Poland pips Australia in Speedway World Cup thriller

Poland is the Speedway World Cup (SWC) champion for the third time in five years after a dramatic last heat victory over Australia at Leszno on July 19.

The showpiece final, delayed from Saturday night until Sunday morning due to adverse weather conditions, saw the out-of-sorts Tomasz Gollob win heat 25 for the Poles to overhaul long-time leader Australia and land the trophy by just a solitary point.

It was the most remarkable vaudevillian finish to a SWC since the tournament was revamped in 2001, and means that Australia has now gone seven years since claiming the coveted trophy.

"It was a tough day, especially after the postponement on Saturday night," said Gollob. "Our coach believed we would win. When it stopped raining, he was motivating us all the time. It was not easy and I was not in the best mood in the pits.

"In my final race I had to win and that was the same situation as two years ago in Leszno. It was a good move to ride Krzysztof Kasprzak's bike.

"It was like a poker player's strategy. We had nothing to lose and everything to win. It was my first time on Krzysztof's bike, without any practice.

"I am so happy I won as I didn't want to let down the fans or my teammates, who had scored most of our points.

"I really wanted to win the World Cup for the third time. I am not the youngest of riders but I have still got a couple of years in front of me and I hope this is not my last major win."

There was a lengthy stoppage during heat 20 (which was being rerun after Russia’s Denis Gizatullin was excluded) for a heavy downpour and, at that stage Australia, which had led since heat 12, was out in front on 33pts, two ahead of Sweden and five in front of both Poland and Russia.

The Australians were unhappy with track conditions when the meeting finally resumed, but with four races left, they still held a 5pt advantage over Poland and Sweden.

That lead extended to six points over Poland when Jason Crump brilliantly passed Krzysztof Kasprzak on the last lap to win Heat 22 - but ironically it also proved the inadvertent catalyst for a stunning home comeback.

Though tactical joker Jarek Hampel was overhauled by Sweden’s Antonio Lindback in heat 23, his 4pts to the under-the-weather Davey Watt’s one meant that the difference between Australia and Poland was trimmed to three.

Hampel then came out again to win heat 24, with Australia’s Troy Batchelor, who replaced Adam Shields in the line-up, muscled out on the first lap to finish last, and Poland and Australia were level on 41pts apiece going into a last-heat decider.

Gollob, who had been jeered by the Polish fans after scoring only 3pts from four rides and finishing last in both his previous outings, chose to use Kasprzak’s bike and went off the inside gate. Off gate two for the Aussies was Leszno legend Leigh Adams, a rider who had spent 15 years with the host club in the Polish League.

When the tapes went up, it was the under-pressure Gollob who exploded into the lead and he rode the perfect line on an unfamiliar machine to keep Adams at bay and bring the house down for a partisan Polish crowd.

A fiercely-competitive meeting saw both Sweden, which briefly led after heat seven, and surprise qualifiers Russia use their tactical jokers to stay in contention.

The emerging Russians, who mustered only 4pts from the first eight races, played an excellent game of catch-up, with the richly-gifted Emil Sayfutdinov winning for 6pts in heat 11, and they briefly got their noses ahead of Sweden and Poland.

Sweden’s Andreas Jonsson also bagged the full 6pts in heat 19 just prior to the rain stoppage, but the underachieving Scandinavians then tailed off as Poland and Australia went down to the wire in a compelling climax to a wonderful week of speedway.

Adams and Jason Crump scored 12pts for Australia, ahead were well supported by Chris Holder (10pts).

For full results from the SCW decider, click here.