Max Fricke
Esbjerg | |
2014–2016 | Region Varde |
---|---|
2019 | Grindsted |
World Under-21 Champion | |
2019, 2020, 2022 | Australian Champion |
Team honours | |
2022 | Premier League Pairs |
2016 | Danish Speedway League |
2016 | Elitserien |
2022 | British champions |
Max Fricke (born 29 March 1996) is an Australian speedway rider. He is a World team champion, three time Australian champion and four times Australian Under-21 Champion.
Career
Juniors
Fricke competed in junior levels of motocross and speedway in Australia, competed in the 2011 and 2012 FIM Youth Gold Cup tournaments, and finished in fourth place in the Australian Under-16 125cc Championship and second in the 125cc Team Championship in January 2012.[1][2][3]
Seniors
Fricke moved up to senior level in the 2012/13 season. In December 2012 he was signed by
In January 2013 he won the Australian Under-21 championship at the
Together with
After fishing equal third on 48 points with Justin Sedgmen in the four round
A week after Australian Championship, Fricke then went on to win his third straight Australian U/21 Championship at Loxford Park on 17 January, defeating
Fricke contested his first Under-21 World Championship in
Although he did not get to ride on the night, Fricke and fellow Aussie Justin Sedgemen were named as the reserve riders for the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia held on 24 October at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.
A week after the SGP in Melbourne, Fricke was part of the Australian Under-21 Team alongside Nick Morris, Jack Holder and Brady Kurtz that finished in third place in the 2015 Team Speedway Junior World Championship Final held at Olympic Park in Mildura, the first time the U/21 World Cup Final had been held outside of the UK or Europe. Fricke had a quiet night by his standards scoring only 6 of his team's 29 points as they finished behind winners Poland and runner-up Denmark.[12]
On 13 December 2015, Fricke finished second in the 2015/16
On 20 August 2016, Fricke, along with
On 2 October 2016, Max Fricke won the
Following a heavy crash by 2016 Speedway Grand Prix points leader Jason Doyle in the penultimate round of the series in Toruń, Poland which ruled the former Australian champion out of the final round in Melbourne (and also saw his World Championship aspirations vanish), Sam Masters was moved into the main field with Fricke moved from second to first reserve for the meeting.[17] Following a broken chain to Wildcard rider Brady Kurtz just before the start of Heat 11 of the SGP in Melbourne, Fricke got his first start in the senior World Championship and became the 200th rider to race in the series since its inception in 1995.
On 28 January 2017, Fricke won his 4th Australian U/21 Championship at Loxford Park in Kurri Kurri. By winning the title, Fricke joined Leigh Adams and Chris Holder as a four-time winner of the event. He also equaled Leigh Adams' 5 podium finishes in the title with the same 4 wins and one 3rd-place finish record.[18]
On 12 January 2019 he won the Australian Solo Championship, a second place in the fifth round enough to secure the title ahead of Rohan Tungate and Chris Holder.[19] He won his first Grand Prix in 2020 at Toruń.
Fricke finished in 13th place during the 2022 Speedway World Championship, after securing 52 points during the 2022 Speedway Grand Prix, which included winning the Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw Grand Prix.[20] He qualified for the 2023 Speedway Grand Prix by virtue of finishing 4th in the 2023 Speedway Grand Prix Qualification.[21] However, the highlight of his season was winning the 2022 Speedway of Nations for Australia with Jack Holder.[22][23] In addition he won a league title with the Belle Vue Aces during the SGB Premiership 2022.
He signed for Leicester Lions for the SGB Premiership 2023[24] and for GKM Grudziądz for the 2023 Polish speedway season.[25] In 2023, he was part of the Australian team that finished fourth in the 2023 Speedway World Cup final.[26]
He finished in ninth place during the 2023 Speedway Grand Prix and can be considered unlucky not to have earned a place for the 2024 Speedway Grand Prix.[27] He re-signed with Leicester for the 2024 season.[28] His 2024 season started well after he finished second in the 2024 Australian Championship, following a tight battle with Rohan Tungate.[29]
Major results
World individual Championship
- 2016 Speedway Grand Prix - 35th
- 2017 Speedway Grand Prix - 18th
- 2019 Speedway Grand Prix - 16th
- 2020 Speedway Grand Prix - 10th (including Toruń grand prix win)
- 2021 Speedway Grand Prix - 8th
- 2022 Speedway Grand Prix - 13th (including Warsaw grand prix win)
- 2023 Speedway Grand Prix - 9th
World team Championships
- 2017 Speedway World Cup - 5th
- 2018 Speedway of Nations - 4th
- 2019 Speedway of Nations 3rd
- 2020 Speedway of Nations - 5th
- 2021 Speedway of Nations - 4th
- 2022 Speedway of Nations - Winner
- 2023 Speedway World Cup - 4th
Individual Under-21 World Championship
- - 6th - 28pts
- - Winner - 46pts
Under-21 Speedway World Cup
- 2015 - Mildura, Olympic Park Speedway - 3rd - 29pts (6)
- 2016 - Norrköping, Norrköping Motorstadion - 2nd - 37pts (8)
References
- ^ "Perfect Kurtz claims second Australian Under 16 125cc Solo Speedway Championship", fullnoise.com.au, 13 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ^ "Kurtz and Holder lead NSW to 2012 Aust Under 16 125cc Teams Speedway Championship", fullnoise.com.au, 16 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ^ a b Oakes, Peter (2013) "New Champ Keeps Cool", Speedway Star, 26 January 2013, pp. 6-7
- ^ Kinvig, David (2013) "Speedway: Monarchs at Max strength after snatching Fricke from Tigers’ lair", Edinburgh Evening News, 5 January 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ^ "Monarchs Snap Up Fricke Archived 16 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine", speedway365.com, 30 December 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ^ "Fricke Flies to Aussie Crown", speedwaygp.com, 19 January 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ^ Fricke Wins Thilling U/21 Title
- ^ 2014 Australian U/21 Championship Final
- ^ "IT'S SAM AND MAX FOR THE PAIRS". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
- ^ Frick wins 3rd straight Aussie U/21 title
- ^ 2015 World U-21 Championship
- ^ 2015 Under-21 Speedway World Cup
- ^ 2015/16 SA Solo Championship
- ^ 2016 Junior World Cup
- ^ Fricke on top of the world
- ^ Fricke grabs dream World Under-21 win
- ^ Fricke first reserve in SGP of Australia
- ^ Title No.4 for Fricke
- ^ "Fricke indywidualnym mistrzem Australii! W nagrodę pojedzie w Grand Prix", Gazeta Wrocławska, 12 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019
- ^ "2022 Speedway Grand Prix results". FIM. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ "2022 Speedway Grand Prix results". FIM. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ "Aussies win 2022 FIM Speedway of Nations". MC News. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ "Awesome Aussies". Speedway Star pages 3-10. 6 August 2022.
- ^ "Fricke heads for Leicester". British Speedway. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
- ^ "THE STAFF OF ZOOLESZCZ GKM GRUDZIĄDZ". GKM Grudziądz Speedway. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
- ^ "POLAND WIN SPEEDWAY WORLD CUP AHEAD OF GREAT BRITAIN AS MACIEJ JANOWSKI BEATS ROBERT LAMBERT IN DECISIVE HEAT 20". Eurosport. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ "Nine nations represented as 2024 Speedway GP line-up is confirmed". FIM Europe. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ "Lions announce Fricke return". British Speedway. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ "Tungate champion in Aussie drama". British Speedway. Retrieved 14 January 2024.