Former world No.2 Patryk Dudek hopes to secure his return to the FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship for 2026 as he goes for Speedway European Championship gold at Czech club Pardubice on Friday.
The Polish star goes into the final SEC round on 42 points, holding a six-point advantage over reigning champion Andzejs Lebedevs, who has 36, with Denmark’s Leon Madsen and Poland’s Kacper Woryna tied on 30 in third and fourth place.
If Dudek claims 13 points from a possible 18 in Pardubice, he will be guaranteed a Speedway GP spot for the first time since 2023.
But with Lebedevs, Madsen and Woryna all qualifying for the 2026 Speedway GP series at the FIM SGP Challenge, if any of them were to snatch the title from Dudek, the Speedway GP spot on offer to the European champion transfers to the SGP Commission, who would select a fourth wild card.
After an outstanding season, which has seen him win the Polish Championship and stand second only to world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik in Poland’s PGE Ekstraliga average charts, Torun star Dudek will be determined to keep his Speedway GP fate in his own hands.
Also pushing for the SEC podium is new SGP2 world champion Nazar Parnitskyi, who is fifth on 28 points, with Danish champion Michael Jepsen Jensen sixth on 27.
MJJ has also qualified for next year’s SGP series. With Lebedevs finishing sixth in this year’s Speedway GP World Championship, the qualification place he earned at the FIM SGP Challenge passed to the Dane, who was fifth in Holsted.
The top six riders in the SEC standings earn a guaranteed place in the 2026 Speedway European Championship series.
SPEEDWAY EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1. Patryk Dudek (Poland) 42
2. Andzejs Lebedevs (Latvia) 36
3. Leon Madsen (Denmark) 30
4. Kacper Woryna (Poland) 30
5. Nazar Parnitskyi (Ukraine) 28
6. Michael Jepsen Jensen (Denmark) 27
7. Szymon Wozniak (Poland) 21
8. Dimitri Berge (France) 20
9. Mateusz Cierniak (Poland) 18
10. Kai Huckenbeck (Germany) 16
11. Tom Brennan (Great Britain) 15
12. Rasmus Jensen (Denmark) 14
13. Norick Blodorn (Germany) 13
14. Grzegorz Zengota (Poland) 11
15.Timo Lahti (Sweden) 11
16. Przemyslaw Pawlicki (Poland) 10
17. Vaclav Milik (Czechia) 7
18. Piotr Pawlicki (Poland) 7
19. David Bellego (France) 7
20. Frederik Jakobsen (Denmark) 7
21. Marko Levishyn (Ukraine) 7
22. Robert Chmiel (Poland) 1