Team Australia – Mitch McDiarmid, Tate Zischke and Beau Bailey – came agonisingly close to a podium in the 2026 Speedway of Nations SON2 (U21) at the Marketa Stadium in Prague on Friday, May 22.
Australia finished fifth on a countback after completing the 28-heat event on the same points as Germany and Great Britain.
Germany was awarded the final podium spot on the podium, while Poland won from Denmark in a thriller that went down to the wire. It was Poland’s 12th victory in the last 13 years.
Australia used all three riders at the SON2, with 16-year-old Bailey (NSW) replacing Zischke (Qld) after the second heat. Bailey immediately warmed to the occasion in his international debut for Team Australia before powering home with two victories.
Bailey scored 14pts, while McDiarmid (WA), captaining Australia for the first time, produced 19pts towards the Australian total.
The countback didn’t go the way of Australia, but the two teenagers now look set to form the backbone of Australia’s SON2 campaigns over the next few years.
Next up on the teams front is the 2026 FIM Speedway World Cup (SWC), with Australia expected to loom large at the August 29 decider in Poland.
Team Australia’s 2026 SON2 and SWC campaigns are being backed by long-time sponsor CBS Bins, as well as A1 Accessory Imports/House of Powersports.
2026 FIM SPEEDWAY OF NATIONS – SON2 – PRAGUE SCORES:
1. POLAND 45: 1. Wiktor Przyjemski 24, 2. Bartosz Banbor 21, 3. Kevin Malkiewicz DNR.
2. DENMARK 37: 1. Villads Nagel 23, 2. Bastian Pedersen 14, 3. Mikkel Andersen 0.
3. GERMANY 33: 1. Janek Konzack 13, 2. Mario Hausl 17, 3. Hannah Grunwald 3.
4. GREAT BRITAIN 33: 1. Luke Harrison 12, 2. Will Cairns 18, 3. Cooper Rushen 3.
5. AUSTRALIA 33: 1. Mitchell McDiarmid 19, 2. Tate Zischke 0, 3. Beau Bailey 14.
6. CZECH REPUBLIC 27: 1. Adam Bubba Bednar 23, 2. Adam Nejezchleba 4, 3. Bruno Belan DNR.
7. SWEDEN 23: 1. Rasmus Karlsson 16, 2. Sammy Van Dyck 2, 3. Erik Persson 5.
8. UKRAINE 21: 1. Roman Kapustin 0, 2. Nazar Parnitskyi 21, 3. Danko Hladkovskyi 0.