IMPRESSIVE OZ TITLE FIELD FOR JANUARY 3

By Graeme Frost

Photography by: Judy Mackay

Australia’s best available riders return to the Gillman Speedway in Adelaide this Friday night, January 3, to race in the Australian 500cc Solo Speedway Championship CBS Bins sponsored round one.

The line-up includes the top eight from last season’s Championship series, who all competed in league racing in Britain or Poland during 2024, and includes five previous National Champions – defending champion Rohan Tungate, Jack Holder, Max Fricke, Brady Kurtz and Chris Holder.

As well as competing for the 2025 national crown, the riders are also endeavouring to finish in the top two to earn a place in the Speedway Grand Prix (World Championship) qualifying rounds in Europe.

Three of the riders – Jack Holder, Max Fricke and Brady Kurtz – have already been selected to contest the 2025 World Championship, and the qualifying rounds are to compete in the 2026 Championship.

With so many Grand Prix riders, and previous Australian Champions, there can be no clear-cut favourite to win the opening round on Friday night, but the top two in-form riders from last weekend were Jack Holder and Brady Kurtz. Holder was unbeaten in the International Speedway Masters at Gillman last Saturday night, while Kurtz almost matched that feat, dropping just one point on his way to victory in the Phil Crump Classic in Mildura.

Five-time national champion, and former World champion, Chris Holder, gave younger brother Jack his toughest race at Gillman and showed, after battling some severe injuries in recent years, he is still more than capable of winning another national championship.

The overall biggest challenger to both Jack Holder and Kurtz at the weekend, however, was former World Under 21 Champion Jaimon Lidsey, who only dropped three points across both meetings before he finished fourth in the final at Gillman and second in Mildura. Lidsey finished fourth in last season’s championship, after a run-off with Jack Holder for third place, and only two weeks later was unbeaten in seven rides to win the FIM Oceania Championship at Gillman ahead of multiple world champion Tai Woffinden and Kurtz.

The most successful riders in the championship in recent seasons have been the defending champion Rohan Tungate, and Max Fricke. Tungate won the title in 2018 as well as last season, while Fricke won in 2019, 20 and 22 (with no title in 21). Last season they finished 1-2, with Fricke taking a lead into the final round only to be overhauled by Tungate who won by 3 points, with 70 points to Fricke’s 67.

The other riders from last season’s top eight competing are New South Wales competitors Ben Cook and Josh Pickering, while Zach Cook, Keynan Rew, James Pearson and Michael West all finished in the top fourteen last season. Ben Cook reached the semi-final stage at Gillman last season, while Pickering and Rew have been finalists at Gillman in past championships.

Rounding out the sixteen riders are Justin Sedgmen, Mitchell Cluff, Mitchell McDiarmid and Harrison Ryan. Sedgmen is returning after he chose not to contest the full series last season and has been a five-time finalist in the Gillman rounds, while Cluff, who recently won the South Australian Championship at Gillman, Mitchell McDiarmid, the 16-year-old rising star from Western Australia, and 21-year-old Harrison Ryan (NSW) are making their first appearances in the national series.                                                      

The Championship rounds are being staged over the 2024 Grand Prix format of 20 heats, two Semi-Finals and a Final, with the first and second placegetters in the semi-finals contesting the final.

There is also a small support programme of 500cc and 250cc Solos.

Gates open at 3pm and racing starts at 7pm.

For those who can’t attend, the meeting will be live streamed through the website link [https://www.spacequakesports.com/ppv] for a cost of $30. Please note this is the only official livestreaming link, any others touted on facebook sites are scams and should be ignored.

Travelling interstate supporters following the series, can take in two nights of speedway with the Sidewinders Under 16 Junior Speedway club staging the 125cc state championship at their nearby track (at the end of Eighth Street, Wingfield) at 7.30pm on Thursday night.

UPDATE 1/1/25: Justin Sedgmen has had to pull out of the series. He suffered hand and knee injuries in England in July, and then another heavy crash when he made a return in the SA Championship. He has tried to keep riding but has decided he simply isn’t fit enough for the rigours of an Australian Championship series. He has been replaced in the Gillman round by fellow Mildura rider Patrick Hamilton.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA

By Mark Neale 

Photography by Judy Mackay

Speedway fans in Adelaide are set for two big nights of exciting motorcycle Speedway action on January 2 and 3 with the running of the South Australian Under 16 125cc Solo Championship at Wingfield  Speedway and the opening round of the Australian 500cc Solo Championship at Gillman.

