Holder and Doyle score solid points

Danish racer Peter Kildemand defied a hat-trick of crashes to land a dream Danish Speedway Grand Prix triumph on August 8.

The SGP first reserve, taking part in his home event as a substitute for injured Polish star Jaroslaw Hampel, topped the rostrum ahead of Matej Zagar and fellow Danish international Michael Jepsen Jensen.

World championship leader Tai Woffinden was excluded from the final after being adjudged to have caused Kildemand’s third crash of the night, but he still left Denmark with a bigger lead in the standings — now 13pts (91 to 78) over Nicki Pedersen, followed by reigning world champion Greg Hancock (65), Zagar (65) and Aussie Chris Holder (61).

Holder was eliminated in the opening semi-final at the CASA Arena in Horsens, and then compatriot Jason Doyle (pictured) similarly bowed out in the second. Doyle is seventh in the standings, only 1pt behind Holder, with the third Australian, Troy Batchelor, in 13th on 36pts. Batchelor was 14th in Denmark.

Kildemand was delighted he and his machines came through such a turbulent meeting with an unforgettable result. The Odense-born rider said: “This is absolutely perfect. It was a tough night. I had to pick myself up off the deck a few times and fair play to the boys in the pits. They got the bikes going again and it was tough work for them.

“The bikes were pretty damaged every time I went down. So it was an absolutely great job by them. When I crossed the finish line and I’d won it, it was like time stood still for a few seconds. I’m just so glad. Every time I go to a GP, I go to win it. Right now, it’s a feeling I want to have more often.

“It’s amazing. It was a tough night and it didn’t always go the way I hoped, but I’m so glad to win it. It was my first time in Horsens. It was an amazing stadium and the track guys did some good work.”

Meanwhile, Zagar passed Jepsen Jensen for second on the last lap of the final to deny the home fans a dream Danish 1-2.

Next up on the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix calendar is Poland on August 29, with Melbourne's Etihad Stadium to host the finale on Saturday, October 24. In Melbourne, Holder, Doyle and Batchelor will be joined by a fourth as-yet unnamed Aussie.

BUY TICKETS TO MELBOURNE WORLD SPEEDWAY ROUND

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Tai Woffinden 91, 2 Nicki Pedersen 78, 3 Greg Hancock 65, 4 Matej Zagar 65, 5 Chris Holder 61, 6 Niels-Kristian Iversen 60, 7 Jason Doyle 60, 8 Maciej Janowski 58, 9 Michael Jepsen Jensen 54, 10 Andreas Jonsson 45, 11 Tomas H Jonasson 37, 12 Peter Kildemand 37, 13 Troy Batchelor 36, 14 Chris Harris 34, 15 Jaroslaw Hampel 31, 16 Krzysztof Kasprzak 25, 17 Antonio Lindback 14, 18 Craig Cook 7, 19 Mikkel Michelsen 6, 20 Tomasz Gollob 4, 21 Bartosz Zmarzlik 3, 22 Timo Lahti 3, 23 Kasts Puodzuks 3, 24 Vaclav Milik 2, 25 Piotr Pawlicki 1, 26 Robert Lambert 1.

DANISH SGP SCORES: 1 Peter Kildemand 14, 2 Matej Zagar 12, 3 Michael Jepsen Jensen 13, 4 Tai Woffinden 11, 5 Maciej Janowski 12, 6 Jason Doyle 12, 7 Chris Holder 10, 8 Nicki Pedersen 7, 9 Andreas Jonsson 7, 10 Greg Hancock 7, 11 Niels-Kristian Iversen 7, 12 Tomas H Jonasson 7, 13 Mikkel Michelsen 6, 14 Troy Batchelor 6, 15 Krzysztof Kasprzak 4, 16 Chris Harris 2, 17 Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen DNR, 18 Anders Thomsen DNR.