Pardubice.
The Krsko qualifier features home hero Sven Cerjak – a silver medallist in the 2025 SGP3 Final in Prague, along with another local prospect Gregor Zorko. They are up against two SON2 world champions in Germany’s Mario Hausl and Poland’s Bartosz Banbor.
The top three riders from the 2024 SGP3 Final in Gorzow compete as winner Maksymilian Pawelczak, runner-up Beau Bailey and third-placed Will Cairns join a stellar line-up, along with Denmark’s in-form Villads Nagel - a former SGP2 regular.
The Fjelsted qualifier features 2025 SGP2 bronze medallist Mikkel Andersen as the Dane steps up his return from an injury sustained at the FIM Speedway of Nations – SON2 event in Prague last month.
Former SGP2 rider Nicolai Heiselberg seeks a return to the series, along with Poland’s Kevin Malkiewicz and Antoni Mencel. Aussie star Tate Zischke is in qualification contention, along with British stars Luke Harrison and Luke Killeen and Germany’s Janek Konzack.
The 12 qualifiers from the three rounds will be joined by three permanent wild cards, selected by the SGP2 Commission.
PARDUBICE LINE-UP: 1. Wilbur Hancock (USA), 2. Tino Bouin (France), 3. Max Perry (Great Britain), 4. Alfons Wiltander (Sweden), 5. Nazar Parnitskyi (Ukraine), 6. Emils Rimicans (Latvia), 7. Wiktor Przyjemski (Poland), 8. Patrick Hyjek (Germany), 9. Adam Nejezchleba (Czech Republic), 10. William Drejer (Denmark), 11. Ace Pijper (Great Britain), 12. James Pearson (Australia), 13. Adam Bubba Bednar (Czech Republic), 14. Rasmus Karlsson (Sweden), 15. Mitch McDiarmid (Australia), 16. Mika Frehse (Germany), 17. Jan Hlacina (Czech Republic), 18. David Hofman (Czech Republic).
KRSKO LINE-UP: 1. Mario Hausl (Germany), 2. Sammy van Dyck (Sweden), 3. Makar Levishyn (Ukraine), 4. Bartosz Banbor (Poland), 5. Will Cairns (Great Britain), 6. Roman Kapustin (Ukraine), 7. Maksymilian Pawelczak (Poland), 8. Sven Cerjak (Slovenia), 9. Villads Nagel (Denmark), 10. Gregor Zorko (Slovenia), 11. Jan Jenicek (Czech Republic), 12. Niklas Holm Jakobsen (Denmark), 13. Kevin Melato (Italy), 14. Beau Bailey (Australia), 15. Zoltan Lovas (Hungary), 16. Jaroslav Vanicek (Czech Republic).
FJELSTED LINE-UP: 1. Tate Zischke (Australia), 2. Luke Killeen (Great Britain), 3. Leo Klasson (Sweden), 4. Matys Sambarrey (France), 5. Janek Konzack (Germany), 6. Luke Harrison (Great Britain), 7. Nicolai Heiselberg (Denmark), 8. Tim Widera (Germany), 9. Kevin Malkiewicz (Poland), 10. Nicolas Hohlbein (USA), 11. Damirs Filimonovs (Latvia), 12. Mikkel Andersen (Denmark), 13. Antoni Mencel (Poland), 14. Erik Persson (Sweden), 15. Otto Raak (Finland), 16. Slater Lightcap (USA), 17. Bastian Pedersen (Denmark), 18. Jacob Jensen (Denmark).