FIM SPEEDWAY: TUNGATE READY TO TEST UNBEATEN SPEEDWAY GP RECORD IN 2027 FULL TIME DEBUT

Australian racer Rohan Tungate can’t wait to test his 100-percent FIM Speedway Grand Prix record after storming into the 2027 series at the FIM SGP Challenge in Terenzano on Saturday night, July 25.

Great Britain racer Robert Lambert topped the podium in Italy to secure his spot in next season’s Speedway GP World Championship, with Tungate second. Polish SGP regular Kacper Woryna also retains his place at the sport’s top table after finishing third, while Swedish champion Kim Nilsson took the fourth and final qualification place to return to the series for the first time since 2023.

The FIM SGP Challenge never fails to deliver life-changing moments, and it was Tungate’s turn to celebrate on Saturday as the 36-year-old from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales stormed to 11 points from five rides, securing qualification with a heat to spare.

Former road racer Tungate has made one previous SGP appearance as a track reserve at the 2017 FIM Speedway GP of Australia – Melbourne, and incredibly, he won both of his races at Marvel Stadium.

The Czestochowa star admits he has work to do to keep his unbeaten record intact. He said: “We’ll see how long I can keep that for! It was a bit of a funny record to have. I had a taste of SGP, and I got two wins.

“I believe I can still get three points in each race. I know what I am capable of doing. It’s going to be tough, but I just need to work hard and do the best I can.

“I just approached the Challenge race by race. I tried to be as relaxed as I could be, focused and not think too much about it. In the end, it worked out well.

“Probably the most important part of the competition for me was I got the harder gates out of the way early and won the races. That was key.

“I am just going to prepare the best I can for next year. I have good engines from Ryszard Kowalski – we have a good relationship. I just need to prepare myself as best I can with my team and organisation and take it race by race, GP by GP, and we’ll see what happens.”

FIM SGP Challenge winner Lambert raced to 14 points from five rides, before winning Saturday’s final. He is currently third in the 2026 Speedway GP standings and very much in the World Championship medal chase.

With the top seven riders guaranteed a place in the 2027 Speedway GP series and Lambert 27 points clear of eighth spot with four rounds remaining, the Brit knew he was in a good position.

“There was not much pressure on me last night,” he said. “I am pretty secure in the GPs at the moment and something big would have to happen for me not to be in the top seven, so it was a nice, relaxed environment coming to Italy. That showed in my racing. When I am relaxed and fully focused, the results come.
“I am super happy. I nearly got a maximum in the meeting and then it came down to a final again. I was very close to not winning the final – the same as in Malilla. But we pulled it off. It was nice to get on the podium and secure my space in the GP for next season.”
Third-placed Woryna is also currently in the Speedway GP top seven – standing fifth with 55 points, but he’s only one ahead of eighth-placed Max Fricke in a tight tussle for qualification.

Woryna earned his place on the FIM SGP Challenge podium after he scored 10 points from five rides before finishing third in the final, and it ensures this year’s Speedway GP debutant another season on the big stage after he qualified as runner-up of the 2025 FIM SGP Challenge. He said: “The GP this season has been a tough lesson for me, but I like to call it a lesson because I have gained so much experience from facing all the difficulties that for me, as a freshman, are difficulties. Hopefully I can progress from that, and we will see what happens next.

“This is the kind of meeting where you have to expect unexpected things. You have to keep focused all night through all five heats, especially if you are not as quick as the other guys, who got the job done comfortably before their fifth ride.

“I did it last year and had already qualified by my fifth ride, but it was a struggle for me on Saturday for sure. I am glad it turned out to be a great success for us and the team. I am happy to be back for 2027. But this is not the end. I want to keep working.”

After recently winning his first Swedish Championship, Nilsson is on a roll. He produced an astonishing charge to the front past local wild card Paco Castagna in his last heat to qualify on 10 points, before finishing fourth in the final.

He said: “I had a look on the leaderboard before my last race, and I thought that if I win this one, I will go through. I also knew I had the white gate, and I didn’t really know how bad it was. But I actually made it stick.

“I made a pretty good start from gate three and continued building speed. Paco knows this track so well and I just thought I’d send it on the outside. I saw Robert Lambert build the speed on the outside in a couple of heats before.

“I didn’t even know if my bike would take me there, but it did. There was so much will in that last race. I can’t even explain it.

“I have been there before in Speedway GP, and it was a big, big learning curve for me in 2023. I know wasn’t ready then, but I did okay from where I started. Today I feel I am in another place as a rider and with my organisation, and I need to build on that – starting now.”

While the Challenge may be over – there could still be some exciting twists in the Speedway GP qualification race.

Current Speedway GP stars Andzejs Lebedevs and Michael Jepsen Jensen finished on nine points apiece in fifth and sixth places respectively to fall just short of qualification for 2027.

But should Lambert or Woryna finish in the SGP top seven, Latvian ace Lebedevs will be guaranteed a 2027 Speedway GP spot. If both Lambert and Woryna stay in the top seven, Danish racer Jepsen Jensen also qualifies.

Danish Championship runner-up Frederik Jakobsen was seventh on eight points. If three of Lambert, Woryna, Lebedevs and Jepsen Jensen reach the top seven in Speedway GP this year, Jakobsen makes his SGP debut in 2027.

If all four riders reach the World Championship’s top seven, Great Britain legend Chris Harris, 43, who was eighth on seven points in Terenzano, would make an astonishing Speedway GP comeback – racing in the championship for the first time since 2016.

2026 FIM SGP CHALLENGE RESULT
1. Robert Lambert (Great Britain) 14
2. Rohan Tungate (Australia) 11
3. Kacper Woryna (Poland) 10
4. Kim Nilsson (Sweden) 10
5. Andzejs Lebedevs (Latvia) 9
6. Michael Jepsen Jensen (Denmark) 9
7. Frederik Jakobsen (Denmark) 8
8. Chris Harris (Great Britain) 7
9. Maciej Janowski (Poland) 7
10. Paco Castagna (Italy) 7
11. Kai Huckenbeck (Germany) 6
12. Dominik Kubera (Poland) 6
13. Jaimon Lidsey (Australia) 5
14. Anders Rowe (Great Britain) 4
15. Luke Becker (USA) 3
16. Keynan Rew (Australia) 3
17. Nicolas Vicentin (Italy) 1
18. Brando Lunardi (Italy) DNR.