‘We will do our best’ – Martin Vaculik relishing Slovakia’s debut at the FIM Speedway of Nations

Martin Vaculik cannot wait for his Slovakia’s debut in the FIM Speedway of Nations, and hopes his country’s appearance in the tournament will help more of their future stars compete at the highest level.

Thursday July 28 will be an historic date for Slovakia in Speedway as the country makes its FIM SON debut at Semi-Final 2 in the Danish city of Esbjerg.

Vaculik and co will take on defending champions Great Britain, Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Italy at the event.

The 32-year-old has often been a lone wolf representing his country at the world stage since winning the 2012 FIM Gorzow Speedway GP on his series debut.

However, the tide now appears to be turning, with Jakub Valkovic and Patrik Buri set to race alongside the veteran in Denmark.

Vaculik is now relishing the prospect of representing his country in a world team championship event for the first time later this month.

“We are a small country in speedway. Speedway is not our biggest sport. But every opportunity to be in the Speedway of Nations is very good and we are very pleased with the opportunity we have got. We are looking forward to representing our country as a team. We will do our best.”

This is the start of a lengthy road ahead for more Slovakian representation on the global stage of speedway, with very few of his compatriots currently competing outside Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

“Every meeting like this will help them a lot. This is only a good thing for the young guys – if they can race a meeting like this. We will work as a team and they can use all my experience. We will speak about everything – setup and style.”

Vaculik also paid tribute to his hometown team Zarnovica , which competes in the Czech league, for raising the profile of Slovakia’s standing in the sport.

He added: “Some of my good results have helped to develop speedway in my country and I am glad to see this.

“I am just keeping my fingers crossed for the riders and our team in Slovakia – in Zarnovica. They really try to push speedway, but it is not easy in a country like Slovakia. There are other very strong sports. They are pushing and trying and that’s very good.”

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