SPEEDWAY SOLOS: ONE STEP AT A TIME FOR BRADY KURTZ

Photos by Taylor Lanning

By Dennis Newlyn.

Cowra’s Brady Kurtz, 28, only ever wanted to just qualify for his first full time season contesting the world speedway championship GP series.

Whatever happened after that he considered a bonus. Just to be amongst the elite of the world’s best speedway riders was a badge of honour for Kurtz. Now, with only two of the ten 2025 GP rounds remaining, Kurtz has a real chance of winning the title in what has been a meteoric rise to international stardom this season in the toughest speedway arena of all.

Heading into the GP of Poland at Wroclaw on August 30, he trails championship leader, Poland’s defending five times titleholder Bartosz Zmarzlik, by three points. The final round will be decided at Vojens, Denmark on September 13. That’s 40 points overall still to be won and well within range of the in-form Kurtz who has taken out the last three rounds and whittled down Zmarzlik’s point lead from 14 to three.

It sets the scene for one of the most dramatic finishes in the modern day history of the Speedway GP, but Kurtz is not getting too far ahead of himself. He’s just taking one race at a time, playing it cool, as the pressure builds.

“Every race presents its own challenge and in this business there are no certainties, anything can happen,” Kurtz said.

“It’s not going to be easy and Bartosz will not give up the title without a fight, it’s that close. I am just keeping my head down and doing my own thing without getting caught up in all the distractions. I still have a job to do.”

Kurtz previously made only cameo one-meeting GP appearances as a wild card and track reserve in Melbourne’s 2016 and 2017 Speedway GP of Australia.