Alexander Woentin, 20 years old, is from Sweden and grew up near Vetlanda where he rode as a junior. After two years with Swedish champions, Eskilstuna Smederna, he returns this year to his home club.
He spent most of 2019 in Sweden’s second division, Allsvenskan, with Team Småland. However, he was called up for Elitserien final when Smederna met Målilla Dackarna – a performance he has mixed feelings about, “I had a terrible time at Eskilstuna, I don’t even want to think about it!” he said about the first leg of the final at home, “But I was really pleased with my performance at Målilla and, of course, it was great to be part of the winning team,” he said.
Before March 2020, Woentin had already been selected as one of the Swedes who would go into the qualification rounds for the FOGO FIM U21 World Championship. But the COVID-19 outbreak put a hold on everything and the young Swede had hardly been on a bike for three months.
“So, when I got the call that I was going to race the World Championship, it really put a smile on my face. I think it is the best thing that has happened to me this season!” he says with a laugh. “Now I just need to get some races in,” he says about his preparations for the FOGO FIM World Championship.
If there was any doubt as to whether Woentin was the right choice to represent his country, they were soon wiped away in August. That’s because he won the U21 Swedish National Championships for the second year in a row at one of the first official races of the Swedish speedway season.
Despite his youth, the FOGO FIM U21 World Championship on 2 October will not be the first time Woentin has been to the track in the Czech Republic. This will in fact be his sixth match, “I really like racing at Pardubice and I know that on a good day, I’ve got a chance for a podium spot,” he says with genuine modesty.
2020 will be remember as the year the Coronavirus changed everything. But for Woentin is has given him a chance to compete with the best in his generation – and he is looking forward to making the most of it.
