The World of Motorcycling- News detail

Following a two-day masterclass with the fifth edition of the FIM Women’s Speedway Academy (WSA) staged on Thursday and Friday (2-3 July), the sport’s fastest female racers showcased their skills on Saturday when the action from Donji Kraljevec in Croatia continued with the new-for-2026 FIM Women’s Speedway World Cup (WSWC) and the revamped FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy (WSGT).

A joint project between the FIM Women’s Commission (CFM) and the FIM Track Racing Commission (CCP) with additional support from the FIM, the WSA was originally conceived and created to promote gender inclusivity in the sport and the latest edition – staged for the second consecutive season in the Croatian municipality’s Stadion Milenium – successfully continued this ongoing undertaking.First held in Germany in 2022 with subsequent WSAs in Great Britain the following season, Germany again in 2024 and Croatia last year, the 2026 WSA was attended by an international class of twenty-three riders aged from eleven to twenty-five from as far afield as Australia.

Comprehensive instruction – in both a classroom setting and, on the track, covering all aspects of the sport addressed subjects including riding technique and race craft along with mental and physical preparation, nutrition, media relations, machine set-up and content creation for social media. Expert tuition in both a group setting and on a one-to-one basis was provided by FIM Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) Director Phil Morris, FIM Long Track Race Director Glen Phillips, CCP Director and multi-time Italian national champion Armando Castagna and former SGP racer and two-time European champion Matej Zagar.

With lessons learned and skills sharpened, focus then switched to competition with the new WSWC for racers aged sixteen and over on 500ccmachines and the reworked WSGT that this year was open to competitors aged between thirteen and sixteen on 250cc machines.Attracting an international entry drawn from the biggest names in women’s Speedway, competitors included previous WSGT winners Hannah Grunwald and Celina Liebmann from Germany along withDenmark’s Louise Funch-Larsen, Anna Hajkova from Slovakia and Australian Tayla Street who all finished inside the top six in 2025 and the on-track action largely followed last season’s formbook.On a warm and sunny afternoon, after Street had defeated Funch-Larsen in the opening Heat the battle of the champions got under way with Liebmann drawing first blood when she led home reigning WSGT champion Grunwald and Hajkova before rising Polish star Martyna Mroz took victory ahead of Germany’s Alina Zimmermann to complete the opening block of racing.

Wins for Liebmann, Hajkova and Grunwald followed in block two which gave Liebmann the outright lead, an advantage she maintained in the third block when she beat Funch-Larsen despite further wins for Hajkova and Grunwald who claimed an important victory ahead of Street.The fourth block began with wins for Hajkova and Street to keep them in contention before the twelfth and concluding Heat rolled up behind the tapes with Liebmann – who was holding a one-point advantage over Grunwald – looking to complete her maximum and lead the field into the Final. However, Grunwald clearly had not read the script and her third victory – and Liebmann’s first defeat – of the programme tied her at the top with her compatriot as the pair were joined in the Final by Hajkova and Street with Funch-Larsen narrowly missing the cut, despite her consistent run of four second places.With both German racers entering the Final holding a win apiece over each other, Grunwald seized the advantage to take the inaugural title with Liebmann second ahead of Hajkova and Street.

Running alongside the WSWC, the WSGT was dominated by Great Britain’s Demi Blu Harris who put together an unbeaten run of four straight victories to take the title with a maximum score.Despite strong and spirited opposition from fellow WSA members Ruby Chapman from Australia, Germany’s Lenja Tebbe and Swede Indra Holmsten-Bister, Harris was simply too quick to catch and Chapman was forced to settle for second with Tebbe completing the podium positions.