FIM SPEEDWAY: PLENTY OF AUSSIE OPTIONS

Aussie ace Max Fricke admits ‘Roos boss Mark Lemon has no shortage of options as the country’s finest bid to regain the FIM Speedway of Nations world title in Torun in 2025.

Fricke joined forces with Speedway GP rival Jack Holder to lift the 2022 FIM SON trophy in Vojens, ending Australia’s 20-year wait for a world team championship. But Holder and Brady Kurtz were unable to retain the crown in Manchester last summer after Great Britain duo Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley got the better of them in the Grand Final.

The ‘Roos boast four full-time Speedway GP riders in 2025, with Fricke joined by Holder, series newcomer Kurtz and fit-again 2017 world champion Jason Doyle, who returns from the torn rotator cuff he suffered in May last year.

Lemon is only able to cram three riders into his FIM SON side – two starters and one reserve – and his options are further bolstered by the likes of 2012 Speedway GP World Champion Chris Holder, 2020 FIM Speedway Under-21 World Champion Jaimon Lidsey, double Australian champions Rohan Tungate and Sam Masters, plus the likes of Ryan Douglas, Ben and Zach Cook, Keynan Rew and Josh Pickering.

“Australia is a strong nation,” Fricke said. “There are us four in the GPs, we also have a past World Champion in Chris Holder and people who aspire to be GP riders in the future, such as Rohan Tungate, Jaimon Lidsey and plenty of others. Lemo has a great issue on his hands, but that’s his department. Mine is just riding the bike.”

Fricke is delighted to be going into 2025 as part of an army of SGP Aussies, with his country boasting its biggest Speedway GP contingent since 2003. “It’s great for Australian speedway,” he said. “Hopefully we will get a bit of support from back home and we can create some interest. In general, we have quite a strong nation and that’s quite a cool thing.”

Fricke’s SGP showdown with Holder and Kurtz this year carries added significance with the 29-year-old trio born just six months apart. The Leicester man, who qualified for the series at the 2024 FIM SGP Challenge in Pardubice, cannot wait to join his rivals on the sport’s biggest stage in the year they celebrate their 30th birthdays.

He said: “It’s really cool to see Jack, Brady and I all in there. We are all the same age, and we have all grown up together from junior racing. 

“We have been racing together for our whole lives since we were nine or 10 years old. It’s really cool to see the progression over the years and how we have all made steps forward throughout our careers to make it to the pinnacle of the sport – the GPs.”