Rohan Tungate’s completed his annual sojourn back to Australia in dominant fashion with victory in the 2025 FIM Oceania Speedway Championship at Gillman (SA) on Saturday, January 25.
The 35-year-old’s first FIM Oceania success guaranteed him a spot in the 2025 Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) qualifiers, where he will joined recently crowned 2025 Australian champion Brady Kurtz and Jack Holder as they battle for spots in the 2026 SGP series.
In the presence of speedway royalty Tony Rickardsson and Aussie Jason Crump – nine SGP titles between them – the final at Gillman saw Tungate joined by 2024 FIM Oceania champion Jaimon Lidsey, James Pearson and British rider Tom Brennan.
Brennan quickly gained the ascendancy ahead of Lidsey before he went down and was subsequently excluded. In the restart, this time it was Tungate who got the jump and, despite Lidsey’s best efforts to find a hold in his defences, Tungate stood firm, with Pearson in third.
Tungate’s victory continued his brilliant late season burst of form, which also included success at the final round of the 2025 Australian Speedway Championship in Wodonga (Vic).
Tungate, alongside the other Aussie internationals, will now return overseas to begin preparations for the 2025 domestic leagues – and for the Polish-based Tungate he also has the SGP qualifier for extra motivation.
Meanwhile, the FIM Oceania top eight was completed by Jack Morrison, Fraser Bowes, Justin Sedgmen and Dayle Wood.
Anika Loftus, who was third in the inaugural FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy in Germany last year, was substituted in as a reserve at Gillman after UK rider Senna Summers was ruled out with injury.
Loftus and Summers were among a number of FIM Oceania title competitors who had participated in the FIM SGP Academy – Down Under in Australia in Gillman from January 22-24, with Rickardsson joined on the coaching panel by Aussie SGP rider Max Fricke, Phil Morris and Armando Castagna – with Crump a star addition on the final day.
2025 FIM Oceania Speedway Championships results:
- Rohan Tungate 19pts
- Jaimon Lidsey 19pts
- James Pearson 14pts
- Tom Brennan 16pts
- Jack Morrison 9pts
- Fraser Bowes 12pts
- Justin Sedgmen 11pts
- Dayle Wood 7pts
- Alex Adamson 7pts
- Harry Sadler 5pts
- Bradley Page 5pts
- Reid Battye 4pts
- Lachlan Russell 4pts
- Steve Graetz 3pts
- Ashley Jansen-Batchelor 1pt
- Senna Summers 0pt
- Anika Loftus 1pt
Images: Judy Mackay