Ireland’s Cycle Speedway team have had a fantastic year in 2025. The year started with the Home Internationals which were staged at Norwich’s Eaton Park track. The Over 40’s were first up and Ireland managed a 3rd place finish with 40 points. Craig Norton and Gary Colby scored 10 points each, Paddy Wenn scored 9, Ray Pyke 7 and David Martin 4. Of the 7 races which the victorious England team didn’t win Paddy, Gary and Craig won 1 race each.
The Juniors were up next and they secured the runners-up spot behind England which at the time equalled the best ever resut for any Ireland team in International competition. Mason Martin, Joe Gillespie and Jude Wilcockson each scored 12 points whilst Ethan Lawrence scored 8 points and Lola Martin 6. England provided the race winner in all but 2 of the races, one of which was won by Mason.
The Seniors were next up but could only manage a 4th place finish with 27 points. Harley Hamill top scored with 9 points, James Porter scored 7 points on his full debut for Ireland which included Ireland’s only race win (James had rpreviously ridden for Ireland in their Junior Select team in the 2019 event). Jude scored 5 points, Jack Herbert 4 and Leon Mower 2
The World Championships in September proved to be Ireland’s most successful ever. The first Ireland rider in action was Lola at the Women’s World Individual Championships at Great Blakenham where she pre-qualified for the semi-finals but could only score 8 points to miss out on the final. Jude and Joe were in action at Kesgrave in the 1st of Under 16 Open pre-qualifiers. Both made the 1st semi-final, Jude needing only 1 race whilst Joe was 2nd in his last race which was enough for him to qualify for the semi-final. Ireland team manager Steve Copping was the referee for the 2nd of the pre-qualifiers
Eaton Park, Norwich was the venue for the World Cup Qualifying rounds where Ireland would be in all 3 matches. The Juniors were first up and needed to be in the top 3 to qualify for the final which they did so with 41 points. Mason top scored with 14 despite an exclusion in his 2nd race, Jude scored 13, Joe 6 and Ethan & Lola 4 each. The Over 40’s were next and a top 2 finish was required for them to reach their final which they did by winning the match on 59 points. Craig scored 16 points as did Richard Williamson, Paddy scored 13, David 9 and Gary 6. The Seniors were next and like the Over 40’s needed a top 2 finish to qualify for their final but it wasn;t to be as they finished 3rd with 40 points. Mason top scored with 13 points, James scored 12, Ricki Johnson scored 6, Matt Hill scored 5 and Leon scored 4.
After the Junior World Cup Qualifier Jude and Joe raced in the first of the World Under 16 Open Semi-Finals at Hethersett where Jude qualified for the final with 17 points whilst Joe scored 10 points and lost out in a run-off for 1st reserve. Jude went on to score 13 points in the final, finishing 7th
World Cup Finals day at Ipswich also featured the Under 16 Girls World Championship which saw Lola qualify for the final from the pre-qualifying round. The Over 40’s World Cup Final followed and saw Ireland and Wales involved in a battle for 3rd place behind Poland and England. Ireland would eventually take 3rd place with 44 points after Paddy finished ahead of Mark Winwood in the final race. Craig top scored with 16 points, Paddy & Richard scored 9 each, David scored 7 and Gary 3. Yhis result matched Ireland’s best ever result in any World Cup where they were 4rd in the 1987 & 1991 Senior events. Following the Over 40’s World Cup it was the Under 16 Girls World Final where Lola scored 14 points to finish tied for 5th. Lola then had to change out of her Hethersett top into her Ireland top for the Junior World Cup Final where Ireland finished 4th with 28 points, Mason top scored with 11 ppints, Jude & Joe scored 6 each, Lola scored 3 and Ethan 2.
Ireland’s results on World Cup Finals day faded into insignificance when it was announced that evening that John Murphy had died. The 3rd place in the Over 40’s World Cup Final was dedicated to him
The Open World Individual Championships saw Jack, Leon and Harley in action in the opening pre-qualifier at Kesgrave where Leon qualified for the 1st quarter final where he scored 10 points (not enough to make the semi-finals) whilst Jack qualified as 1st reserve and Harley missed out. The 2nd pre-qualifier saw Matt and mason in action and both qualified for the quarter-final where Matt scored 14 points to make the semi-finals whilst Mason qualified as a reserve for the semi-finals. Steve was on the whistle for the 2nd pre-qualifier and quarter final.
