6.1 National U21 / Junior Championships, A > Z
plus British U19, U16 500cc, 250cc, 150cc, 125cc.
NEW Academies
a
6.2 World and European Junior Champions
6.2.1 Present Decade
NEW FIM SGP2, SGP3, SGP4, U23LT
FIM Junior (U21) World Championship => SGP2
FIM Junior (U21) European Championship
FIME European U21 Championship
FIME " U19 "
6.2.2 Historical
.
6.3 Youth Gold Trophies (YGTs) :
- FIM Track Racing 125cc YGT
- FIME Youth Track Racing 125cc European Cup
- FIME " Speedway 250cc " "
superceded :
- FIM speedway 250cc YGT => SGP3
- FIM Track Racing 250cc YGT => U23LT
- FIM Speedway 85cc YGT - FIME Youth Speedway 85cc European Cup
- FIME U19 Speedway Cup (500cc) => FIME U19 Chmpshp
NATIONAL U21 SPEEDWAY CHAMPIONS
Tb.6a Click sections below for full-size up-to-date tables..
The above 6-page table T6.1 of National U21 and Junior Champions, (there is inconsistent
terminology for the these categories, not helped by different
cut-offs, viz. U19 and U18; U16 and U15, though there is presently a
transition by nations to standardize with the FIM. The former British
Youth U15 is now, since 2011, a U16 competition.) generates interest in
permitting insight of the progress of riders that have ultimately
made it ‘big time’ to SGP level, - Nicholls, Woffinden, Holder,
Crump, Lindgren, Bjerre, Walasek, Sayfutdinov, etc. - , and therefore
who, from today’s more junior levels may become tomorrow’s stars. UK's
Dan Bewley has, in 2-year steps, 2018, '20 and '22, moved from U19,
through U21, to become a 2x national champion
Riders who have been able to achieve 3 and even 4 U21 national titles, -Stead, 2x, Holder 4x, Wells 2x + 2x, Bjerre 4x (in 6 years !,) clearly have excelled at an extremely young age to win over others with potentially 4 or 5 years more experience.
Historically, whilst the minimum riding age, determined by issue of an ACU licence, remained at 16 years old, - even permitting any ride outwith speedway meetings proper for practice or training could jeopardized a track's licence to operate within the ACU/SCB sphere - , the emergence of any team-place rider of teen age was the exception rather than the present-day norm, though surreptitious under-age races using aliases were not unknown, particularly where a family link to the sport might exist. ( AMCA licences were issued at 15 years of age, but their sphere was principally Scramble races, today's MotoCross. During the speedway pirate year of 1964 a few AMCA controlled grass-track speedway meetings were run for Provincial League riders' benefit.)
Today however 15
year olds may race in UK league competition and riders younger still
may practice and race on licensed tracks with full approval.
Under-15 Championships (and other intermediate ranges,) are
widespread both in Europe, the States and the Southern hemisphere, at
national and regional level, and there have even been U16
inter-national matches, viz. GB v Germany in 2001 and '02.
Consequently the significance of U21 Championship competitions, World
and Nationals, is not unimportant and on many occasions National
(i.e. 'senior') titles have been taken by U21 riders.
The 6-page table
below of National U21 and Junior Champions, (there is inconsistent
terminology for the these categories, not helped by different
cut-offs, viz. U19 and U18; U16 and U15, though there is presently a
transition by nations to standardize with the FIM. The former British
Youth U15 is now, since 2011, a U16 competition.) generates interest in
permitting insight of the progress of riders that have ultimately
made it ‘big time’ to SGP level, - Nicholls, Woffinden, Holder,
Crump, Lindgren, Bjerre, Walasek, Sayfutdinov, etc. - , and therefore
who, from today’s more junior levels may become tomorrow’s stars. UK's
Dan Bewley has, in 2-year steps, 2018, '20 and '22, moved from U19,
through U21, to become a 2x national champion
Riders who have been able to achieve 3 and even 4 U21 national titles, -Stead, 2x, Holder 4x, Wells 2x + 2x, Bjerre 4x (in 6 years !,) clearly have excelled at an extremely young age to win over others with potentially 4 or 5 years more experience.
Britain's young champions of 2017 -
U21 - Simon Lambert U19 Zach Wajtknecht Youth 500cc (U16) Drew Kemp
In the current decade, formal authority-sanctioned training academies, national and international, have been run for young and would-be speedway riders.
Following an agreement with SGP's new sponsor the former FIM 'Training Camps', have been rebranded as 'FIM SGP Academy' (and 'FIM SGP Academy - Down Under'
when staged at Gillman, Adelaide,SA, - the third camp after 2019 and 2022) The first of these Academies was held in
Prague, Czech Republic, in May 2024 with the involvement of World Champions
Tony Rickardsson and Greg Hancock: in 2025 three programmes, - at
Gillman, Australia, with 23 participants, (20 locals plus 2 NZers and
one Brit); Malilla Sweden, (18 riders from 8 countries.) A third camp planned for September inTorun,
Poland, was not staged. n.b: FIM also run a separate 'Womens Speedway Academy', first staged in 2022, see Section 20.
