British Youth Championships (All Classes) @ Glasgow

Report

THE 2026 British Youth Championship was concluded this weekend with another fantastic event that took place at Glasgow on Sunday.

Unfortunately Round 6, which got underway at Edinburgh on Saturday, had to be abandoned due to an accident in Heat 2 where nine-year-old Oscar Berwick suffered a broken leg and had to be transported to Edinburgh Hospital, which left no medical cover at the track.

So Glasgow held their second round in 2026 on Sunday, and with rounds also held at Workington, Belle Vue, Redcar and Leicester this year’s Championship was held over six rounds, with each rider able to either miss a round or drop their lowest score from their final Championship points tally.

In the 500cc class over the six rounds 15 riders took part, and the race for the Championship went right down the final qualifying heat in the last round where Stene Pijper and Casper Kluczniak went into the meeting tied on 75 points.

There was also a battle for third place with both Oli Bovingdon and Charlie Southwick battling it out for the bronze medal. Ollie Binns was also in contention although unfortunately he was not able to attend the final round and ended the series on 63.5 Championship points.

The final qualifying heat for the 500cc class involved both Pijper and Kluczniak, and both riders knew to keep their Championship hopes alive they had to make it to the all-important Final where further Championship points were on offer.

To add to the drama Bovingdon was also in this heat and he knew to try and claim the bronze medal he also needed points to qualify for the Final.

Over a fantastic four laps and only inches apart for all three riders, Pijper won the heat with Bovingdon holding out Kluczniak for a crucial second place and knocked Kluczniak out of qualifying for the Final, which gave Pijper the Championship.

It meant Bovingdon and Southwick would battle it out in the Final for the bronze medal with only one point separating them.

There was further drama to be had as the riders pushed out for the final heat which also included the very exciting Archie Rolph making his 500cc debut, with Southwick unable to get his bike started and he was disqualified for missing the two minutes.

This left Pijper, Rolph and Bovingdon to complete the final heat and what a heat it was, with all three teenagers showing fantastic bike craft and all passing and repassing with eventually Pijper holding on to win his fourth round of 2026. The very impressive 500cc debutant Rolph claimed second on the day, and Bovingdon came in third, which meant he would claim the bronze medal by just a one better point score over the series than the unlucky Southwick and the 2025 250cc British Champion Casper Kluczniak, in his first season racing in the 500cc class, claiming the silver medal.

The 250cc class has had low numbers this season with only four riders taking part but despite this the racing has been fantastic, and with Rolph claiming the Championship with a round to spare and deciding to compete in the 500cc class at the final round this left Kane Newby to deservedly win his first British Youth Championship round as he and Rolph have had some fantastic battles all season.

If the 500cc class was exciting in 2026, the same can be said for the 125cc class as going into the final round three riders had a genuine chance of being crowned British Champion with just six points separating Fraser Buckle, George Climo and Lewis Hague.

As all season all three riders had another impressive round and the chase for this title went right down to the Final as all three contenders were competing to win this all important Round 6.

Buckle, who only dropped one point during the heats and looked to have plenty of speed all day made no mistake in the Final and coming off gate two made the perfect start and sailed off to win his first British Championship in only his second season racing speedway.

The battle was for silver and bronze and with just two points separating Climo and Hague it looked as if Hague would claim the silver as he was leading Climo for two laps, but Climo had other ideals and squeezed past Hague on lap three to set up a tie overall, which meant there had to be an additional heat between the two riders to decide the medal positions over the season.

Again in the run-off Hague made the best start, but Climo had more speed and cleverly bided his time, and again made the pass on Hague to claim the silver medal in what is his first season racing speedway, with Hague having to settle for the bronze.

The 125cc Support class also went down to the final heat with a showdown between Aston Knott and Seb Kelly, and Knott knew that worst case he had to finish one place behind Kelly to win  the class.

But in fact although the very fast Callum Hague won Round 6, it was Knott that got second on the day to win the support class for 2026, and Kelly had to settle for second place, and the ever improving Cody Smith claimed third in the series.

The Young Lions would like to thank all the riders who have taken part in 2026, a total of 38 riders, the dedication shown by all the riders’ parents over the season, the promotions of the five staging tracks Belle Vue, Glasgow, Leicester, Redcar and Workington, also the Edinburgh and Buxton promotions for their efforts in trying to stage a round.

Also the British Youth Championship sponsors for again their continued support in 2026 – Allied Vehicles , Nuneaton Speedway Supporters Club, Wessex Marine, Northern Scaffolding Solutions, Rentruck, Ignite Insurance Brokers Ltd, SmartCo Consulting, Arnie Gibbons, Friends of Speedway, Royle T Racing and HG Aerospace Engineering Ltd.

500cc
1 Stene Pijper
2 Archie Rolph
3 Oli Bovingdon

250cc
1 Kane Newby
2 Demi Blu Harris

125cc
1 Fraser Buckle
2 George Climo
3 Lewis Hague

125cc Support
1 Callum Hague
2 Aston Knott
3 Seb Kelly

FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

500cc
1 Stene Pijper
2 Casper Kluczniak
3 Oli Bovingdon

250cc
1 Archie Rolph
2 Kane Newby
3 Demi Blu Harris

125cc
1 Fraser Buckle
2 George Climo
3 Lewis Hague

125cc Support
1 Aston Knott
2 Seb Kelly
3 Cody Smith

OFFICIAL REFEREE SCORECARDS
500cc Class available here
250cc Class available here
125cc Support Class available here

Photo credit: IAN ADAM