Preview: 2025 Australian U16 and U21 Speedway Championships

Australia’s deep pool of junior speedway talent will be on full display when the 2025 U16 and U21 Speedway Championships are held at Wodonga’s Diamond Park from December 12-13.

The return of the U16 250cc and U21 solo championships after a one-year hiatus is a major talking point ahead of the Diamond Park action, while another wonderfully entertaining U16 125cc program – which includes both solo and team titles – is again on the cards.

All four categories will reunite for the first time since Tamworth in 2023, at a track which has hosted top-tier Australian Speedway Championship rounds over the last three years.

The U21 championship is intriguing, with aspirants including Mitchell McDiarmid and Tate Zischke, who combined to bring home a stirring third place for Australia in the 2025 Speedway of Nations2 (U21) in Poland – a feat that James Pearson also performed at the 2024 SON2 in Manchester.

Pearson, who was also a member of the 2025 SON2 squad and finished 10th in the 2024 Aussie senior title, will also compete in Wodonga, as well as Alexander Adamson, Beau Bailey, Jordy Loftus, Anika Loftus, Noah Grabham, Jack McDiarmid, Bradley Niven, Lachlan Russell and Harry Sadler.

Bailey, the 2023 U16 250cc champion ahead of Jordy Loftus and McDiarmid, is only fresh into the U21 and senior ranks, but his 2025 domestic form has been irresistible – showing maturity, speed and composure beyond his years. A victory would not be beyond the precocious 16-year-old.

Meanwhile, Zischke finished second in the 2023 U21 title, and 2025 is his last chance to add his name to the Australian U21 honour roll which also includes Speedway Grand Prix stars Max Fricke and Jack Holder, as well as Jaimon Lidsey and Keynan Rew.

The U16 250cc title will enjoy a strong local flavour, with Albury junior jet Cooper Antone one of the highly fancied riders alongside long-time rivals from the U16 125cc program – Kobi Canning and Ky Mitchell.

Ruby Chapman, Phoenix Elliott, Angus Hume, Axle McCarthy, Viv Muddle, Nate Shortt and Nate Smith will complete the 10-rider field.

Meanwhile, the U16 125cc solo championship is fully subscribed with 16 riders – 13 having already competed against each other in the recent Victorian title, with a large number then continuing their Aussie shakedowns at last weekend’s Ashley Jones Memorial meeting in Wodonga.

Riley Stout and Blake Schlein have been the standouts in those two events, while Spencer Doyle, Mason Robins, Ryleigh McGregor and Hayden Pascoe have also been prominent.

McGregor, Jaxon Harley and Schlein are the only three riders returning from the 2024 championship won by Antone, as a new wave of juniors make their way onto the national scene.

The youngest rider in Wodonga will be nine-year-old Zeb Butler, while the balance of the field is Sonny Bell-Chambers, Owen Chapman, Brody Ford, Nate Sadler, Cooper Karpinski, Benji Lowe, Jett Plaisted and Nick Salau.

In the U16 125cc team championship, NSW is the defending champion, but with an all-new roster (Brody Ford/Spencer Doyle) the battle for honours is wide open – although SA (McGregor/Stout) will be hard to beat.

The other teams are Vic 1 (Schlein/Lowe), Qld (Chapman/Harley), SA (McGregor/Stout), WA/SA (Robins/Plaisted), Vic 2 (Bell-Chambers/Salau) and SA 2 (Pascoe/Karpinski).

The 125cc U16 solo title will be held on Friday, with racing starting at 5pm, followed by a super Saturday featuring the U16 125cc team battle at 2pm and the U16 250cc and U21 championships at 6:30pm.

Entry is $15 for adults, $10 for pensioners, $5 for children 12-16, and free for children under 12. A family ticket costs $30.

For more information on the championships, visit the Albury-Wodonga Motorcycle Club’s Facebook and/or Instagram pages.