Aussie stars are set to light up European tracks, even as the UK Premiership remains in flux
Australia will have a large contingent of speedway riders based in Europe for the 2026 season, which kicks off with meetings at many tracks in the second half of this month.
There is still plenty of uncertainty in the UK, where the majority of Australians will be based, surrounding the top level of league competition – the Premiership – which last season featured seven teams before Birmingham was lost as a venue while Oxford decided to concentrate on the two lower leagues.
Four of the surviving clubs have named their line-ups, while Ipswich, which will operate under new ownership, is waiting for the legal process to be completed before final team announcements are made.
Fans must surely be frustrated at the drip-feeding of information, worsened by Premiership CEO Phil Morris announcing last month that there were discussions ongoing for a sixth team to join the league.
As well as fans being left in the dark with no fixtures released, there are riders who are sweating on another team being added with three Australians who raced in the Premiership last year – Jaimon Lidsey, Keynan Rew and Rohan Tungate – not part of any line-ups locked in.
Max Fricke moving from Leicester to Kings Lynn and Luke Killeen going to Sheffield after Oxford dropped out are the significant moves for Aussie riders from the end of last year.
UK LEAGUE
Thankfully there has been stability in the other UK league competitions with the same nine Championship teams operating in 2026 – although plenty of ins and outs as far as Australian riders are concerned.
Only Glasgow and Plymouth do not have Australians in their ranks, but missing from last year are Declan and Zaine Kennedy, Cameron Heeps, Jacob Hook and Matt Marso. In some cases that is harsh, as they were not the least-productive riders for their teams in 2025.
Moving to different teams are Josh Pickering, Jake Allen, Jye Etheridge, Fraser Bowes, Dayle Wood and Mitchell Cluff, who thankfully gets another chance after being dropped during the 2025 season. Reid Battye is a newcomer, having won the Northern Territory Championship to earn a Work Permit.
The third-tier National Development League features six teams, with Harry Sadler riding with Middlesbrough, while Edinburgh has four Australians in its line-up: Jordy and Anika Loftus, Dayle Wood and Ben Whalley.
Not based in the UK are Beau Bailey and Alex Adamson, who will have their first full season overseas based in Poland.
SIDECAR CHAMPS
Three generations of the Headland family lined up for the final of the South Australian Sidecar Championship at the Gillman Speedway last month, and they very nearly all got onto the rostrum.
Mick Headland, with son Jesse as passenger, won the Dash for Cash, topscored in the heats and then led the final before contact between them and the pursuing machine ridden by Mick’s son Trent with passenger Jaxon Rayner caused a stoppage. Mick was controversially excluded in a decision that divided the crowd.
In the re-run, Nate Headland (Trent’s son and Mick’s grandson) with passenger Harry Hearne just edged out Trent, with Byren Gates/Damian Egan taking third.
That Gillman meeting came in a period that sees sidecars take over the speedway spotlight in Australia for the next few months as machines come out of garages in the lead-up to the 2026 Australian Championship meeting at the Olympic Park track, Mildura, on the Anzac weekend.
A number of significant meetings are scheduled, particularly at Gillman and Mildura, to get combatants ready for the national title showdown.
Gillman has hosted the Jim Irwin Sidecar Spectacular, which was won by Tyler Moon/Adam Lovell, and the Bowes Family Sidecar Cup won by Byren Gates/Damian Egan, while at Mildura Trent Headland/Jaxon Raynor were victorious in the Gates Sidecar Cup.
Unfortunately The New South Wales Championship was a victim of poor weather and will now be held on 21 March.
AUSSIES IN PREMIERSHIP
BELLE VUE Brady Kurtz, Zach Cook, Tate Zischke
KINGS LYNN Max Fricke, Ben Cook
LEICESTER Sam Masters, Ryan Douglas, Nick Morris
SHEFFIELD Jack Holder, Chris Holder, Josh Pickering, Jye Etheridge, Luke Killeen
AUSSIES IN CHAMPIONSHIP
BERWICK Nick Morris, Jye Etheridge, Reid Battye
EDINBURGH Justin Sedgmen, Kye Thomson. Mitchell Cluff, Jordy Loftus
OXFORD Sam Masters, Mitch McDiarmid, Luke Killeen, Dayle Wood
POOLE Zach Cook, Fraser Bowes
REDCAR Jake Allen
SCUNTHORPE Josh Pickering
WORKINGTON Troy Batchelor, Tate Zischke
