SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX | Kurtz Closing In

With just two rounds to go, Brady’s Riga heroics have put him within striking distance of Zmarzlik’s crown

Two rounds to go and three points adrift – that’s the scenario facing Australian champion Brady Kurtz if he is to become the 2025 World Speedway Champion.

The OlyBet FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia at Riga on 2 August was the third SGP round in a row where Kurtz has stood atop the rostrum, and with defending champion Bartosz Zmarzlik finishing last in the final, the gap between the duo was cut from nine points to just three.

For Kurtz it was his first ever meeting in Riga, and it did not start well with a last in his opening heat. Thereafter it improved, and following a lengthy delay because of rain, he finished with two wins and two seconds in his remaining heats – only the second time in eight rounds that Kurtz has not qualified direct to the final as one of the top two scorers.

Zmarzlik (12) and home hero Andrejs Lebedevs (11) could sit back and watch the Last Chance Qualifiers from where Fredrik Lindgren (beating Daniel Bewley, Anders Thomsen and Max Fricke – win, two seconds, third and last) and Kurtz (beating Jack Holder – two wins, three thirds – Robert Lambert and Dominic Kubera) went through to the decider.

Jason Doyle missed a berth in the LCQ on countback after scoring a win, a second, two thirds and crucially a last in a tough final heat.

Despite being left with no choice of gate position for the final, Kurtz nailed the start and was never threatened as Lindgren and Lebedevs joined him on the rostrum, while Zmarzlik was not a factor after the first corner.

The penultimate round of the championship, which will also feature a Sprint competition (worth 4,3,2,1 SGP points), is on 30 August at Wroclaw, which is where Kurtz is based for his Polish Ekstraliga commitments – prompting him to say, “Hopefully I will have a little bit of home support there.” Vojens, Denmark, hosts the final round on 13 September.

Czech please!

THE SECOND round of the SGP2 competition at Riga on 1 August brought no joy for Perth teenager Mitchell McDiarmid who languished well down the scorechart with four third placings from his five rides as he competed at another track for the first time in his first full season overseas.

Czech rider Adam Bednar (above) won the round, but defending champion Wiktor Przyjemski (below right) of Poland still leads the way ahead of Ukrainian Nazar Parnitskyi (below left) and Dane William Drejer, with Bednar fourth with one round remaining.

SGP standings after 8 of 10 rounds