Germany’s Martin Smolinski has clinched the coveted wild card spot at the FIM German Speedway Grand Prix that will take place at the VELTINS-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, on 11 October.  Compatriots Tobias Kroner and Kevin Wölbert  are nominated as track reserves.

Smolinski, who hails from Grafelfing, Germany, was a track reserve at last year’s inaugural speedway event at the VELTINS-Arena and will line up against the top 15 riders in the world for the final round of the 2008 FIM Speedway Grand Prix Series (SGP) and he is not prepared to just make up the numbers. 

Last year, the 23 year old was one of the reserve riders at Gelsenkirchen. And he took an in-depth look at the 2007 Grand Prix in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, too. “In the Grand Prix, there are 16 riders, and each one of them is capable of beating each other. It is no comparison to the domestic leagues or individual events.  I know all the big names from riding in Sweden, and I have beaten some of them.” he said. “Nicki Pedersen and Jason Crump are absolute benchmarks in terms of preparation and professionalism; it was really special to witness their approach first hand. Ultimately, the Grand Prix is where I want to be, too.”

The eleventh and final round of the 2008 SGP Series is building up to be an exciting night of speedway.  Not only will the world champion be crowned, it will also be clear who will gain an automatic berth in the 2009 SGP Series, with only the top eight from the Series’ final classification guaranteed a place.  But the spectacle that every speedway fan is looking forward to is the last race of the evening – the $200,000 Super Prix Final.

Three riders have automatically qualified for the Super Final:  Rune Holta (Red Gate); Tomasz Gollob (Blue Gate); Jason Crump (White Gate); with the final gate position (Yellow) to be filled by the winner of the FIM German Speedway Grand Prix.

Former world champion, Jason Crump, narrowly missed out on winning $100,000 last year at VELTINS-Arena when he lost out to Sweden’s Andreas Jonsson in final race of the 2007 Series that marked the 100th SGP event.   But the competitive Australian, who qualified for the Super Prix Final by winning round five in Great Britain, is looking forward to having a second chance in 2008 to go for the big prize money;

“I was very happy to have won the race to get into the Super Prix Final.  I was in the big race last year but didn’t get it quite right but for sure it would be a nice bonus and a nice way to end the season. If gate three (white) is like it was last year when Andreas Jonsson won I’d be pretty happy with that.”

FIM German Speedway Grand Prix, 11 October 2008, VELTINS-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany.  Ticket information visit: www.speedwayworld.tv