Australian icon Brady Kurtz feared he had blown his final shot at a 2025 FIM Speedway World Championship gold medal before joining Jack Holder at the front to win the FIM Speedway of Nations Final in Torun, Poland, on Saturday, October 4.
The Aussies lifted their second FIM Speedway of Nations World title in three years, following up their victory at Danish track Vojens in 2022, after Holder made a sublime start, with World Championship number two Kurtz riding one of the opening laps of the season to round Speedway GP World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik and join his partner for a 7-2 victory over Poland in the Grand Final. Denmark picked up the bronze medals.
After falling a point short of Zmarzlik in the race for Speedway GP World Championship gold this year, Kurtz was elated to win his first FIM Speedway World Championship gold medal in the FIM SON. But he thought he had blown it at the start of the Grand Final.
“I actually thought it was all over when the tapes went up,” Kurtz said. “I didn’t make the best start at all. But I squeezed in there somehow and got to the outside. I knew I had to get to the fence.
“Jack was so solid all night. He made every start, looked for me and gave me the run through. Sure enough, when the straight came in the Grand Final, Jack was in front, looking over his shoulder and waiting for me to come past.
“Once we hit the front, I was checking the big screen every lap, and we were solid all race. We were so good together. Once we hit the front, I was pretty confident that we could get it done, and I am happy with this one.”
Australia’s FIM SON title win comes with the added gloss of a guaranteed place in the 2026 FIM Speedway World Cup Final, which will be staged at Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy.
The Danes missed out on the Grand Final after 2026 Speedway GP qualifier Leon Madsen was disqualified from the race after a collision with Team Poland’s Patryk Dudek.CN
2025 FIM Speedway of Nations Results
OVERALL (Top 5)
- Australia (Brady Kurtz, Jack Holder, Jason Doyle) 37
- Poland (Patryk Dudek, Bartosz Zmarzlik, Piotr Pawlicki) 35
- Denmark (Leon Madsen, Michael Jepsen Jensen, Mikkel Michelsen) 34
- Sweden (Jacob Thorssell, Fredrik Lindgren, Timo Lahti) 27
- Great Britain (Robert Lambert, Dan Bewley, Tom Brennan) 24
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