Woffinden goes back-to-back in Prague

Australia’s Darcy Ward produced a stellar performance in the Czech FIM Speedway Grand Prix win in Prague on May 31, but it was reigning world champion Tai Woffinden who had the last laugh and ultimately stole the show.

Ward was the only rider to go through the preliminaries undefeated – five wins from as many starts – but his night then ended in the opening semi-final when he finished third behind Matej Zagar and Nicki Pedersen, with Ward’s compatriot Chris Holder fourth.

Woffinden then won the second semi ahead of Greg Hancock, and then continued his blazing form with victory in the final, besting Hancock, Zagar and Pedersen in the process.

Woffinden has now moved into a tie for the world championship lead with Hancock on 46 points – but it’s a clogged leaderboard with Ward next in line on 45 followed by Pedersen (44), Zagar (43), Krzysztof Kasprzak (42), Holder (40) and Fredrik Lindgren (38).

The second SGP win of Woffy's career holds extra significance, as seven of the last 10 world champions have won in Prague in their championship year, just as he did in 2013.

But the Scunthorpe-born rider is keen to make his own luck and not rely on omens.

"It was a great night for me. I made starts and I worked hard,” said Woffinden. “The rut I was in at the start of the season was pretty deep. I've never worked so hard to get out of it.

"I'm out of it now, but I need to keep building and get faster and faster. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season.

"I didn't expect to be leading at this point. The points at the moment are so close. We've still got a long way to go, though. I can't count my chickens before they've hatched. I'll keep pushing hard, working hard and make things right.”

Next on the calendar is Malilla’s return to the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series as venue for the Swedish SGP on June 14.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Tai Woffinden 46, 2 Greg Hancock 46, 3 Darcy Ward 45, 4 Nicki Pedersen 44,  5 Matej Zagar 43, 6 Krzysztof Kasprzak 42, 7 Chris Holder 40, 8 Fredrik Lindgren 38, 9 Martin Smolinski 37, 10 Niels-Kristian Iversen 35, 11 Jaroslaw Hampel 31, 12 Andreas Jonsson 31, 13 Kenneth Bjerre 22, 14 Troy Batchelor 21, 15 Chris Harris 12, 16 Adrian Miedzinski 5, 17 Joonas Kylmakorpi 5, 18 Kauko Nieminen 4, 19 Jason Bunyan 2, 20 Vaclav Milik 2.

PRAGUE SCORES: 1 Tai Woffinden 18, 2 Greg Hancock 12, 3 Matej Zagar 16, 4 Nicki Pedersen 10, 5 Darcy Ward 16, 6 Niels-Kristian Iversen 13, 7 Chris Holder 8, 8 Fredrik Lindgren 8, 9 Krzysztof Kasprzak 7, 10 Andreas Jonsson 7, 11 Martin Smolinski 6, 12 Chris Harris 6, 13 Kenneth Bjerre 4, 14 Troy Batchelor 3, 15 Vaclav Milik 2, 16 Jaroslaw Hampel 2, 17 Zdenek Holub DNR, 18 Michal Skurla DNR.
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