GB duo head for SGP2

Dan Thompson and Jake Mulford represent Great Britain as the FIM SPG2 (World Under-21) series gets underway in Malilla tonight (Friday).

Belle Vue and Redcar racer Mulford made it through the rain-affected qualifier at Glasgow on May 24, where the event was abandoned after 12 heats and the final classification resulted in him claiming second place overall.

Thompson (Ipswich/Glasgow) was unable to take his place in the qualifier due to a fractured scaphoid, but he received a permanent Wild Card selection by the series organisers as prior to the injury he had been in fantastic form – including winning the British Semi-Final with a 15-point maximum and finishing seventh in the British Final

Thompson said: “It will be good experience. It’s something that I wanted to achieve, and I wanted to be there.

“I’ll give it my all, I’ve got some good equipment out there and some really good people helping me, so I’ve got to say thank you to them.

“I don’t have any expectations but it’s my last go at it, so I want to go out there and do my best, that’s why I’ve put really good equipment there and I’ve been lucky to have the support, so I’ll go and mix it and enjoy the experience.”

The SGP2 series is run over three rounds, starting in Sweden tonight before moving on to Latvia in August and Denmark in September.

Mulford and Thompson will face extremely tough competition with the top four from the 2024 series Wiktor Przyjemski (Poland) Nazar Parnitskyi (Ukraine), Mathias Pollestad (Norway) and Mikkel Andersen (Denmark) all returning.

Other notable riders challenging for the SGP2 crown will be Belle Vue’s Norick Blodorn and Oxford’s Mitchell McDiarmid, representing Germany and Australia respectively.

Images: Taylor Lanning