MEET THE TEAMS | GERMANY

SpeedwayOfNations.com takes a look at the teams going for Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations glory in Russia next weekend. Today, we feature Germany.

The Germans made their first world final of the 21^st century in Wroclaw last summer and, with third place at Race Off 1 in Landshut on May 4, they have repeated the feat to earn a trip to Togliatti.

There have been a couple of changes to their starting line-up since Race Off 1, with Erik Riss stepping up to partner skipper Kai Huckenbeck, with former New Zealand SGP winner Martin Smolinski not selected.

Riss was sidelined with a broken collarbone, before returning earlier this month and hitting form in the SGB Premiership with King’s Lynn.

While this may be by far the biggest meeting he has contested in regular speedway, he’s no stranger to winning top honours internationally, having lifted the 2014 and 2016 World Longtrack Championships.

Huckenbeck makes his second straight Monster Energy SON Finals appearance for Germany and he will be hoping the 2019 edition runs more smoothly. He suffered an injury after crashing in his opening ride on day one in Wroclaw and took no further part in the meeting. But he hit back to score nine on day two.

They are joined in the side by reserve Lukas Fienhage, who steps in for Michael Hartel, who raced in Landshut.

Fienhage qualified for the 2017 World Under-21 Final series, finishing 15^th with 11 points from three rounds. With one ride guaranteed in what will be the biggest meeting of his career to date, he’ll be keen to make his mark in Russia as Germany bid to better their seventh spot from 2018.