HOME HEROICS FOR KURTZ IN ADELAIDE?
Aussie ace Brady Kurtz believes having home advantage for next season’s Speedway GP finale in Adelaide could make 2027 “my year”.
Kurtz claimed Speedway GP World Championship bronze at the DEWALT FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Torun Saturday (September 26) after taking the world title fight to the final race of the season for a second straight year.
While Great Britain star Robert Lambert won his first world crown with Poland’s six-time world champion Bartosz Zmarzlik second, 2025 silver medallist Kurtz hopes he can complete his medal collection by topping the podium following an FIM Speedway GP of Australia – Adelaide double-header at Gillman Speedway on October 29 and 30, 2027.
Asked about the prospect of finishing next season Down Under, he said: “That might make it my year. It would be even better to win it in Australia than in Torun.
“Gillman is definitely the best track we have in Australia for racing. It’s a really great track to have the GP on. I am super excited. It has been such a long time since we had the GP in Australia.
“I was the wild card in Melbourne in 2016, but it’s not the same as being a real GP rider and getting a home GP. I think it will be special.
“I was a track reserve in 2017 and, 10 years later, I am going back, and I am actually ready this time.
“We’ll get through the winter, and we have a few things to work on before next year. Then we’ll come back ready to go and hopefully when Gillman does come around, I will be at the pointy end and have another shot at it.”
Kurtz is still rightly proud of finishing his first two seasons as a full-time Speedway GP rider on the podium. He said: “Obviously I am more than happy with saying I have two medals from two years, but two times, too close, I guess you could say.
“It has been a tough season. I feel like there were a lot of opportunities missed, and it just wasn’t really my year. I feel a lot of small things didn’t fall in my favour. In the end, we didn’t get it done.
“When you have people like Bartek and then Robert towards the end of the year, who are so consistent, you just can’t have bad GPs.
“But I think the important part is we did it again. It wasn’t a one-year thing. I proved that I have got me and my team in the right place, and I am looking forward to next year. I am still super happy with what me and my team achieved. They did such a great job all year.”
