Following two days of instruction and mentoring, the third edition of the FIM Women’s Speedway Academy (WSA) has concluded after successfully building upon the foundations laid by the two previous editions held in 2022 and 2023 with fourteen aspiring female racers travelling from around the world to benefit from tuition from two racing legends.
Staged on Thursday and Friday (20-21 June) at the immaculate Bergring Arena at Teterow in Germany, a regular stop on the FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship (SGP) calendar, this year’s WSA was led by American four-time FIM SGP World Champion Greg Hancock and FIM Long Track Race Director Glen Phillips.
The fourteen participants aged from fourteen upwards travelled from as far away as Australia and Argentina to take part. The comprehensive training programme – that was held both on-track and in a classroom environment – covered all aspects of the sport, including machine preparation, riding technique, race craft, mental approach and diet among other essential skills.
Farthest travelled of all the students, Australia’s Anika Loftus – a multi-time national champion who has recently been training in Denmark – felt she had benefitted considerably from the WSA.
“I think it’s an amazing opportunity for women to come together and collaborate,” she said. “I started Speedway four years ago on a 125cc machine and now I’m racing a 500. My dream would be to hopefully make it to SGP – I’d like to race professionally and compete against the men.”
Her comments were echoed by British hopeful Rachel Hellowell who, like many of her fellow students, was making a return visit to the WSA.
“It’s great for us all to get together,” she said. “I think it encourages growth within women’s Speedway which is fantastic for us all, both on and off the track.”
Germany’s Celina Liebmann has attended all three editions of the WSA and is delighted at the way it develops every year.
“I think the WSA is an amazing opportunity for the girls to come together and benefit from the experience of riders like Greg Hancock,” she said. “It started three years ago and now we have riders from Australia and Argentina which is brilliant.”
The WSA is just one initiative that has resulted from the successful ongoing collaboration between the FIM Track Racing Commission (CCP) and the FIM Women’s Commission (CFM) that is actively working to encourage diversity and promote gender inclusivity. It will be followed tomorrow (22 June) by the first-ever FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy, another event made possible by this forward-thinking partnership.
Riders in attendance were:
Anika Loftus (AUS)
Nynke Sijbesma (NED)
Sanne Meijerink (NED)
Rachel Hellowell (GB)
Celina Liebmann (GER)
Mascha Schwend (GER)
Jenny Apfelbeck (GER)
Katie Gordon (GB)
Micaela Bazan (ARG)
Hannah Grunwald (GER)
Patricia Erhart (GER)
Lenja Tebbe (GER)
Paula Holzapfel (GER)
Audrey Dupuy (FRA)
Greg Hancock, who won four SGP titles between 1997 and 2016, said: “It’s really impressive to see the growth and improvement of the WSA this year. We’ve managed to fit in plenty of coaching and track time with so much positive feedback from all the participants. I’m really looking forward to seeing the level of competition going head-to-head in the first-ever FIM Women's Speedway Gold Trophy event on Saturday.”
Glen Phillips, a former top-flight Long Track racer, stated: “It’s been an absolute pleasure to be working with the WSA and all the riders in Teterow. They’ve listened, they’ve improved and their riding skills have certainly been noticed. I’m now really looking forward to the FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy on Saturday.”
Janika Judeika, FIM Women’s Commission Director, said: “With the first two editions of the FIM Women’s Speedway Academy, in Germany in 2022 and Great Britain last year, we established solid foundations to build upon. This latest edition in Teterow has been a huge success in terms of conveying a very positive message regarding diversity and gender inclusivity as well as equipping the riders with skills that will carry them a long way in Speedway.”
Armando Castagna, FIM Track Racing Director, stated: “It has been another very successful edition of the FIM Women’s Speedway Academy and on behalf of the FIM Track Racing Commission I would like to say how proud we are be working together with the FIM Women’s Commission on our shared mission to promote female participation.
FIM Communications