Meanwhile at Great Blakenham the 2rd Open pre-qualifier featured Owen Wells as well as Jude & James. The latter 2 riders qualified for the quarter final whilst Owen qualified as 2nd reserve. James scored 11 points to qualify as a reserve for the semi-finals whilst Jude scored 10
The Over 40’s World Individual Championship pre-qualifiers and semi-finals were staged at Great Blakenham and the 1st pre-qualifier saw Craig & Steve in action. For Steve it was his first racing action of the championships but he narrowly missed out on a spot in the semi-final, qualifying as 1st reserve. Craig qualified for the semi-final and scored 16 points to qualify for the final. The 2nd pre-qualifier was the harder one of the 2 but both Paddy & Richard both qualified for the semi-final with Richard making the cut for the final after winning a run-off for the last spot against his former Wednesfield team-mate Chris Jewkes. Paddy scored 7 points to miss out.
The following day saw Federation Cup matches between Great Britain and Poland at Over 40, Junior and Senior levels. The Juniors were first up and Mason scored 6 points as the GB Juniors defeated their Polish counterparts 93-84. Craig then raced in the Over 40’s match and was also on the winning side, scoring 4 points from 2 rides as GB won 95-80.
After the rest day it was the Over 50’s World Individual Championship as well as the World Pairs at Kesgrave. The Over 50’s needed a pre-qualifying round to find the 16 finalists. Paddy Ray and Steve represented Ireland – and all 3 qualified for the final. For Steve it was the greatest achievement of his Cycle Speedway career on the track, an achievement which he dedicated to John Murphy who was also due to compete in this event before his passing. Before the Over 50’s World Final the Junior World Pairs took place and Ireland finished 4th with 24 points. Mason was top scorer with 12 points whilst Jude scored 9 and Joe 3. Craig stood in for Steve as team manager as Steve was prepering for the Over 50’s World Final where he scored 5 points to finish 16th. Paddy scored 10 points to finish 12th whilst Ray scored 8 points to finish 14th. The next action for Ireland was the Over 40’s World Pairs and Ireland actually went into the last race with a chance of winning the title but were unable to get the 7-3 maximum they needed. The resulting 6-4 to England gave them the title and put Ireland in a tie for 2nd for Poland who defeated Ireland 6-3 in the run-off. The Senior World pairs saw Ireland take 5th place with 22 points, Matt scoring11 points, James 7 and Mason 4.
Mason, Jude and Joe were back in action at Kesgrave the following day in the Junior World Championship where 2 pre-qualifiers and 2 semi-finals would be needed to find the 16 finalists. Mason and Jude were both in the first pre-qualifier where they both made the semi-final, Jude scoring 8 points and Mason 4. Steve was on the whistle for the 2nd pre-qualifier and the semi-final where Joe qualified from the pre-qualifier, scoring 11 points The Open Woeld Individual Semi-Finals were also staged at Kesgrave and the first one saw James called on to ride as he took the last 2 rides of 2019 World Champion Ben Mould (who was suffering the effects of a bad crash the revious night in the Senior World pairs. james scored 5 points from those 2 rides. The 2nd semi-final saw Matt score 14 points to become the first rider representing Ireland to qualify for the Open World Individual Final since Phil Moreton in 1999. Mason was an unused reserve,
World Finals Day saw Craig and Richard in the Over 40’s World Final. Craig scored 12 points to finish in a 4 way tie for 7th whilst Richard scored 6 points from 3 completed rides as he failed to finish in his 4th race and didn’t take his final ride as he was suffering the effects of a heavy fall in the Over 40’s World pairs run-off the previous evening. The Open World Final saw Matt score 4 points to finish 16th
Irealnd will be under new management in 2026 and 2027 as after overseeing Ireland’s most successful ever World Championships Steve Copping has decided to stand down as team manager
