• Speedway’s leading ladies contest 2025 FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy
• German star Celina Liebmann aims to double up in Donji Kraljevec
• Can Dutch dynamo Nynke Sijbesma upgrade to gold this time around?

Building upon solid foundations laid down by last year’s successful inaugural event at Teterow in Germany, the second edition is supported by HKC Koopmann, Kineo and Anlas and takes place the day after the conclusion of the 2025 FIM Women’s Speedway Academy attended by all WSGT competitors.

Promoting gender inclusivity and encouraging diversity, the WSGT is a product of the ongoing and successful collaboration between the FIM Track Racing Commission (CCP) and the FIM Women’s Commission (CFM).

The thirteen competitors will each contest four Heat races to decide the line-up for the Grand Final with seven riders from 2024’s first edition returning for a second attempt at the title and aiming to use last year’s hard-won experience at Teterow to full effect.

Among the pre-event favourites is defending champion Celina Liebmann from Germany who was in dominant form last year, remaining unbeaten throughout the competition. The twenty-four-year-old is one of women’s Speedway’s leading lights with a string of accolades to her name and was the first female competitor to race an FIM Speedway Under 21 World Championship (SGP2) event and the first woman to sign for clubs in Great Britain and Poland.

However, she will face fierce opposition with Dutch racer Nynke Sijbesma – who was second last year in Teterow and has experience of contesting the FIM Long Track Under 23 World Cup – expected to feature among the front runners, as is Germany’s Jenny Apfelbeck who also made the cut for last season’s Grand Final.

Another competitor from last year, Britain’s Rachel Hellowell claimed two Heat wins in the 2024 WSGT, but ended the meeting one point short of qualifying for the Grand Final, as did Germany’s Patricia Erhart who will also be in action in Donji Kraljevec.

With the German pairing of Mascha Schwend and Hannah Grunwald completing the list of returning racers, the remaining entry will be experiencing WSGT competition for the first time.

Teenaged talent Alina Sassenhagen, who has raced alongside Liebmann this season for the Friesian Lions team in her native Germany, will be joined behind the tapes by the Danish pairing of Katja Stoffer Jorgensen and Louise Funch Larsen. Polish hopes will rest on the shoulders of Martyna Mróz while Slovakia will be represented by Anna Hajková.

Furthest travelled of the competitors, Australian Tayla Street is a three-time national champion who at the very least will be aiming to emulate her compatriot Anika Loftus who finished third last season.

The action from Donji Kraljevec is scheduled to get under way at 15:30 local time. For more information click here.

Words by FIM Track Racing – Image by Jesper Veldhuizen

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The historic event followed a two-day FIM Women’s Speedway Academy at the Bergring Arena which saw an 11-rider field, featuring stars from six different countries and three continents all receive coaching from four-time Speedway GP world champion Greg Hancock and former FIM Long Track team world champion Glen Phillips.

The riders then put these skills into practice as they battled it out in the Gold Trophy event. But the sport’s only professional female rider Liebmann, who races for the Workington Comets in Britain’s Cab Direct Championship, was a class apart as she topped the heat score chart on 12 points.

The final could not be completed after Dutch star Nynke Sijbesma and Australia’s Anika Loftus crashed, with both riders sustaining injuries and being taken to hospital for further checks. Due to damage to the back straight safety fence, the FIM Jury was forced to abandon the meeting, with Liebmann declared the winner as leader after the 12 heats were completed.

The talented Sijbesma was awarded second place overall after scoring 10, with Loftus pipping Germany’s Jenny Apfelbeck to the bronze medal on countback after the impressive duo tied on nine points apiece.

After her victory was confirmed, Liebmann celebrated with an army of fans from her native Bavaria as she toasted an historic win in the first-ever FIM Women’s Speedway meeting.

She said: “It’s the first edition of the FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy, so I am really, really grateful and so proud and happy that I have won it. I have made HISTORY!! I am the first women’s champion and it’s just such an amazing feeling.

“I just want to say thank you to the FIM and the FIM Women’s Commission, who really support us. I am so grateful for everything. A dream came true.

“Of course, it is so amazing that my fans came here from Bavaria. It’s an eight-hour drive and they all supported me here. Everyone still needs to go to work on Monday. I am lucky that I have such great followers.”

Liebmann hopes the FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy can evolve into a full world championship one day.

“Just think about it!” she enthused. “It would be amazing; a real world championship with 16 riders – everyone racing against everyone. That’s the big dream and I will push for that as well.

“I know a lot more girls who want to compete, but this year’s date didn’t fit for them. Others wanted to look first and see how it worked and then come next year. I hope and think we will have an even better event next year.”

Liebmann is a pioneer for women in speedway. She became the first rider in the sport’s history to compete in an FIM Speedway final series when she raced in the 2022 SGP2 rounds in Prague and Torun. She is also the first rider in living memory to race full-time for a professional club in the UK.

Liebmann is proud to be bringing more women into the sport and admits her presence at British team Workington is inspiring young women to seek practice opportunities at the Cumbrian club.

She said: “Some smaller girls come to me and say, ‘You are so good. I love to see you in Britain.’ I feel like I inspire some girls and get more girls into speedway. That’s what we need.