Historically youth training schemes in Denmark, starting with kids on 85cc bikes on mini-tracks proved highly successful after the Olsen effect of the '70s, leading to 3 more Danish World Champions (and 7 wins) in the following decade. After 10 years as national coach Erik gundersen was asked by DMU in 2007 to take over the youth academy, for 85cc and 250cc riders.
In Sweden in 2023 Linus Sundstrom staged a pilot event which with SVEMO backing under a "SSA" banner (Swedish Speedway Academy,) developed to a full-blown series of 5 weekend camps (plus afternoon mini sessions,) in 2024 and in 2025, with 40+ enrolled riders, - U21s, using 250cc and 500cc machines initally. In 2025 the programme was expanded to include 85cc and 190cc motors and younger riders.
Again in the present day, in the UK the 'British Speedway Young Lions' organisation runs 2-day/3-day February pre-season training camps for U16 riders in preparation for the annual British Youth Championships, (previously known as the U15 Championship.) Organised by Neil Vachter, GB's U21 manager, and held latterly at Northside, Workington, former venues have included Berwick and Isle of Wight in the previous decade, building up from the initial BTYs started in 2004.In Poland the national body PZM, in conjuction with PGM Ekstraliga regularly utilise the Torun track and its facilities for domestic and 'open', i.e. international
invitation 'Speedway Ekstraliga Camps'. As well as the September FIM, (see above,) a week-long invitation camp for young FIM-federated body licensed riders, (13 to 16yrs, 250cc; 16 to 20yrs, 500cc,) was run there in July 2025, as also previously, e.g. in 2022. n.b: With Polish speedway clubs mostly owers of their own stadia, club teams have ample access time to each give much time and opportunity to run training days for both their senior team riders and for school-age youngsters. 6.2.1 - PRESENT DECADE:
.
Reclassification of 2022: SGP2, SGP3, SGP4
During 2021 after discussions with a new sponsor, FIM unveiled their vision for the next 10 years of speedway, with all international championship categories unified under a new SGP brand from 2022, rebranding the Under-21 and Under-16 World Championships as SGP2 and SGP3 respectively.
As part of their 10 year vision a fourth class was commissioned, the FIM SGP4 Speedway Youth World Cup, for riders aged 11-13, to compete on a purpose-built 190cc speeedway machine for a new international competition. All winners are shown in table T6bi below.
T.6bi
SGP2 - ( U21 World Championship )
SGP2 events
follow the same 23-heat racing format as a Speedway GP, with
semi-finals and finals, and usually
taking place the day
before a senior FIM Speedway GP. This gives the
world’s top under-21 riders an opportunity to share the spotlight
with the speedway's Grand Prix elite, a pathway to the top for speedway’s next generation of stars. Sixteen riders
compete in each round with the majority of the riders making it
via the qualifiers staged across Europe. The line-up is
completed by wild cards chosen by the SGP Commission.
Mateusz
Cierniak (photo Rt.) celebrated SGP2 / U21 World Championship gold for the
second straight season in 2023, topping the podium in Prague and
Gorzow, before defying a starting exclusion in the semi-finals to
secure the gold medal at the title-decider in Vojens – becoming
only the fourth rider in the sport’s history to win World Under-21
gold for a second time.
In 2024, with Cierniak excluded by age, Wiktor Prziemski triumphed and the podium medalists each had one of the 3-stage wins. Brit Leon Flint was 11th and third round reserve Dan Thompson scored a creditable 8pts. 2025's winner was Nazar Parnitskyi, swopping silver for gold medals with last year's winner Priemski.
SGP3 - ( U16 World Championship )
The FIM
Speedway Youth (U16) World Championship was relaunched as SGP3
in 2022. As a one-off meeting, the series was originally launched in 2010 as the
Speedway 250cc Youth World Cup, renamed the Speedway World Youth Championship in 2018, limited to 250cc bikes throughout that time, and for competitors
16 years of age or under.
A Dane and a Swede took the title in the initial years: in
2024 in Gorzow’s Edward Jancarz Stadium, Polish rider Maksymilian Pawelczak upgraded his 2023
silver medal to gold, winning ahead of Australia's Beau Bailey in
second and Great Britain star William Cairns in third. UK's Cooper Rushen scored 7 points, improving on his 4 the previous year when Cairns was 5th with 10pts.
In 2025 Rushen's 10pts took him into a 4-man run-off for bronze but Aussie Bailey made the podium. U16 World Champ was Villads Pedersen: despite coming in last in heat 1 he went on to gain 4 wins in his following rides. The following year Pole Franciszek Szczyrba dropped just one point to become 2026 champion, with former SGP4 champ, American Brady Landon, winning a 3-man run-off for the Silver medal.
SGP4 - ( Youth World Cup > World Championship)
2022 was a development-and-trial year for the embryonic FIM Speedway Youth World Cup. For
riders aged 11-13 years, speedway's youngest stars compete on the 190cc
SGP4 4-stroke bike designed and developed by six-time FIM Speedway world champion Tony Rickardsson after extensive testing across Europe to facilitate FIM's 10-year vision of nurturing speedway’s future stars.
