Latvian racer Francis Gusts can’t wait for “a new experience” as he makes his Rowe Motor Oil Premiership debut with Oxford this season.
Gusts has spent the past four seasons competing in SGP2 – the FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship. But he is now too old for the junior series and seeking fresh challenges for 2025.
The 2021 FIM Speedway of Nations finalist, who is currently contracted to Wroclaw in Poland, was snapped up by Oxford Spires and joins forces with former world No.3 Maciej Janowski, double Australian champion Rohan Tungate, former Speedway GP winner Peter Kildemand, 2019 British champion Charles Wright, German international Erik Riss and rising star Luke Killeen.
Gusts can’t wait to test himself in the UK. He said: “My junior speedway career is finished, and I need some races and experience. I see British speedway is developing pretty well and I didn’t have an offer from Sweden or Denmark. I wanted to race, so all the stars went in the right place, and I had an offer from Britain. I hope to have a lot of British fans. I can’t wait to go there.
“I don’t know what to expect, but I am really looking forward to having good races and good times. It will be a new experience for me. Dealing with Oxford was easy – no stress. They made me a good deal and they will help me with everything. The club looks very motivated, and they wanted me, so I feel really confident with this team.”
Gusts’ only previous UK experience came at the 2021 FIM SON in Manchester, where Latvia competed in its first-ever FIM Speedway world team final. But the Riga-born racer expects many of the British tracks to be much more challenging than the fast and furious National Speedway Stadium circuit.
He said: “I have raced in Manchester, but I don’t think it’s a typical UK track. I hear Oxford is a little bit smaller. If I have training before I go there in Wroclaw, I don’t think it will be good – switching from Wroclaw to Oxford. I think I will train on some little tracks and then we will see how it goes. But of course, I want to learn something new. If I have the opportunity to do this, why not?”