Born in 2001, Czech rider, Jan Kvech, was just 18 years old at the end of last season when he completed his first series in the FOGO FIM U21 Speedway World Championships. He came an impressive sixth place, the highest placed rider in his year group.
It was one of several highlights for the year, which included an excellent performance in Güstrow in the competition. He finished in third behind none less than Maksym Drabik and the winner in Germany that night, Dominik Kubera.
The 18-year-old tells us about his experience of the three different circuits, “Lublin was my first race in the World Championship and I had lot of nerves. In the next race I was calm, but it was difficult in Pardubice because I had a broken arm”, he admits.
The track is in his native country, the Czech Republic and Kvech raced there nine times in 2019 alone. But that U21 World Championships was not his first at the circuit. The previous year, when he was only 16 years old, he got to race at their as a wildcard and managed to pick up 5 points. So, Kvech goes into October’s final knowing that he has by far the most experience of the track, which certainly plays into his hands.
“I want to be in a medal position in the U21 World Cup”, he reveals.
One of his outstanding achievements from 2019 was when he was crowned the U19 European Champion in Zarnovica, Slovenia and an impressive season lead to the young Czech rider signing a three-year contract with Falubaz Zielona Góra.
Unfortunately, Kvech has been unable to secure a place in the Ekstraliga and instead has had to focus on racing in the Czech Extraliga with AK Marketa Prague.
However, he has shown that he is still a contender for a medal place this year. He won the semi-final of the U21 European Championships in Divisov, Czech Republic and beat Wiktor Lampart (POL), Lukas Fienhage (GER) and Steven Goret (FRA) who will also be his opponents in October.
