Speedway GP Malilla LIVE – Brady Kurtz wins again to reduce Bartosz Zmarzlik's championship lead, Dan Bewley finished third

Australian Brady Kurtz cut Bartosz Zmarzlik's lead in the overall championship after picking up a second consecutive FIM Speedway Grand Prix with success Malilla. "I think the first win in Gorzow was cool, but this one feels just as good, no doubt," said Kurtz to TNT Sports. "The important part today was the starts, they were unbelievable. My team gave me the bike to do it."

Speedway GP - Malilla - Round 07 - Clips - Final short version Kurtz wins

Video credit: TNT Sports

KURTZ CUTS GAP TO ZMARZLIK IN TITLE RACE

Australian Brady Kurtz celebrated his second consecutive FIM Speedway Grand Prix win to cut the gap to championship leader Bartosz Zmarzlik to nine points.

Rookie Kurtz, only in his first year in the series, took a first career win in Gorzow last weekend and repeated the result in Malilla.

Speedway

Speedway of Nations final recap - Australia beat Poland to claim glory as GB flounder

04/10/2025 at 20:59

The 28-year-old is in formidable form and dropped just two points during the heats to book his place as one of the two automatic qualifiers – Dan Bewley the other.

Five-time world champion and series leader Zmarzlik had to show his skill to win the Last Chance Qualifier to book his final spot and Jack Doyle won the other head.

In the final Kurtz and Zmarzlik were going head-to-head on the opening lap before Doyle lost control of his bike and crashed out resulting in a re-start.

Kurtz again took the lead in the re-start but Zmarzlik failed to respond and had to settle for second on the night, while Bewley finished third.

With three rounds remaining Kurtz is just nine points behind Zmarzlik at the top of the standings. The FIM Speedway Grand Prix continues in Riga on August 2.

Brady Kurtz

Image credit: Getty Images

KURTZ REFLECTS ON ‘IMPORTANT STARTS’

Brady Kurtz says that it has been a ‘good two weeks’ after winning consecutive grand prix races.

"I think the first win in Gorzow was cool, but this one feels just as good, no doubt," said Kurtz to TNT Sports.

"The important part today was the starts, they were unbelievable. My team gave me the bike to do it and it was just me on their riding, thank you so much to them.

"It has been a good two weeks.

A couple of new tracks coming up that Kurtz hasn’t competed at before? "I’ll learn quick hopefully. I've never been there, I'm looking forward to going.

"New tracks are always fun and I'm going to keep chasing, I'm not going to lay down."

Only rider to automatically make the finals? "I'm not sure what it's down to, but I think my goal this season was to be consistent and luckily I'm consistent at the top."

OVERALL STANDINGS

The overall standings after seven rounds of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix are as follows:

1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 131 points
2 Brady Kurtz 122 points
3 Fredrik Lindgren 99 points
4 Dan Bewley 97 points
5 Jack Holder 86 points
6 Andzejs Lebedevs 59 points
7 Max Fricke 59 points
8 Robert Lambert 57 points
9 Dominik Kubera 51 points
10 Jan Kvech 49 points
11 Mikkel Michelsen 48 points
12 Anders Thomsen 45 points
13 Jason Doyle 39 points
14 Martin Vaculik 39 points
15 Kai Huckenbeck 32 points
16 Leon Madsen 16 points

FINAL: KURTZ, DOYLE, BEWLEY, ZMARZLIK

Kurtz takes early lead and then fends off Zmarzlik. However, Doyle has crashed out into the fence and we will need a re-start.

Doyle’s hands came off the bar resulting in him losing the bike. The British rider is excluded from the re-start.

Kurtz again gets a good start and Zmarzlik goes out too wide resulting in him losing speed. Kurtz has built an un assailable lead, Zmarzlik in second and Bewley finishes third.

A second consecutive grand prix win for Kurtz.

FINAL GATE SELECTION

Kurtz – gate 2

Doyle – Outside gate

Bewley – Inside gate

Zmarzlik – gate 3

LCQ 2: LAMBERT, BEWLEY, LINDGREN, HUCKENBECK

Bewley comes quickly out of gate two to take the early lead. The British rider then clips the fence but holds on for the lead. Lindgren has to settle for second and Lambert third.

It’s Bewley and Zmarzlik who qualify through the LCQ into the final.

LCQ HEAT 1 - LEBEDEV, ZMARZLIK, HOLDER, KVECH

Kvech makes an excellent start before Zmarzlik carries his speed off the banking and then turns into the lead.

The five-time world champion takes a clear win. A close battle for second sees Kvech finish second and Holder third.

LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER (LCQ) HEAT LINE-UP

Q1 - Lebedev, Zmarzlik, Holder, Kvech

Q2 – Lambert, Bewley, Lindgren, Huckenbeck

Only the winners join Kurtz and Doyle in the final.

HEAT 20: LAMBERT, DOYLE, BEWLEY, LEBEDEVS

Lambert carries speed down the back straight and takes the lead on the second corner. A battle behind sees Bewley battle for second with Doyle in third. Lebedevs fails to pick up any points which costs him dearly in the standings.

It's a great result for Kurtz who makes the final with Doyle.

HEAT 19: FRICKE, THOMSEN, KVECH, KARLSSON

Kvech takes an early lead before track reserve Karlsson crashes out while in second position. Karlsson is able to move his bike so the heat continues.

Kvech wins, Fricke takes second and Thomsen third.

HEAT 18: ZMARZLIK, KUBERA, MICHELSEN, NILSSON

The pressure is on World Champion Zmarzlik who hasn’t won a heat all night. Zmarzlik gets under Kubera in the first turn to take a clear lead. Nilsson is in second, while Michelsen has also passed Kubera.

Zmarzlik wins his first heat of the evening, Nilsson second and Michelsen third.

HEAT 17: HUCKENBECK, KURTZ, LINDGREN, HOLDER

Kurtz needs to win to go through to the final as a top two finisher. The Australian takes the lead and then makes a mistake with Lindgren putting pressure on.

Kurtz wins and has dropped just two points all night, Lindgren is second and Holder third.

STANDINGS AFTER FOUR RIDES EACH

1 Andzejs Lebedevs11 points
2 Jason Doyle 11 points
3 Brady Kurtz 10 points
4 Dan Bewley 9 points
5 Fredrik Lindgren 8 points
6 Robert Lambert 8 points
7 Bartosz Zmarzlik 8 points
8 Jack Holder 7 points

HEAT 16: LAMBERT, THOMSEN, ZMARZLIK, HOLDER

Zmarzlik hits the bottom curb resulting in the world champion losing his speed. Lambert takes advantage and wins the heat clearly.

Zmarzlik comes racing back and passes Holder for second.

HEAT 15: FRICKE, DOYLE, LINDGREN, NILSSON

An all Australian and Swedish heat. Doyle comes from last to first after spotting a gap on the back straight. However, Fricke has come down and the heat is red flagged.

Fricke took a knock from Nilsson who wasn’t aware the Australian was on his outside. Fricke is judged to be at fault and is excluded from the re-start.

Doyle from the outside gate grabs the front from the re-start. Behind Lindgren is closing on the Australian leader.

However, Doyle holds on to take victory, Lindgren in second and Nilsson third.

HEAT 14: KUBERA, KURTZ, BEWLEY, VAN DYCK

Kurtz is away from the mark quickest and has a lead after the opening lap. Bewley hesitated on the first turn and then see off Kubera to take second.

HEAT 13: HUCKENBECK, MICHELSEN, KVECH, LEBEDEVS

Another brilliant ride from Lebedevs who makes a late move on Michelsen on the opening lap to take the lead. Lebedevs has a clear lead from Michelsen, while Huckenbeck finishes third.

Kvech fails to finish with a mechanical issue with his bike.

STANDINS AFTER THREE RIDES EACH

1 Andzejs Lebedevs 8 points
2 Jason Doyle 8 points
3 Brady Kurtz 7 points
4 Dan Bewley 7 points
5 Jack Holder 6 points
6 Fredrik Lindgren 6 points
7 Bartosz Zmarzlik 6 points
8 Kai Huckenbeck 5 points

HEAT 12: LAMBERT, MICHELSEN, LAMBERT, KARLSSON

Vaculik has pulled out of the grand prix injured and in comes Karlsson. Lindgren delights the home crowd by taking the lead in heat 12 from Lambert and Michelsen.

Lambert has no answer to the Swedish leader and Michelsen is distanced in third.

HEAT 11: FRICKE, KURTZ, ZMARZLIK, LEBEDEVS

The top two in the World Championship meet for the first time tonight. Lebedevs crashes out of the first turn from the outside after Fricke is forced out wide by Zmarzlik.

Lebedevs is able to walk away from the incident. The referee has decided that all four riders can take to the re-start.

Straight from the re-start Zmarzlik and Fricke collide and the back of the world champion’s bike hits Fricke.

Zmarzlik changes his bike for the third re-start which includes all four riders. Lebedvs finds a boost of speed and takes the lead from Zmarzlik and Kurtz.

