The 2023 FIM Long Track Under 23 World Cup takes place this coming Sunday (8 October) at Morizès in the south-west of France with racing incorporated into the programme for the fifth and deciding Final of the 2023 FIM Flat Track World Championship.

Bringing together sixteen competitors aged between sixteen and twenty-three from five different nations, this will be a one-off event for 2023 designed to help encourage, inspire and develop the sport’s younger riders.

By following the same format as the FIM Long Track World Championship (LTWC) and giving the next generation of racers access to a much bigger stage, the event is a major investment in up-and-coming talent and demonstrates the FIM’s long-term, forward-thinking approach to the sport.

With permanent LTWC riders not allowed to enter, Sunday’s entry comprises mostly newcomers to the sport at this high level. However, fans should be familiar with a number of competitors who have had limited experience of top-flight racing this season.

Germany’s Mario Niedermeier was a LTWC reserve at Herxheim and Mühldorf although he did not get to race while French riders Thomas Valladon and Mathias Trésarrieu – whose uncle Mathieu was the 2017 and 2022 FIM World Champion – were both unused reserves at the fifth LTWC Final at Morizès at the beginning of last month.

We did, however, get to see Trésarrieu race this year when he scored points at the third Final of the season at Marmande and at the FIM Long Track World Championship Challenge event at La Reole plus the recent FIM Long Track of Nations, while the Netherlands’ William Kruit and Steven Labouyrie – who was the 2018 FIM Long Track Youth World Cup winner 250cc – from France also got on the scoreboard at La Reole.

Most recently, Finland’s Topi Mustonen and Labouyrie were in action for their countries at the FIM Long Track of Nations at Roden in France at the end of September.

Underlining the inclusivity of Long Track, fast female Nynke Sijbesma from the Netherlands will compete on Sunday, having gained good experience from her participation in the ATPI FIM Women’s Speedway Academy this summer. The eighteen-year-old all-rounder who also competes in Speedway and Grass Track already has international experience of the famous Morizès oval.

Practice is scheduled to begin at 10:40 local time with the opening Heat due to get under way at 13:30.