Great Britain hero Tai Woffinden can win the FIM Speedway World Championship on Saturday – but he’s trying not to think about it!
Woffinden is on the verge of a second crown in three seasons as he takes a 25-point lead into the FST Grupa Brokerska Torun FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland – the penultimate round of the SGP series.
He needs 18 points from the next two rounds to strike gold, regardless of what nearest rival, defending champion Greg Hancock does.
That target reduces with every point the American icon drops, but Woffinden insists he is only interested in his own form and doesn’t take any notice of Hancock’s scoring power.
He said: “I’m not saying I can win it this weekend. I understand why people talk like that, but I’m not suggesting it. I’m just going to Torun with a relaxed attitude to try and score as many points as I can.
“I’m just enjoying my racing so much at the moment. I like the Torun track, it’s a great race track and I’m really looking forward to going there and enjoying myself. The crowd are always amazing and it’s a good place to ride speedway, so I’ve got nothing but positive thoughts going into Saturday’s meeting there.
“I don’t think about what the other guys are doing because I’m the one with the lead right now, and as long as I keep feeling good about myself and my form then why should I worry about anything else?
“The bikes are going well, my team are working well and everything is in place for Saturday. I will go there to try and win races as I always do and then see where that takes us.”
Hancock is ever the optimist and refuses to give up hope of reeling in Woffinden. He has recorded a win and two second places in the last three rounds, but accepts his early-season form should have been better.
He said: “I feel good. I’m really happy with everything. You have to live on your optimism. But the truth of the matter is without anything silly, which we never wish for, Tai is riding on the crest of a wave and it’s very difficult to stop a guy like that. The only thing I could have done is got my act together a little bit earlier.
“Tai is in a good place right now because he can see with his riding ability and what he’s doing that he’s pretty confident.”
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Tai Woffinden 143, 2 Greg Hancock 118, 3 Nicki Pedersen 105, 4 Niels-Kristian Iversen 95, 5 Matej Zagar 93, 6 Jason Doyle 85, 7 Maciej Janowski 84, 8 Chris Holder 82, 9 Michael Jepsen Jensen 72, 10 Peter Kildemand 68, 11 Andreas Jonsson 65, 12 Troy Batchelor 54, 13 Chris Harris 52, 14 Tomas H Jonasson 46, 15 Krzysztof Kasprzak 35, 16 Jaroslaw Hampel 31, 17 Antonio Lindback 20, 18 Bartosz Zmarzlik 17, 19 Craig Cook 7, 20 Mikkel Michelsen 6, 21 Tomasz Gollob 4, 22 Timo Lahti 3, 23 Kasts Puodzuks 3, 24 Vaclav Milik 2, 25 Piotr Pawlicki 1, 26 Robert Lambert 1, 27 Adrian Cyfer 1, 28 Aleksander Conda 1, 29 Denis Stojs 1.
FST GRUPA BROKERSKA TORUN FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX OF POLAND LINE-UP (in ranking order with rider numbers): 45 Greg Hancock (USA), 507 Krzysztof Kasprzak (Poland), 3 Nicki Pedersen (Denmark), 108 Tai Woffinden (Great Britain), 55 Matej Zagar (Slovenia), 100 Andreas Jonsson (Sweden), 23 Chris Holder (Australia), 19 Peter Kildemand (Denmark – substitute for 33 Jaroslaw Hampel), 75 Troy Batchelor (Australia), 88 Niels-Kristian Iversen (Denmark), 37 Chris Harris (Great Britain), 69 Jason Doyle (Australia), 71 Maciej Janowski (Poland), 52 Michael Jepsen Jensen (Denmark), 30 Tomas H Jonasson (Sweden), 16 Pawel Przedpelski (Poland – wild card). Track reserves: 17 Piotr Pawlicki (Poland), 18 Bartosz Zmarzlik (Poland).
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