It all came down to the wire with a thrilling display of skill last Saturday night, the 27th of January, at the 2024 FIM Oceania Speedway Championship at Gillman Speedway, with the Speedway Riders Association of SA proudly playing host. With an impressive crowd in attendance, perfect weather, and world-class speedway stars coming together, it was surely a night to remember.
Adding to the night’s anticipation saw an 11th-hour rider withdrawal of former Australian Champion Sam Masters, with Victorias Declan Knowles called up as the replacement.
It would be the talent of former U21 World Champion Jaimon Lidsey to charge home as the 2024 Oceania Speedway Championship winner after a run of first-place finishes in all his races, securing the Semi-final 1 victory and holding off 3-time World Champion Tai Woffinden for a hard-charging finals finish. Rounding out the final 4 in third place would be former Australian Championship Title holder Brady Kurtz, edging out Justin Sedgmen in fourth.
Coming into the night, the original winner of the 2024 FIM Oceania Championship was set to receive Australia’s final spot in the GP Qualifying rounds. However, Jaimon Lidsey had already secured his place through his top-four National Championship finish. This opened up an opportunity for the third-place holder, Brady Kurtz, to secure the chance to join the remainder of the Australian contingent at the FIM SGP Challenge in Pardubice on October 4. The top 4 riders from Pardubice will then secure spots in the 2025 Speedway GP series.
On the South Australian front, Fraser Bowes put up a hard fight against the favourites, securing second place in his first and fifth heats. He also claimed victory in his heat 3, narrowly missing the semi-finals and finishing with an overall 7th place. Sam Martin gave it his all in his heats, concluding the event in 11th place overall. Unfortunately, Jake Turner’s night took a turn for the worse when he was involved in a high-speed crash with Victoria’s Jack Morrison, leading to the end of the race for both riders. Fortunately, neither rider suffered any broken bones, but both walked away feeling quite sore. Check out the full scoreboard of results below, including all the support categories of the night.
If you missed the night of action and want to catch up, Judy Mackay, Terrysproshots Photography, and Derick Thomas Photography were trackside to capture all the action. Find all the photo albums below:
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2024 FIM Oceania Speedway Championships Full Results:
| Name | State | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | TOTAL | SEMI-FINAL 1 | SEMI-FINAL 2 | FINAL | PLACING |
| Jaimon Lidsey | VIC | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Tai Woffinden | ENG | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Brady Kurtz | NSW | R | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
| Justin Sedgmen | VIC | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| Josh Pickering | NSW | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Sam Hagen | ENG | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 6 | ||
| Fraser Bowes | SA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 7 | ||
| Zane Keleher | QLD | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 8 | ||
| Michael West | NSW | 2 | 2 | 2 | F | 1 | 7 | 9 | |||
| Jacob Hook | QLD | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 | |||
| Sam Martin | SA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11 | |||
| Dayle Wood | VIC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | |||
| Jack Morrison | VIC | 2 | FN | N | N | N | 2 | 13 | |||
| Declan Knowles | VIC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | |||
| Matthew Marson | WA | 0 | 1 | 0 | FX | 1 | 2 | 15 | |||
| Jake Turner | SA | 1 | FX | N | N | N | 1 | 16 |
Support Class Results of the Night:
250cc Solo – Harry Sadler
Under 16 125cc Junior Solo Scratch Races:
| Name | Points |
| Ryleigh McGregor | 12 |
| Hayden Pascoe | 10 |
| Riley Stout | 10 |
| Connor Machin | 8 |
| Ruby Chapman | 8 |
| Hayden Kuchel | 7 |
| Owen Chapman | 6 |
| William Nicol | 5 |
| Kobi Canning | 3 |