“I have been waiting for a similar result for ten years. I pleasantly surprised myself and completely surprised the world competition. Perhaps for the first time in a quarter of a century of my career, I didn’t make any riding mistakes during the race,” claimed the Markéta Prague rider, who is understandably leading the standings of the World Long Track Championship ahead of the series’ continuation in Rzeszów in June. As the winner, he brought home a silver replica of the historic speedway helmet. “Valuable trophy and a powerful experience, including listening to the Czech national anthem,” described Franc.
In Prague, however, everything is already being prepared for the speedway Grand Prix, which is scheduled for June 3, and Václav Milík received the wild card for the home driver. “I feel quite similar to six years ago, when I finished third in the Grand Prix at Markéta. This year, I’m also riding a pretty successful wave,” said Milík, who regularly scores points in the Polish league in the colors of Krosno and literally shines in the Swedish league.
“We lead the table with the Piraterna Motala club, where the Polish brothers Pawličtí also ride with me. The way I’m doing on practically all fronts this year is keeping my head up. Mental well-being is terribly important,” says the Czech speedway player, who also received one of the five wild cards for the entire ME series.
Already this Saturday, Milík will also face the first part of the qualification for the 2024 Grand Prix. “I have only one goal, to progress to Chalellnege and finally get a regular participation in the series there,” explains the young man in his thirties. “My birthday was three days ago and I still feel the same. Age is fine, I’m not that old yet,” she smiles.
The opening of the Prague Grand Prix will be the first of three SGP2 races, a junior world title series for riders under 21 years of age, starting at 6:50 p.m. on June 2. In none of the three qualifications did the Czech talents manage to get a place, but Petr Chlupáč finally received a wild card for the entire championship from the promoter. “I would like to show at home in Markéta that I deserve that place and I will certainly try to improve my previous best, which is fifth place. Ideally, I want to live in Prague,” he admitted.
The loser of the qualifying race in Pardubice was Daniel Klíma, who lost his chance to advance after an innocent fall, and also bruised his right leg, so he is currently walking on crutches.
“The opponent put it in front of me and I had nowhere to avoid. But I have a week to get my health back on track and hopefully it’s going in the right direction. They at least gave me a wild card for the SGP2 race in the Czech Republic and I want to believe that I have already taken all the bad luck,” he said.
Photo: www.speedway-prague.cz
A full Prague stadium, illustrative photo.
While tickets for the Grand Prix, which is held next Saturday, are quickly disappearing from the pre-sale and there are only a few hundred left, so it can be expected that it will be sold out in advance, for the Junior SGP 2 they will be available even before the race at the box office at Markéta. “For two days, the best that the world speedway has to offer can be seen in Prague, whether from the point of view of the current elite or in the parade of drivers who will form the absolute elite within three or five years,” says director of the Prague Grand Prix Pavel Ondrašík.
