Mayfield Sports & 2026 SGP Series - Sadly, maybe not...

[Spidvej]

Richard Coleman, head of Mayfield Sports Events, has recently come under scrutiny regarding his involvement in the FIM Speedway Grand Prix (SGP), his appointment within the Tech3 MotoGP team, and prior ties to European Rugby League.

Mayfield and FIM Speedway

Mayfield Sports Events, founded by Coleman and based near Silverstone, was appointed by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) to take over global promotion of the Speedway Grand Prix series starting from 2026 following the departure of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports.

Despite initial excitement over Mayfield’s appointment, concerns have grown within the speedway community about Coleman’s lack of first-hand experience in running large-scale motorsport championships—outside of previously organizing the Cardiff Speedway GP as a local promoter. Detractors have questioned whether Mayfield possesses the operational depth required to deliver a unified, global SGP product over multiple countries and venues.

Links to Tech3 Road Racing Team

Coleman’s parallel appointment as Team Principal of Tech3 MotoGP, alongside new team owner Günther Steiner, beginning in 2026, has intensified concerns within motorsport circles. 

The flamboyant Steiner, a former Formula 1 team principal, will become the new boss of the French team, while Coleman will take over the day-to-day running of the team, stretching him even further, as with running a MotoGP team and the Speedway Grand Prix series, there will be times when Coleman will be needed in two places, two circuits at once. How will these inevitable clashes in the racing calendar be managed? Poorly is the answer from some within the industry. 

While these moves signal his deepening presence in motorsport, commentators perceive it as a potential conflict of focus, particularly with Tech3’s restructuring under Steiner’s consortium, and some believe Coleman to be sorely out of his depth. 

Richard Coleman : Tech3 will not be disrupted. The HQ will remain based in the south of France, Nicolas Goyon will continue to serve as Technical Director, and Hervé Poncharal will ensure the transition, remaining involved during this delicate phase.

The team takeover places Coleman in a major leadership role just as Mayfield is expected to reshape the FIM Speedway brand—raising doubts about whether he can effectively manage two world championship-scale operations at once.

European Rugby League Connections

Coleman’s history with European Rugby League (ERL) adds another layer to his multidomain career. 

Appointed in 2022 as an independent director, he was brought in to help expand ERL’s commercial reach. His background in sponsorship acquisition and sports marketing—having brokered deals across Formula 1, cycling, and football—initially bolstered ERL’s executive credentials, but people within these sports suggest that his broad network of concurrent roles demonstrates an inability to remain dedicated to specific sporting ventures.

Summary

In essence, Richard Coleman is stretched across several major sports entities—Mayfield Sports Events for FIM Speedway, Tech3 MotoGP as incoming team principal, and links to European Rugby League—each demanding significant time to be managed at a satisfactory level.

Coleman’s experience in motorsport marketing is extensive, yet questions persist over whether he can effectively steer the FIM Speedway Grand Prix through its crucial transitional phase given his fragmented commitments and limited direct experience with running global rider-based series. Richard is a marketing man, not a guy that can run the day to day logistics of a motorsport series. 

There are some within the world of two wheeled motorsport who suspect that Coleman and his team, basically just his wife Anoushka, have bitten off more than they can chew, and that the FIM are starting to wonder if they need to put a contingency plan in place, which may even include a return to the pre SGP days of a series of qualifying rounds and a one off world final, especially as we are now in mid October 2025,  with as yet no sign of the 2026 SGP Calendar on the horizon.

Of course, the real issue is that the FIM were so short of Interest in taking over the SGP series from Warner Brothers Discovery that Mayfield took control of the SGP series by default. 

Only time will tell whether Mayfield can deliver a viable SGP series, but unfortunately, experience, knowledge and time are against them.

 

https://www.paddock-gp.com/en/The-World-Endurance-and-Speedway-Championships-will-be-hosted-by-Claude-Michy-and-Richard-Coleman-from-2026/

 

https://www.paddock-gp.com/en/MotoGP-Steiner-offers-Tech3-and-will-rely-on-Coleman-who-has-made-his-assessment.-It-is-a-team-with-exemplary-functioning./

 

https://europeanrugbyleague.com/articles/2156/european-rugby-league-appoint-richard-co...?

 

[PersonalResponsibility]

Quote

concerns have grown within the speedway community about Coleman’s lack of first-hand experience in running large-scale motorsport championships—outside of previously organizing the Cardiff Speedway GP as a local promoter.

If the Cardiff GPs that they "promoted" are being used to dispute his lack of experience then it's more worrying than we thought. 

Fingers crossed it's not as bad as it's being made out. The calendar has often been announced late in the year, so the end of October is hardly a cause for concern there.