The
SGP4 bike made its competitive debut on July 15, 2023, with riders from 11
different nations and four continents going for gold in the SGP4 / Youth World Cup. Denmark's young Elias Jamil, age 13, wrote his name in history as the first-ever SGP4
champion with a flawless 15-point maximum, with Australian star
Cooper Antone second on 13 points. Denmark’s Niklas Bager took
third spot after winning a run-off with Australia’s Kobi Canning
for the bronze medal. UK's Oliver Bovingdon took 6 points. 
The 2024
competition saw American racer Brady Landon top the podium with a
15-point maximum. Landon, age 13, went unbeaten over five races to take gold. Australia’s
Cooper Antone again finished in second place with 13 points and Denmark’s Niklas
Bager took third with 10 points, repeating their podium positions from
the SGP4 event in 2023.
Rt : American champions Brady Landon and Greg Hancock, SGP4 Malilla, 2024.
As of 2025 the SGP4 'Youth' competition has been granted full Championship status, thus 12 year old Tino Stjernegaard Olsen of Denmark became the first and youngest ever speedway World Champion with an unbeaten 15pt.score at Vojens. Also creating a new record: Viktoria Coopersen, stepping in as reserve, she became the first ever female to win an FIM World Championship race.
6.2.2 - HISTORICAL:
Tb.6bii Click sections below for full-size up-to-date tables. 
.
The U21 Speedway World Championship, officially the 'FIM Individual Speedway Junior World Championship' was established in 1977 originally as a European competition for riders under 21, and which from 1979 allowed riders from other continents to compete, but was only renamed as a World Championship in 1988. Minimum age is 16: maximum age 21 years (up to the year-end of the 21st birthday.)
The 'European Speedway Junior Championship' was an U19 competition for 16 - 19 year. olds and run by the UEM (on behalf of parent body FIM, subsequently to become FIME,) but was changed to an U21 event in 2012. In 2017 FIME re-introduced a U19 event, the 'European U19 Speedway Cup': see YGT section below.
Four riders, Mssrs. Jonsson, Havelock Crump and Zmarzlik, have achieved a double by winning the senior World Championship after having been U21 World Champion, this progression having taken a minimum of 4 years, (9 years in the case of Jason Crump.) At the lower level, Lukas Dryml and Karol Zabik have progressed from being U19 Champions to become U21 World Champions but will not now accede to the senior title.
Double U21 World Champ Emil Sayfutdinov of Russia demonstrated in his first year of Grand Prix racing at the age of just 19, (and too busy with racing commitments to enter any further U19 or U21 Championships,) that with 3 Grand Prix wins including that of his first ever SGP, he was a possible future speedway World Champion, but he stood down from the GPs in the subequent years in order to partake in the SEC (Speedway European Championship,) event. In the past 10+ years Polish riders have prevailed, with just 2 Aussies, Fricke and Lidsey, breaking their hold on the title.
.
Alf Busk - Denmark Emil Sayfutdinov - Russia Rafał Okoniewski - Poland
1st U21 'World' Champ 2x U21 World Champ 2x U19 European Champ
1977 2007, 2008 1998, 1999
Darcy Ward, U21 World Champ 2009, '10; Maciej Janowski U21 World Champ 2011
2013 U21 World Championship,
2nd Piotr Pawlicki PL, 1st Patryk Dudek PL , 3rd Kacper Gomolski PL
FIM & FIME YOUTH GOLD TROPHIES
c
To complement the senior and U21 World Championships (and UEM/FIME U19), during the first decade of the new millenium the FIM introduced its 'Gold Trophy' series, - World Championships in all but name: 80cc/85cc Speedway and125cc Grass Track GTs for 12 - 16year olds, and then the 250cc Speedway and 250cc Long Track Youth Gold Trophies for14-17 year olds. The UEM/FIME has parallel 80/85cc Speedway and 125 Grass Track 'UEM/FIME Cups'.
With their long-standing youth development schools Denmark, not surprisingly, dominated the 85cc competitions, both FIM and also UEM/FIME tournaments: only once in the first 11 years did Danes not take the YGT podium 123, though Poles are today dominating. In the decade to 2023 Dane Mikkel Andersen alone took 6 Cups and Trophies in 85cc and 250cc Speedway classes. Gt. Britain had success in the previous decade in the 125cc Grass Track event with 3 consecutive wins.
In the present decade, (the '20s), in line with new sponsorships, reclassification of the FIM Gold Trophy titles to World Championship SGPs (i.e. SGP2, ..3, 4,) has positively enforced the "Champion" status, - see section 6.2.1 above. Just three of the original eight classes continue to be contested as a YGT or a FIME European Cup. Winners of these can be seen in table T.6d HERE, - in 2025 local 13-year-old Latvian Andžejs Smulkevičs won both 125cc events on consecutive days in Riga, (below). Past winners of other classes are given in the thumbnail, table T.6c below.
Tb.6c Click sections below for full-size tables of earlier YGTs 
Zach Wajtknecht GB Dimitri Berge FR, Daniel Spiller GY,
(125 Grass 2012,'13); (250 Grass 2012); (250 Speedway 2013)