Danish racer Anders Thomsen is determined to end his 2025 Speedway GP season on a high as he bids to salvage a spot in the 2026 series.
Thomsen finished sixth at the FIM SGP Challenge in home city Holsted on August 9 – falling two points short of the top-four spot needed to guarantee his place in next year’s Speedway GP World Championship.
Should SGP rivals Andzejs Lebedevs and Dominik Kubera both finish inside this season’s Speedway GP top seven, Thomsen will be handed a berth in the 2026 championship, along with Michael Jepsen Jensen, who was fifth in the Challenge.
MJJ only needs one of Lebedevs or Kubera to make the top seven, with the Latvian currently sitting sixth on 75 points and the Pole ninth on 58 – nine short of seventh-placed Max Fricke ahead of the final two rounds in Wroclaw on August 30 and Vojens on September 13.
Thomsen is 10th in the standings on 54 – 13 short of Fricke, who has 67 points, putting the Aussie level with Britain’s Robert Lambert in eighth.
Triple Danish champion Thomsen can still seal his own spot for 2026 or have a return ticket handed to him if Lebedevs and Kubera both deliver.
He said: “We will see how it goes. There is a chance, and I will take the chance if it’s there. But let’s see what happens. I am ready to step in if the chance comes.”
The SGP Commission issues three permanent wild cards for 2026 at the end of the season. Thomsen hopes a big finish to the year will at least put him in contention for one of these if he misses out on qualification.
He said: “If I belong up there, they will give me a wild card. But we will wait and see what happens and hopefully I can have two good ones in Wroclaw and Vojens.”
Despite racing to a win and three second places at the FIM SGP Challenge, a last in his third ride cost him dearly in Holsted.
He admitted: “We got into some trouble with the setup. I changed the bike. I think it was our own mistake really because we found good speed at the end of the meeting.
“I made a small mistake on the track and lifted in my fourth race too. Lebedevs came by me. In my last heat, I had a pretty good setup, but it was way too late in the meeting. P6 – that’s how it is.”