Mansfield's Max Fricke led Brady Kurtz and Jack Holder to one of Australia’s great Speedway Grand Prix results in Manchester at round 3 of the 2026 FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championships. The victory was particularly special for Fricke who has waited four years to win another GP round since his previous two wins achieved in 2020 and 2022. Fricke won round 3 of the FIM Speedway GP in Great Britain ahead of Brady Kurtz and Jack Holder, with reigning World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik fourth. The result carried weight beyond the win itself. It was only the second time in Speedway GP history that one nation had locked out the podium, following Poland’s previous sweep, and it came with three riders who have raced one another since their junior days competing across Australia. Fricke acknowledged the significance of their achievements, saying it has been great to see them all reaching the pinnacle of their sport. “I’ve been racing against Jack and Brady since we were 9 years of age,” Fricke said. “For all of us to have made it to the World Championships is pretty cool and to share the podium is really quite special. “It’s a great thing for our sport too and reinforces our claim to being one of the strongest nations currently in speedway." Fricke and Holder paired up in 2022 to win gold for Australia in the Speedway of Nations World Championships (the first for Australia in 20 years), with Kurtz and Holder taking the title in 2025. With a double header in the 2026 GP series being held in Manchester on 5 and 6 June, Fricke backed up his round 3 performance by taking fifth place in round 4. These results have moved Fricke into sixth position in the World Championships with six rounds yet to be held to determine the 2026 FIM Speedway World Champion. “I wasn’t particularly happy with my results in the first two rounds held in Landshut, Germany and Prague in the Czech Republic in May so doing well at Manchester was really important,” Fricke said. “These results have got my campaign back on track and I hope it sets me up well going into the next round which is to be held in Wroclaw, Poland in two weeks’ time,” he concluded. Until then, Fricke will continue to compete at the top level of league racing on a weekly basis for his teams in both the UK and Poland (the most competitive speedway league in the world).
