After qualifying through his strong domestic results, including third at the Australian 250cc Speedway Championships, Smith earned one of the country’s places at the SGP3 FIM Speedway World Championships.
That campaign started in the semi-final rounds in Pardubice, Czechia.
Seventeen riders took to the course for the semi-final, competing in heats of four in various combinations, with a simple points scoring system, ranging from three for first to 0 for fourth, determining a top eight that would move on to the finals.
Smith finished the heat stages with eight points, ending up in a three-way tie with fellow Australian Cooper Antone and Great Britain’s Oliver Bovingdon for positions seven to nine.
The tie forced a run-off race to see who would make the final, the two Australians holding off their Commonwealth compatriot to qualify.
The result advanced Smith to the top 17 finals in Wroclaw, Poland, on June 19.
The competition was stiff among the very best in the division, and although he battled hard, the local could only snag a single point across his finals races, finishing 15th in the world.
It was a similar result to the 2025 championships when Smith finished 14th.
Fellow Aussie Antone showed a big improvement from the semi-finals and scored fourth place overall, the event won by local Pole Franciszek Szczyrba.
This was Smith’s final season at 250cc, the local now of age to compete at 500cc in future seasons.
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