Home hero Andžejs Smulkevičs is the 2025 FIM Track Racing Youth Gold Trophy (TRYGT) winner after he raced to victory on Sunday (13 July) at the Bikernieki Speedway Stadium in the Latvian capital city Riga.
- Andžejs Smulkevičs races to FIM Track Racing Youth Gold Trophy glory
- Lightning fast Latvian claims hugely popular home win in Bikernieki Speedway Stadium
- Arsenii Mykulchyn and Michał Głębocki take silver and bronze in Riga
The thirteen-year-old, who was fifth in last season’s TRYGT, put on a masterclass of smooth, controlled racing across five fiercely contested Heats and he had the passionate Latvian fans on their feet as he clinched the crown by a single point.
Open to riders aged between eleven and sixteen on 125cc machines, the TRYGT is an important stepping stone for up-and-coming Track Racing prospects and always attracts a top-level entry eager to showcase their talents on a major stage.
As stages go, it does not get any more major than Riga’s immaculateBikernieki Speedway Stadiumthat will host the eighth round of the 2025 FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship at the start of August, but the twenty-strong entry did not appear to be unduly bothered by their impressive surroundings.
Czech racer Matěj Tůma got the programme under way with victory in the opening Heat of the afternoon ahead of Germany’s Tom Knese before Latvia’s Hugo Polaks won from Marek Ziman from Slovakia and Jakub Hejkal claimed a second win for the Czech Republic.
Smulkevičs contested the fourth Heat and suffered an early disappointment when he followed UkrainianArsenii Mykulchyn across the line before Poland’s Michał Głębocki opened his account with a win from his compatriot Marcel Pawłowski.
Głębocki and Tůma both added a second win to their scorecards, followed by a victory for Latvian Valters Buss ahead of Ziman and Smulkevičs then took his first win chased by Germany’s Erik Barth before Hejkal underlined his credentials as a contender with his second win.
The third block of Heats saw Tůma move clear at the top with the only unbeaten score as Poland’s Marcel Zwierzyński won from Hejkal, Mykulchyn defeated Barth and the Ukraine’s Volodymyr Skorokhod – who was ninth last year – won ahead of Denis Alberto Chelu from Romania. After defeating Głębocki, Smulkevičs kept the pressure on with his second win as he joined a four-way tie for second with Mykulchyn, Głębocki and Hejkal.
Following a no-score and a disqualification, Polaks grabbed a lifeline with his second win of the afternoon at the start of the fourth block and Germany’s Levi Fittkau doubled his score with victory from Skorokhod. Zwierzyński then beat Głębocki and Smulkevičs won ahead of Hejkal as Tůma suffered a serious setback when he fell before Pawłowski recovered from a fall in his third Heat with victory from Mykulchyn.
With just one block and five Heats left to decide the winner, Smulkevičs led by a point from Mykulchyn and Głębocki and he delighted the partisan home crowd by sealing the deal with his fourth win. Mykulchyn also won to secure the second step of the podium with Głębocki claiming bronzeafter following Fittkau across the line in his final Heat.