The Speak’N of Spokes sponsored Under 16 title (at Wingfield) will be held on Thursday night while the CBS Bins sponsored Senior Solo Championship is set down for Gillman Speedway Friday night.

Thirteen youngsters from South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales will do battle at the purpose built 112 metre circuit for the running of the forty-seventh staging of the SA Under 16 Championship over twenty heats a semi final and a final to decide the winner.

The top three point scorers after the heats qualify directly through to the final, while the fourth to seventh highest point scorers qualify for the semi with only the winner progressing through to the final.

The championship appears to be a battle in two between reigning SA Champ Cooper Antone from New South Wales and Victoria’s Blake Schlein.

Antone from Albury Wodonga on the New South Wales/ Victoria border won the title last year is the reigning Australian Individual and Teams Champion as well as finishing runner up in the last two SGP 4 World Championship’s in Europe. He recently won his third successive Victorian crown.

Schlein, from Mildura, was third in last year’s SA title and second to Antone in the recently held Victorian Title. The talented eleven year old has been in great form at Wingfield this season winning back to back Mick Hargreaves and Clyde Mundy Memorials for the last two years.

Eleven year old Ryleigh McGregor from Renmark is expected to be biggest threat to the two favourites after having a great start to the season winning the Silver Helmet handicap event(beating Schlein)as well as minor placings in the Victorian Title(third), Mick Hargreaves Memorial(second) and Clyde Mundy Memorial(third).McGregor and Schlein were second in the recent Australian Teams championship at Kingaroy,Queensland.

Ten year old Riley Stout is another who has been in good for at Wingfield during the season with a runners up position in the Clyde Mundy Memorial a third in the Mick Hargreaves Memorial, the Silver Wheel handicap event and a fourth place finish in the Victorian Title at Mildura.

Eleven year old William Nicol has been in good form finishing fourth in both the Silver Helmet event and the Mick Hargreaves Memorial.The remaining youngsters in the thirteen rider field include last year’s fourth placegetter Hayden Pascoe, Connor Machin(fourth in the Clyde Mundy Memorial), second generation riders Owen Chapman (fifth in the Silver Helmet event), Jett Plaisted and Nate Sadler (sixth in the Silver Helmet event). The remaining three riders in the field are Blake Hocking,Cooper Jarpinski and ten year old Hayden Matthews

Pee Wees 50cc novices and junior sidecars will be support events for the title

The following night see’s the running of the opening round of the 2025 Australian 500cc Solo Championship which is being held over nine days in four states. Following Gillman the series moves to Mildura (January 5), Albury Wodonga (January 8) and winds up at North Brisbane on January 11).

Each meeting is held between sixteen riders over twenty heats with the top eight point scorers competing in two semi finals with the first two progressing through to the final. Points from the heats and then the final will be added together and the most a rider can earn per round is nineteen points.

Almost all of Australia’s big name riders have returned from Europe to compete in the series with the top two riders in the Australian championship will earn places in the 2025 Speedway Grand Prix qualification rounds along with the winner of the FIM Oceania Championship which will be held at Gillman on January 25.

Five previous Australian champions are amongst the sixteen rider line up.They include five times National champion and former World Champ Chris Holder(NSW),Triple Australian titleholder Max Fricke (VIC), former winners Brady Kurtz and Jack Holder (both NSW) along with defending and two times winner Rohan Tungate(also from NSW)

Other riders in the field include Ben and Zach Cook,Mitchell Cluff,Josh Pickering,James Pearson, Michael West and Harrison Ryan (all New South Wales), former World Under 21 Champion Jaimon Lidsey (Victoria), Queensland’s Keynan Rew and the youngest ever winner of the Western Australian Championship Mitchell McDiarmid.

Most of the riders in the field started their careers off in the junior ranks and have progressed through to senior level and are now professional riders who ride in three or more leagues in Europe.

South Australia’s Steven Baker started riding in juniors and went onto to be the first Australian to win the World European under 21 championship.

His late father Graham was one of the people behind the scene who helped set up the Wingfield circuit and his family are the major sponsors of both the Australian Championship round at Gillman and the Australian Speedway of Nation’s team in Europe-namely CBS BINS.

Support events for the title are senior 500cc Solos and under 16 250cc Solos.