The championship rivals are battling behind as Lebedevs wins and Zmarzlik gets the better of Kurtz on the line.

HEAT 10: KUBERA, HOLDER, DOYLE, KVECH

Doyle has the most speed down the back straight and powers into the lead. Kvech battled from the inside gate into second and Kubera has third. Holder struggled in the heat and leaves without any points.

HEAT 9: THOMSEN, NILLSON, HUCKENBECK, BEWLEY

Huckenbeck beat Thomsen to get the front position from gate three. Bewley also follows him from the outside gate into second and Thomsen after a good start finishes third.

POINTS AFTER TWO RACES EACH

1 Brady Kurtz 6 points
2 Jack Holder 6 points
3 Dan Bewley 5 points
4 Jason Doyle 5 points
5 Andzejs Lebedevs 5 points
6 Dominik Kubera 4 points
7 Bartosz Zmarzlik 4 points
8 Fredrik Lindgren 3 points

HEAT 8: NILSSON, KVECH, KURTZ, LAMBERT

Kurtz from the second gate again gets an excellent start and has a clear lead in front.

Kvech leads the battle in second and Lambert is third.

HEAT 7: FRICKE, MICHELSEN, HOLDER, BEWLEY

Holder gets good speed away from the tapes and immediately has a good gap. Bewley is on his own in second and Fricke third.

HEAT 6: KUBERA, THOMSEN, LINDGREN, LEBEDEVS

A frantic first lap as Lingren and Kubera both try and challenge leader Lebedevs.

Lindgren has another try on the final lap, but Lebedevs holds his position with a defensive masterclass and Kubera finishes third.

HEAT 5: VACULIK, HUCKENBECK, DOYLE, ZMARZLIK

Huckenbeck leaves the door open on the inside and Doyle goes straight through on the opening lap. The Australian also got the better of Zmarzlik on the outside.

Doyle takes a clear win from Zmarzlik who was struggling to match the leader's pace. Huckenback is third and Vaculik failed to finish with a mechanical problem.

POINTS AFTER ONE RACE EACH

Brady Kurtz 3 points
Jack Holder 3 points
Dan Bewley 3 points
Dominik Kubera 3 points
Andzejs Lebedevs 2 points
Robert Lambert 2 points
Bartosz Zmarzlik 2 points
Jason Doyle 2 points

HEAT 4: VACULIK, LEBEDEVS, HOLDER, NILSSON

Holder has to battle for the front with Lebedevs and the two give each other a nudge.

Holder wins the battle and grows a gab over Lebedevs in second and a late charge for Nilsson steals third from Vaculik.

HEAT 3: ZMARZLIK, LINDGREN, BEWLEY, KVECH

Bewley has the quickest start and has a nice lead. Zmarzlik has to battle for second position and can’t gain ground on Bewley.

The British rider takes victory, Zmarzlik in second and Lindgren third.

HEAT 2: DOYLE, THOMSEN, MICHELSEN, KURTZ

Kurtz with a lovely move to take the inside line from Doyle. The Australian is then away at the front.

Countryman Doyle is left trailing in second and Michelsen is a distant third. Thomsen has some mechanical trouble and doesn't finish.

HEAT 1: HUCKENBECK, KUBERA, FRICKE, LAMBERT

It’s a very wet track, which looks very slick but the surface is hard.

Kubera holds the inside line and sees off the challenge of Lambert. Kubera hugs the inside line and prevents Lambert passing to take the win. Lambert is second and Huckenbeck third.

QUALIFYING CANCELLED

Rain this morning resulted in the qualifying session for tonight’s grand prix to be cancelled.

HIGHLIGHTS - KURTZ CUTS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD WITH FIRST WIN

Brady Kurtz celebrated winning his first FIM Speedway Grand Prix in Gorzow and cut the championship lead of Bartosz Zmarzlik to 11 points.

Australian rookie Kurtz has burst onto the speedway scene this season and has reached four finals.

Highlights as Kurtz beats Zmarzlik for first Speedway Grand Prix victory in Gorzow

Video credit: TNT Sports

GOOD EVENING

Hello and welcome to another night of exciting racing at the FIM Speedway Grand Prix in Malilla, Sweeden. Tapes are up at 18:00 GMT

---
Watch the Speedway Grand Prix season on TNT Sports and discovery+

Speedway

Speedway of Nations Night 3 recap: Germany make history at SON2, on tough night for GB

03/10/2025 at 21:19

Speedway

Denmark, Czech Republic and Australia join GB in Speedway of Nations Final

01/10/2025 at 20:44

Thoughts?