CAIRNS HEADS TO RIGA

2023 British 250cc Champion William Cairns has made the long trip to Riga in Latvia to compete in this weekend’s FIM European 250cc Championship, which takes place at last weekend’s Grand Prix venue.

Cairns, who won his first British Championship at Belle Vue on July 21 following a successful British Youth Championship season, and finished fifth in the SGP3 Championship, goes into this European semi-final in good form having just won a 250cc Pairs event with Denmark’s Mikkel Andersen.

The event consists of two semi-finals which take place on Saturday at the Riga venue, with the top eight from each meeting qualifying for Sunday’s European 250cc Final, which again takes place at the Riga Grand Prix circuit.

Meanwhile, unfortunately Ipswich and Plymouth’s Dan Thompson, who qualified for the FIM European Under 19 Final, which takes place at the Polish venue of Gorzow on Saturday night, has had to withdraw from the event as he is still recovering from a dislocated shoulder he received at the Ipswich v Kings Lynn fixture on August 10.