International podium kickstarts speedway dreams

RIVERLAND speedway talent Ryleigh McGregor has made major moves in his speedway career dreams, claiming a third place at an international event in Sweden last week.

Having a long flight of over 20 hours to think about his race tactics, McGregor said he felt relaxed when hitting the speedway after getting off the plane.

“I was good on the plane, I wasn’t feeling nervous,” McGregor said.

“When I hit the speedway in Sweden I felt good, I controlled my race and I felt in control of my race.”

The tracks were different to Australian tracks that he had rode previously, stating the conditions were rougher and not to the standard he had experienced back home.

“They were quite rough, but I didn’t let it worry me too much, I just rode and held on when I hit a rough part,” McGregor said.

He could hardly have had a better start to the five-race championship, coming across the line in first in the opening race to take an instant lead in the overall standings.

“I had self-belief before race one, I knew I wouldn’t come last and was hoping for a strong performance,” McGregor said.

“To get an early win eased a lot of pressure and kept me on track early.”

After claiming second in the next three events, McGrgeor knew he was up the top end of the championship, but had no idea where exactly overall he was at that point.

“I was a little worried in the end, it was a big race and a big moment, and I think it got the best of me,” he said.

A bad start in the final race meant he had to work hard and dig deep to get a good result. His result in the final race meant he was tied on points in third position overall, leading to a run-off – an extra race to decide who finishes higher..

A good start gave McGregor a strong lead, before a lapse in concentration saw him hit a wall hard and lose momentum.

Gathering himself on the go, he managed to stay upright on the bike and get back on the track, maintaining his lead and going on to claim the win, and third place overall.

“When I hit the wall, it was a scary moment, I looked back and saw I had a big gap so I just took a breath and get going again,” McGregor said.

“I don’t like run-offs, so I was really happy to get the win and celebrate third overall with my parents.”

It has been plenty of commitment from the entire McGregor family to get to this point, with racing consuming most of their year, and with that comes travel.

“It is a big commitment with lots of travel, we go interstate a fair bit to Queensland, Mildura, Albury, Wodonga and plenty of other places,” McGregor’s dad, Chris, said.

“The season starts in September or October, and we have events pretty much every weekend until April.

“It is lots of travelling and it does interfere with his schooling on occasions, he will miss a Friday or a Monday sometimes.”

McGregor amazingly does not have a coach, being all self-taught, learning as he goes and adapting to every challenge, tackling it face on.

“Dad bought me my first bike and since then I have just been riding, learning as I go and using the talent I have to help me learn,” he said.

While claiming a podium at the 2026 FIM SGP4 speedway world championships is a big step for McGregor in his young career, he is setting some future goals a little closer to home.

“I think an easy goal is to make the jump to bigger bikes in the nest season or two, we are looking at going up to 250 bikes next season and had a test ride in Adelaide before we went to Sweden.” McGregor said.

“I would also love to race in places like New Zealand in the near future, I think that would be awesome.”

The McGregor family would like to thank the following sponsors for helping them during the event in Sweden;
q O’Connell Family Racing
q Ian and Janice Vallis
q CBS Bins
q Phil and Judy Mackay
q Ryde Clothing
q Pat’s Thai Kitchen
q DC Anodising
q D+D Mechanical
q RCF Engineering
q Merv Edwards
q 340 Garage

Plus Minispeedway.pl, Maureen Schooling helmet colours, Ben Whalley, Bailey Pike and Grandma and Nanna.