Woffinden wins second SGP title

Briton Tai Woffinden has won his second world speedway title in three years after sealing the deal in Poland on October 3.

The 25-year-old missed out on a semi-final berth at Torun, but with nearest rival and defending champion Greg Hancock failing to reach the final, it didn't matter. The Scunthorpe-born Perth-bred Woffinden now heads to the final round of the season at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium on October 24 with the weight of expectation lifted.

Woffinden joins Freddie Williams and Peter Craven in the elite club of British double world champions and is the 16th rider in history to lift the sport’s biggest prize multiple times.
He said: “I have worked hard this season and it paid off. I made a pretty big mistake in 2014. I didn’t do what I needed to do and I needed that to level me a bit so that I could start again this year.

“After the last three years, I think I’ve proved I’m one of those riders who is going to be at the top for a long time. I’ll just get my head down, focus and see how many titles we can get.

“I said before the meeting that I’d like to wrap it up in Torun. It didn’t happen the way I wanted it to. I would have liked to score the points to win it. It’s not really ideal to watch someone come last in a race for me to win the championship. But hey, that’s the way it is.

“I said to Greg when I gave him the trophy last year, ‘don’t get too comfortable because you’re giving me that back next year!’ That’s exactly what happened and we’ll see what happens in 2016.

“I want to say a massive thank you to my engine tuner Peter Johns, Monster Energy and all my sponsors, and my team mostly. I have the best mechanics in the world. They work so hard and we have proved that over the last three years.”

The final at Torun was won by Dane Nicki Pedersen ahead of Australia's Jason Doyle, who reach his maiden SGP final after a catalogue of near misses this season. His awesome 18pt haul pushed him up to fifth place in the world championship and the Aussie No.1 is determined to end his season on a high at the Etihad Stadium.

He said: “I’ve kept telling people I needed to get this monkey off my back with the semi-finals and finally make a final. To make a final and come second in my first year is an unreal experience. I’m over the moon with second. It’s like a win for me. What a night!

“To top the season off in Melbourne is great. I can’t wait to ride in front of my family, friends and the Australian public. It’ll be a memory never to forget.

“My main goal this year was to make the top eight and we are still going in the right direction. Hopefully I’m secure in there now and can go to Melbourne with no pressure.”

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Doyle's compatriots Chris Holder and Troy Batchelor scored 11 and 3pts respectively at Torun, with Holder likely to finish eighth in the 2015 championship which will guarantee him an automatic entry into the 2016 proceedings.

The Aussie championship regulars will be joined by wildcard Sam Masters at Etihad Stadium on October 24.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Tai Woffinden 151, 2 Greg Hancock 126, 3 Nicki Pedersen 124, 4 Niels-Kristian Iversen 105, 5 Jason Doyle 103, 6 Matej Zagar 100, 7 Maciej Janowski 95, 8 Chris Holder 93, 9 Peter Kildemand 79, 10 Michael Jepsen Jensen 77, 11 Andreas Jonsson 76, 12 Troy Batchelor 57, 13 Chris Harris 55, 14 Tomas H Jonasson 51, 15 Krzysztof Kasprzak 36, 16 Jaroslaw Hampel 31, 17 Antonio Lindback 20, 18 Bartosz Zmarzlik 17, 19 Piotr Pawlicki 8, 20 Craig Cook 7, 21 Mikkel Michelsen 6, 22 Tomasz Gollob 4, 23 Timo Lahti 3, 24 Kasts Puodzuks 3, 25 Vaclav Milik 2, 26 Robert Lambert 1, 27 Adrian Cyfer 1, 28 Aleksander Conda 1, 29 Denis Stojs 1.

TORUN SGP SCORES: 1 Nicki Pedersen 19, 2 Jason Doyle 18, 3 Maciej Janowski 11, 4 Niels-Kristian Iversen 10, 5 Chris Holder 11, 6 Andreas Jonsson 11, 7 Peter Kildemand 11, 8 Greg Hancock 8, 9 Tai Woffinden 8, 10 Piotr Pawlicki 7, 11 Matej Zagar 7, 12 Michael Jepsen Jensen 5, 13 Tomas H Jonasson 5, 14 Troy Batchelor 3, 15 Chris Harris 3, 16 Krzysztof Kasprzak 1, 17 Bartosz Zmarzlik DNR, 18 Pawel Przedpelski DNR.