Tough competition
Before the U21 Swedish Championship final in Målilla on 1 August, only two riders were considered to be in the running for the Gold - Masarna's Philip Hellström-Bängs and Vetlanda/ Piraterna's Alexander Woentin.
Woentin had won the competition for three year's in a row, is Sweden's only representative in the U21 World Championships and in 2021 has raced his first ever season in Poland with Tarnow in eWinner 1.
Hellström-Bängs was second behind Woentin last year and the week after this junior final he would take Silver in the U19 European Championships as well as racing with Start Gniezno in Poland.
Kumla's talented kids
But that meant that people had forgotten the hard work that has been going on at Kumla, where Indianerna have been investing in their youth programme and are now seeing results.
Behind the two more well-known names in last year's U21 final were the Grahn brothers, Jonatan Grahn (born 2000) and Gustav Grahn (born 2004) in the third and fourth places respectively. Gustav was only 16 yrs and in his first season on a 500 cc when he finished just outside the medals.
Winning ways
This year, Gustav did not just get on the podium for the first time, he won the whole competition.
"I know that I like the track at Målilla and if I did well in the qualifiers I would have a chance," he says about his thoughts before the competition, "and I felt confident because I was using my favourite engine," he adds.
Only the top three riders in the qualifying heats were guaranteed a place in the final. Then there would be a single semi-final heat where the winner would take the last remaining place in the deciding Heat 22.
Great speed from the start
After three Rounds, Gustav had only dropped one point and had beaten his older brother and Lejonen's Casper Henriksson, who is also having a excellent season in the Swedish leagues.
Then came Heat 14, where he would have to go head-to-head with the 2020 gold and silver medalists. However, it was not one of last year's finalists but Piraterna's William Björling who was away from tapes first, closely followed by Grahn. The Indianerna rider had got ahead of Woentin in third and, in last place, Hellström-Bängs. The four raced around in a tight pack, but without changing position and Grahn finished the heat in second knowing he had taken points from his biggest two rivals.
"I had great speed right from the start of the competition," he remembers, "but I tried not to think about the overall score. I just sat on the bike at the start of each heat and tried to take it easy," he says about his way of dealing with the mounting pressure.
It worked.
He finished the five qualifying races with 13 points from 15, the same as Henriksson, but the Indianerna rider was placed first having beat his Lejonen rival.
Winning the final
Leading the qualifiers meant he was able to choose the inside gate for the final, the same one he had beaten Henriksson from in Heat 7. Grahn did not squander the opportunity. He took the start and was first out and was able to hold the lead all the way to the checkered flag.
"It was hard to really take it in at the time, it was only after the lap of honour and then eveyone celebrating that I could really enjoy it. It was a great honour to go up on the podium," he says with a smile.
"This is a great step up in my career," he continues and then he adds, "But I'm only 17 years old, I don't need to have it all right now and I've still got four more years as a junior," he explains, "But it means I can relax when it comes to these bigger competitions because I know I can do it".
Promising League results
Gustav Grahn is U21 Swedish national champion for 2021. But, of course, he is also active in the top three Swedish speedway leagues.
He is 5th place in the individual rankings for Division 1, where he has a 2.407 average and his team, Indianerna, are in first position.
Meanwhile, he has raced in every match in Allsvenskan and there he has a heat average of 1.282. That puts him at 26th in the individual rankings, only 0.303 pts behind older brother, Jonatan. And with Indianerna B in first place with two rounds to go, Gustav is guaranteed playoff speedway in Sweden's second division this year.
And the Junior Swedish champion has now raced 10 heats in Elitserien with Kumla Indianerna and, whilst that it is not enough to have an official average, he can still be proud of a 0.400 average at Sweden's most senior level.
Hard to believe it is only his second year at 500cc. It seems like there is a bright future ahead of this Kumla star.
