Hellstroem-Bangs as a rider of Start Gniezno? The Swede admits that he still does not know where he will be riding

A strange situation in the eWinner 1. League! The sensation of the Speedway of Nations competition, Philip Hellstroem-Bangs, was introduced as a competitor in Start Gniezno for the 2022 season, although he admits that… he still does not know where he will be riding!

– It is not certain that I will be competing in Gniezno. Many people write that, but nothing is decided yet. I know that with Antonio Lindbaeck we will be in the same team, but will it be Gniezno? We have several options and we will see how it will be resolved – said the 18-year-old Swede in an interview with our portal on Saturday. Soon after this statement – a day later – another publication about the club membership of the Swedes appeared, but this time from the official source, which is Start Gniezno.

– Remember that he is a very young speedway rider with a chance for development. The road to the squad is open to everyone, but Philip and his team are aware that he is not the main rider for the U24 position in our ranking. They are aware about this fact, they want to prove their superiority on the track, and we will give Philip a chance. Signing the contract does not involve large financial outlays, and taking into account the current market situation and the expectations of some speedway riders with less sports potential, signing a contract with a speedway rider representing the country is the most appropriate step – said Radosław Majewski, the Start Gniezno Director, on the club’s official website.

So on Saturday, the rider says that he is not convinced about his future, and a dozen or so hours later the club’s announcement about the terms of the contract is published. It can therefore be concluded that Saturday evening was extremely busy for the speedway rider, the more so that he spent it in Manchester, preparing for the second day of the Speedway of Nations finals. However, it would not be surprising, if not for the fact that… on Sunday the Swede once again admitted that he does not know where he will be racing! This time he did it in an interview with Łukasz Benz for Canal +. Hellstroem-Bangs has said again that he will be riding with Lindbaeck, but it is not known where yet.

And the actions of the 18-year-old went up significantly after the two-day final in Manchester. Maybe  he did not score many points (he scored fourteen “points” on Sunday, and he had twelve “ex officio”, starting alone), he showed an excellent ride and won the fans’ liking and it is possible that he won a much better paid contract for the next season . After all, Gleb Chugunov, who appeared in the play-off of the Team World Cup in 2017, replaced Grigorij Łaguta, suspended for cheating, with a good performance, convinced the Betard Sparta Wrocław activists and made a decisive step forward in his career.

How will the saga end with a young Swede and Start Gniezno in the lead roles? We’ll probably find out in a few days. One should only hope that the club’s message at such a moment and contradictory information from both sides is the result of a simple misunderstanding, and not a deliberate action to “hammer away” the rider and “scare away” potential new employers.