“The Workington guys have told me that they now have small girls who want to try the sport and get practice just because of me – just because they saw me!”

FIM WOMEN’S SPEEDWAY GOLD TROPHY SCORES:

1. Celina Liebmann (Germany) 12

2. Nynke Sijbesma (Netherlands) 10

3. Anika Loftus (Australia) 7

4. Jenny Apfelbeck (Germany) 7

5. Rachel Hellowell (Great Britain) 6

6. Patricia Erhart (Germany) 6

7. Katie Gordon (Great Britain) 6

8. Audrey Dupuy (France) 6

9. Hannah Grunwald (Germany) 4

10. Mascha Schwend (Germany) 3

11. Micaela Bazan (Argentina) 1

Words by Speedway GP – Feature Image – Celebrating history, the first-ever FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy winner Celina Liebmann. PHOTO: Jesper Veldhuizen

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Riders from six different countries, including Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, Australia and Argentina, have been taking part in the FIM Women’s Speedway Academy, receiving on-track coaching from four-time Speedway GP world champion Greg Hancock and former FIM Long Track team world champion Glen Phillips.

They have also received advice in other areas of the sport, including bike maintenance and setup, as well as fitness and media training, in their quest to follow Liebmann in establishing themselves as professional speedway riders.

Liebmann famously became the first rider to appear in an FIM Speedway final series, when she competed in the 2022 FIM SGP2 of Czech Republic – Prague and the 2022 FIM SGP2 of Poland – Torun. Now she races for the Workington Comets in Britain’s Cab Direct Championship.

After competing against men in recent years, Liebmann is delighted to see the sport’s female riders compete in an event of their own – and she would love to see it develop into a full world championship.

She said: “I think we will have some more girls in the coming years and maybe we can have SGPW – or something like that.

“The Women’s Academy started two years ago and it’s a brilliant opportunity for the girls to come together and have some practice with some experienced riders like Greg Hancock and Glen Phillips.

“It has really improved. We had less riders in the beginning and now we have riders from Argentina and Australia. It’s good to have girls from other countries and continents.

“They love to have the opportunity to ride with girls and have some opportunities to ride in Europe. In some countries, they don’t have that many races, so everyone loves to be here.”

Liebmann will start as favourite to win the FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy but knows she will have to deliver over 12 heats and a final to make history as the first women’s champion.

She said: “I think the first Gold Trophy will be just amazing. I will be going for gold. But if you go into your race as a favourite, that doesn’t mean you are going to win. Anything can happen. If someone else gets a better start, you need to pass them, so it’s not that easy.

“I need to be good; the bike needs to be good, but anything can happen. If you have a technical failure in the final, you are fourth.

“I want to say thank you to the FIM and their Women’s Commission. I am delighted to finally have a Women’s Gold Trophy. I have been waiting for this all my career. I am really pleased about it and hopefully we will have a German champion here.”

American legend Hancock coached at the 2023 FIM Women’s Speedway Academy in Manchester and has been delighted to see the sport’s female stars develop. He said: “I have seen the growth and improvement the women have made in the last 12 months and how the level of competition is getting better.

“I have spent a lot of time with the riders, and we have been working on how they sit on the bike, their setup with the handlebars, seat positions and footrests. I can really show them things that can make their whole programme and future that much better. They welcomed every piece of advice with open arms. They gave feedback too and were talking about how they felt. They told me what they wanted to learn on the track.

“This project has really, really grown in a year – massively – and I look forward to seeing what happens in the first official FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy. It’s great that we have a women’s programme that could potentially turn into a full world championship.

“We have had some women jump into the game before, but here they truly are realising, ‘I can do this too and I can be competitive.’ Some of these women can run really strong with the guys of today.”

FIM Track Racing Commission director Armando Castagna has also been delighted to offer his words of advice to the sport’s female riders.

He said: “I am very proud to be part of this project. We started the FIM Women’s Speedway Academy a couple of years ago in Germany and some of the women that were at the first one are back again this weekend and racing on Saturday.

“I am honoured and proud to be part of this, especially having Greg Hancock and Glen Phillips here to coach them, as well as the team of women who are part of the FIM Track Racing Commission, working hard to deliver this weekend in the best way possible.

“We thank our promoter Warner Bros. Discovery Sports for being present throughout the weekend to help us with media coverage, which I am very happy about.

“This event is the way to show women can do speedway as well. Celina is a pioneer in the sport and has shown that women can deserve a place in club squads across Europe. I am sure these riders will get better with every day of the academy, and hopefully on Saturday, we will have a good final to watch.”

FIM WOMEN’S SPEEDWAY GOLD TROPHY LINE-UP:

1 (167) Anika Loftus (Australia)

2 (21) Micaela Bazan (Argentina)

3 (5) Nynke Sijbesma (The Netherlands)

4 (36) Rachel Hellowell (Great Britain)

5 (289) Celina Liebmann (Germany)

6 (15) Mascha Schwend (Germany)

7 (333) Katie Gordon (Great Britain)

8 (179) Jenny Apfelbeck (Germany)

9 (887) Hannah Grunwald (Germany)

10 (94) Audrey Dupuy (France)

11 (324) Patricia Erhart (Germany)

Words and Images by Speedway GP

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