Jack Holder led Australia to a dominant victory in Semi-Final 2 of the FIM Speedway of Nations in Torun, Poland, on Wednesday night, as the Roos booked their spot in Saturday’s championship decider.
The Australian trio of Holder, Brady Kurtz and Jason Doyle combined for 41 points, topping the score sheet ahead of Denmark on 37. The Czech Republic sealed the last available place in the Final by edging out Ukraine 6–3 in a dramatic last-chance qualifier.
Holder was in commanding form, top-scoring with 18 points, while Kurtz added 14 and Doyle collected nine. The skipper was thrilled with the all-round performance but made it clear there’s still more to come. “The plan was to use everyone and get everyone dialled in for the big one on Saturday,” Holder explained. “I’m happy to get through and get the win on the night. That was even better, but we’ll save the best for Saturday. If we all turn up on Saturday and do what we did on Wednesday, I can’t see why we won’t be standing on the top.”
Australia’s win was built on a crucial 7–2 heat victory over Denmark, with team manager Mark Lemon admitting it leaves him with the best possible selection dilemma ahead of the Final. “I have probably a bigger headache than I had before the start of the meeting, to be honest. Brady, Jack and Jason all rode tremendously. They oozed class, which was great to see. It’s a Semi-Final and we came here to qualify. The aim was to get to the Final, which we have done. We haven’t won a Semi-Final for a number of years now, so that’s kind of nice. The boys rode great as a collective, learned lots as the track changed and adapted really well. This was a very good outcome for us.”
Denmark pushed Australia all the way with Michael Jepsen Jensen scoring 16, Leon Madsen on 15 and skipper Mikkel Michelsen adding six, but even Madsen conceded lessons were learned. “Australia beat us in our race with them, so now we know what to do differently on Saturday,” he said. “I don’t mind them beating us now if we beat them on Saturday.”
The Czech Republic, led by Jan Kvech with 16 points, sealed third after teenage talent Adam Bubba Bednar won the key Final Qualifier race against Ukraine’s Nazar Parnitskyi. Their 6–3 win booked the nation’s first SON Final appearance since 2022. Kvech said, “We qualified for the Final and that was important for us. I’m very happy with the team performance. Bubba Bednar is a young Czech talent, and he did a very good job.”
With Poland already seeded as host nation and Semi-Final 1 sending Sweden, Great Britain and Latvia through, the 2025 SON Final now shapes as a blockbuster showdown.
The action resumes on Friday with SON2, the FIM Team Speedway Under-21 World Championship, where Australia will also be in contention, before Saturday’s senior Final decides the 2025 Speedway world team champions.
2025 FIM SPEEDWAY OF NATIONS SEMI-FINAL 2 SCORES:
1 AUSTRALIA 41: 1 Brady Kurtz 14, 2 Jack Holder 18, 3 Jason Doyle 9.
2 DENMARK 37: 1 Leon Madsen 15, 2 Michael Jepsen Jensen 16, 3 Mikkel Michelsen 6.
*3 CZECH REPUBLIC 27: 1 Vaclav Milik 3, 2 Jan Kvech 16, 3 Adam Bubba Bednar 8.
*4 UKRAINE 32: 1 Nazar Parnitskyi 21, 2 Marko Levishyn 11, 3 Roman Kapustin DNR.
5 FRANCE 22: 1 Dimitri Berge 16, 2 David Bellego 6, 3 Mathias Tresarrieu 0.
6 FINLAND 18: 1 Jesse Mustonen 3, 2 Antti Vuolas 15, 3 Tero Aarnio 0.
7 ARGENTINA 12: 1 Fernando Garcia 2, 2 Cristian Zubillaga 8, 3 Facundo Albin 2.
* After Final Qualifier
