Brady Kurtz wins Final But Bartosz Zmarzlik Seals Sixth Speedway GP World Championship

Polish superstar Bartosz Zmarzlik held his nerve in the biggest race of his career to claim a record-equalling sixth Speedway GP World Championship at Denmark’s Vojens Speedway Center on Saturday night.

In doing so, Zmarzlik joined New Zealand great Ivan Mauger and Swedish legend Tony Rickardsson in the exclusive six-time champions club, while also becoming the first rider in history to win four consecutive titles. His 2025 triumph adds to his 2022, 2023 and 2024 crowns, as well as his 2019 and 2020 victories.

The title came down to a dramatic showdown with Australian rival Brady Kurtz in the Deluxe Homeart FIM Speedway GP of Denmark – Vojens final. Kurtz powered to his fifth straight GP win – breaking Rickardsson’s record of four set in 2005 – but Zmarzlik’s second place was enough to secure the crown by a single point. The trophy was presented by Rickardsson himself.

The home crowd had plenty to cheer about, with Danish national champion Michael Jepsen Jensen returning to the series for the first time since 2018. The wild card rider delighted local fans by finishing third and confirmed his full-time comeback to the championship in 2026 – 11 years after his last full SGP season.

Great Britain’s Dan Bewley finished fourth on the night but secured enough points to claim bronze in the 2025 Speedway GP World Championship standings. He edged past Sweden’s Fredrik Lindgren, last year’s bronze medallist, in last-chance qualifier two to take his first career series podium.

For Zmarzlik, though, the night was about more than numbers. Even the usually composed Pole admitted to feeling the pressure as he chased Kurtz. “When I was second, I had to tell my head to stay calm because I felt like it was spinning on the bike,” he explained. “It was very tough and hard for the head to do this. But overall, I wasn’t super stressed. Since I woke up, I felt really nice, and a little bit of stress was taken off after the first few heats.”

Reflecting on his achievement, he said: “This is an amazing moment for me because when I was young, I was always dreaming about becoming world champion. Now I am 30 years old, I have six world titles, and this is unbelievable for me. I can’t 100 percent take in this moment that I have achieved with my team. I am super happy because Brady gave me a really big challenge, so thank you, Brady. All season we have produced a good show for the sport. I am happy I have won, and I don’t know what more to say at this moment.”

The victory sparked wild celebrations among the travelling Polish fans who packed the grandstands at Vojens. The Polish national anthem rang out on a night that also marked the 50th anniversary of racing at the venue. Zmarzlik was quick to acknowledge the support: “I really felt good at Vojens, and I want to thank the fans from Poland for their big support. The gold medal is coming back to Poland. When I was on the way here, whenever I stopped, a lot of people came over and took photos with me. I could see how many people were coming for this beautiful night.”

With six titles now to his name, Zmarzlik has his sights set on a record-breaking seventh. “I am still young, and I still want to do this,” he said. “I am super happy with what I have done. I love speedway, I love racing, and I love the bikes. I don’t think, ‘I must’, only ‘I can.’ I must have fun, and you never know what will happen in the future. I will always do my best and we will see.”

Runner-up Brady Kurtz had mixed feelings after narrowly missing out on the world title despite his record run of five straight GP wins in Gorzow, Malilla, Riga, Wroclaw and Vojens. “Obviously, it’s tough to come that close to winning, but I am also so grateful and happy to win silver in my first year,” he said. “To win five GPs is absolutely unbelievable. To get the silver medal is a hell of an achievement. I have to say congratulations to Bartosz. You have to respect him and admire him. He’s a hell of a competitor. I am not sure what I have to do to beat him, but I need to keep working on that. Congratulations to him and his team. They did an unbelievable job for the entire year. I am glad to be here.”

Kurtz admitted that his improved starts were key to his late-season charge. “When I won for the first time in Gorzow, I properly started to believe that I could win and suddenly, my starting ability really went up from there. That’s pretty much all that has happened. I have been making good starts and just trying to stay calm. To be honest, even today, I was not worried about winning the World Championship at all. All I was focused on was just trying to make each start and get to the final. I knew I would have a good gate pick, and after that, it wasn’t really up to me. I just tried to do my thing, but it wasn’t enough.”

Bronze medallist Bewley was satisfied with his season after sealing the podium place in dramatic fashion. “It wasn’t that I didn’t care,” he said. “It was more that as far as I am concerned, if you go about your job and do your best, the medal will be there. It’s good to finally get there. Between me and Freddie, it went down to that LCQ, and it was quite cool having that last race with him. It has been a good year. I want to say well done to these two boys (Zmarzlik and Kurtz). We had a good battle, and it has been fun. Thanks to the whole team behind me and everyone for their support all the way through the season. It has been pretty cool everywhere I went.”

Zmarzlik’s success capped a huge “Weekend of Champions” at Vojens, with Ukraine’s Nazar Parnitskyi winning the FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship and Denmark’s Tino Stjernegaard Olsen taking the FIM SGP4 World Championship.

The top seven riders in this year’s standings – Zmarzlik, Kurtz, Bewley, Lindgren, Australia’s Jack Holder, Latvia’s Andzejs Lebedevs, and Great Britain’s Robert Lambert – automatically qualified for the 2026 series. They are joined by the top four from the FIM SGP Challenge in Holsted on August 9 – Poles Dominik Kubera and Kacper Woryna, plus Denmark’s former world No.2 Leon Madsen.

With Lebedevs already qualified via the GP standings, his Challenge spot passes to Jepsen Jensen, who finished fifth in Holsted.

The 2025 FIM Speedway season will now wrap up with the Speedway of Nations, as 15 countries fight for the world team title at Poland’s Marian Rose Motoarena in Torun from September 30 to October 4.