SPEEDWAY GP STAR: TWO DIFFERENT WINNING WAYS

Photos: courtesy of Judy Mackay.

Speedway GP star Brady Kurtz admits his two Australian Championship triumphs could not have been more different after ending his nine-year wait for second national title victory.

Kurtz sealed the Aussie crown at the Victorian track Albury-Wodonga with two rides to spare on January 8, having won the opening two rounds at Gillman and Mildura, before finishing second to outgoing champion Rohan Tungate in the decider.

Top spot for Kurtz also earns the 2024 FIM SGP Challenge winner a place in the 2025 Speedway GP qualifiers along with runner-up Jack Holder, and the pair soon jet back to Europe to prepare for SGP and league action in the spring.

Kurtz won the Australian Championship at the first attempt aged 19 in 2016. While that first victory may have surprised some, his latest triumph at 28 came as anything but a shock as the 2024 FIM Speedway of Nations silver medallist continues his rise in the sport.

“I think they are two very different situations,” he said. “I was probably too young when I won the first one. I didn’t really know what I was doing. It just fell in my lap. But I definitely worked hard for this one. Probably this one feels a bit better. I feel like I earned this one!

“It has been a long time since I won the last one, so it’s cool to feel like I have got that off my back again. I was super happy with it. I came prepared and I wanted to win. It’s nice that I actually did.”

With Australia’s professional riders based in Europe for much of the year, some opt to compete in their national championship using equipment stored Down Under – rather than face the costs of bringing bikes to Australia.

In contrast, Kurtz insists he left no stone unturned to battle for Aussie gold and his spot in the Speedway GP qualifiers.

“I had everything possible,” he said. “Last year I wasn’t even sure whether I was going to race or not because I had some passport issues and I was fairly under-prepared for the first few rounds.

“I didn’t want to be in that position again, so I sent all my stuff home from Poland after the year. I had the best bikes – the same as I would use in Europe. I was definitely ready, and I wanted to win.”

Even with 2017 Speedway GP world champion Jason Doyle opting out of the series and three-time Aussie champion Max Fricke crashing out of the championship at round two in Mildura, competition was fierce for Kurtz as he headed second-placed SGP rival Jack Holder, 2012 Speedway GP world champion Chris Holder in third, former SGP2 star Keynan Rew, 2024 winner Tungate and fast-rising brothers Ben and Zach Cook.

Kurtz said: “It’s a shame Max went out early on, but everyone was pretty much there and it’s nice that Australian speedway is doing so well, and we get to do this series with such a strong line-up.

“My equipment was so good, and everything was just working. I have been to all the tracks that many times now that I know what I am doing.

“It’s always nice to get off to a good start. It’s so hard in that series if you have a bad first round. Trying to get back into it is really tough. My main goal was to go well in the first round, so it was nice to do that. I took it one race at a time and kept going well.”