BRADY KURTZ was delighted to get a "perfect" start to the season by defending his Peter Craven Memorial title.
The Belle Vue No.1 delivered a class performance to outgun the best in the world in an epic six-man final at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday night.
Kurtz, 28, was the outstanding rider on the night, top scoring with 13 points in the qualifying heats before making a blistering start to comfortably move clear in the final.
A year ago Kurtz won this title before embarking on the best season of his career, leading the ATPI Aces to the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership title and reaching the Grand Prix series.
Now he hopes for the same success in 2025. He revealed: “I thought it was going to be tough at the start of the night because of the quality of the line-up.
“It’s nice just to start the season strong really. It doesn’t really feel like the start of the year because I’ve already been riding back home in Australia!
“Things are going well and I’m ready for the season. It’s the perfect start.
“I’m really happy with this and to retain this title. Everyone knows that I wanted this a year ago and to do it again is special to me.
“My team in the pits were unreal and hopefully we’ve got a big season to come.
“Hopefully it’s a good omen. It’s just nice to be on the bike. I would have been happy just to score some points and feel like I had speed but to win again, I’m super happy.”
Words by Holeshot Media.
Images by Taylor Lanning.