BERNTZON EYES SGP COMEBACK

Swedish star Oliver Berntzon is already plotting an FIM Speedway Grand Prix comeback, insisting “I will be back for sure.”

The Lejonen hero lost his spot in the SGP World Championship after finishing 15th in this season’s standings on 32 points.

Berntzon took second place at last year’s GP Challenge in Gorican – the final round of the SGP qualification meetings – to secure his spot in the series.

He was unable to find his form on the SGP stage, but the former Swedish Championship runner-up is determined to fight his way through the qualifiers again and take his place at the sport’s top table.

He said: “Unfortunately, it has been my worst year in a few seasons. Unfortunately it was the year I was in the Grand Prix, so now it’s going to be a long way back. But I will be back for sure. When, I don’t know. But I will be back and I will be more ready next time.”

It wasn’t all bad in 2021 for Berntzon, who played his part in helping Polish First Division club Ostrow win promotion to the PGE Ekstraliga.

Asked where he feels things went wrong in the SGP series, he admitted: “It has been many things. We have been trying a lot of different engines and then we had the tyre question – Mitas or Anlas? We didn’t really know what to do. We were struggling to find the right setup and the right equipment all season and when you are in the GPs, it doesn’t work. You have to be on top all the time.”