LIDSEY’S OCEANIA VICTORY

Former World Under-21 champion Jaimon Lidsey heads into the European season on a high after storming to 2024 FIM Oceania Championship glory with a seven-ride maximum at SA’s Gillman Speedway on Saturday, January 27.

Lidsey defeated triple Speedway GP world champion Tai Woffinden, former Aussie titleholder Brady Kurtz and Justin Sedgmen in the final to win his continental crown in sensational style.

It comes after he took fourth place in the Australian Championship, only missing out on third place after a run-off with Speedway GP world number four Jack Holder and his victory also follows an impressive week for his country in last year’s Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup in Wroclaw.

While the FIM Oceania Championship winner was due to receive the nation’s final spot in the Speedway GP qualification rounds, Lidsey’s top-four finish in the national championship meant he had already booked his place alongside now two-time Aussie champion Rohan Tungate, runner-up Max Fricke and Jack Holder.

As a result, third place for Kurtz at Gillman, which comes after he was also fifth in the national championship, earns him the call-up as the highest-placed Australian representative yet to qualify, and he will now battle for a place at the FIM SGP Challenge in Pardubice on October 4, where the top four riders book spots in the 2025 Speedway GP series.

Lidsey blazed through his five heats unbeaten, with Woffinden second on the score chart with 13 and Josh Pickering tallying 12 points. Kurtz collected 11 along with GB young gun Sam Hagon, who is enjoying an impressive summer Down Under as he prepares to race for Poole in Britain’s Cab Direct Championship this year.

Grudziadz and Belle Vue star Lidsey then raced to victory in semi-final one ahead of Kurtz, Pickering and Fraser Bowes, before Woffinden took the chequered flag in semi two ahead of Sedgmen, Hagon and Zane Keleher.

Victory in the final is another milestone for Lidsey, who is rapidly emerging as a potential Speedway GP star of the future for Australia.

FIM OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIP HEAT SCORES: 1 Jaimon Lidsey 15, 2 Tai Woffinden 13, 3 Josh Pickering 12, 4 Sam Hagon 11, 5 Brady Kurtz 11, 6 Justin Sedgmen 10, 7 Fraser Bowes 9, 8 Zane Keleher 7, 9 Michael West 7, 10 Jacob Hook 7, 11 Sam Martin 5, 12 Dayle Wood 4, 13 Jack Morrison 2, 14 Declan Knowles 2, 15 Matt Marson 2, 16 Jake Turner 1.

SEMI-FINAL 1: Lidsey, Kurtz, Pickering, Bowes.

SEMI-FINAL 2: Woffinden, Sedgmen, Hagon, Keleher.

FINAL: Lidsey, Woffinden, Kurtz, Sedgmen.