AUSTRALIAN RIDERS READY FOR 2025 FIM SGP2 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Australia has a wonderful record in the FIM SGP2 going right back to the days it was labelled the FIM World Under 21 Championship.
Again this year there’s a promising contingent of Aussies hoping to become the World Junior SPeedway Champion and continue the impressive statistics racked up by Australia in the event.
The 2025 FIM SGP2 World Championship kicks off on Saturday, May 24, with Australian riders competing in the first two qualifying meetings in Great Britain and the Czech Republic.
Tate Zischke, Michael West and Alex Adamson will be in action at the UK qualifying round in Glasgow, while James Pearson will be the lone Australian facing the starter at Pardubice on the same night.
The third and final qualifying meeting will be held on June 7 in Hungary, with Mitchell McDiarmid to contest that one.
James Pearson will contest his SGP2 qualifier in the Czech Republic
The top four riders from each qualifying meeting – as well as three wildcards selected by the FIM SGP Commission – will then battle it out at the business end of proceedings: SGP2 championship rounds in Sweden (July 4), Latvia (August 1) and Denmark (September 9). The three rounds will be held the day before Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) outings at the same venues.
Thirteen nations will be represented at the qualifying rounds in Glasgow and Pardubice, with defending SGP2 champion, Poland’s dynamic Wiktor Przyjemski, competing in the latter.
Of the Aussie brigade contesting the SGP2 qualifiers, 16-year-old Adamson (NSW) is the youngest, followed by McDiarmid (WA, 17), Zischke (Qld, 19), Pearson (NSW, 20) and West (NSW, 21).
Pearson, who turned 20 on May 21, helped Australia to the bronze medal in the 2024 FIM Speedway of Nations U21 alongside Keynan Rew, and finished a highly commendable 10th in the 2025 Australian Speedway Championship against three of Australia’s SGP riders – Brady Kurtz, Max Fricke and Jack Holder – and a gaggle of hard-nosed veterans.
Australia has enjoyed a rich history in the FIM SGP2 World Championship (formerly the Speedway Under-21 World Championship), with six riders reaching the summit: Steve Baker (1983), Leigh Adams (1992), Jason Crump (1995), Darcy Ward (2009-2010), Max Fricke (2016) and Jaimon Lidsey (2020).
That puts Australia on equal winning terms with Denmark, with only powerhouse speedway nation Poland ahead of them.
Tate Zischke has overcome a brutal crash in 2024 to work himself back into some strong form
SGP2 is the final stepping stone for the world’s leading young riders who want to make the move into the SGP elite and also an integral part of global promoter Warner Bros. Discovery Sport’s mission to develop the next generation of speedway stars.
All the action from Glasgow will be streamed live on FIM-MOTO.
BRITISH SPEEDWAY JUNE 15, 2025