BERGE EYES SON FINALS FOR FRANCE
France racer Dimitri Berge would love the chance to make up for his 2018 Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations heartbreak in Manchester.
28 / 04 / 2019, 10:46
France racer Dimitri Berge would love the chance to make up for his 2018 Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations heartbreak as his side bids for Finals qualification in Manchester on May 11.
Berge is among the favourites to be picked by the French for what will be only their second World Championship appearance of the 21st century.
Belle Vue is my home track for this year. It’s pretty good and I practise or race there every week. I just want to be ready for this day.
Dimitri Berge
The team was in contention to reach the Finals in 2018, but disaster struck in the first knock-out race in Manchester, when Berge suffered an ignition failure on lap three while he and partner David Bellego were holding second and third behind Czech ace Vaclav Milik.
This would have been enough to earn them a final knock-out showdown with Australia for the last qualification place, so Berge was gutted to miss out.
But the Belle Vue rider hopes to make up for it if he gets picked to fly the Tricolour on his SGB Premiership home track.
The 23-year-old said: “Last year we had bad luck and I wasn’t in great form. This time we’ll go there to do it and go straight through to the Finals, but we will see what happens. Hopefully we can go through.
“If I get the chance, I will do my best. Belle Vue is my home track for this year. It’s pretty good and I practise or race there every week. I just want to be ready for this day.”
France are starting to flex their muscles on the world stage. Bellego won a Speedway European Championship qualifier in Poznan on Saturday.
Berge made his mark in the World Under-21 Championship in his junior days and now he’s keen to see France star in the Monster Energy SON as they take on Great Britain, Australia, Denmark, USA, Latvia and Finland.
He said: “We can fight with the boys. For years before, we didn’t have a great team, so it was very hard. But I think our form is better now and we just need to be ready and do our best.”
France’s hopes will only be boosted by the introduction of a French speedway league last year. While the competition only has four clubs, it’s a huge step forward for a growing speedway nation.
Berge said: “It’s getting better and better every year. It’s still a small league, but hopefully it will be a bigger one in the future.”
