Great Britain’s Tai Woffinden admits missing out on a medal in 2014 has proved a blessing in disguise after he closed in on FIM Speedway World Championship No.2 with victory in the Stockholm SGP.
The Scunthorpe-born star picked up his second win of the season at the Friends Arena after seeing off defending world champ Greg Hancock, Niels-Kristian Iversen and Maciej Janowski in the final.
Woffinden left the Swedish capital with 16 World Championship points – the same tally as second-placed Hancock, meaning the 25-year-old retained his 25-point advantage at the top of the standings.
As a result, Woffy needs just 18 points over the final two rounds in Torun next Saturday and Melbourne on October 24 to secure the sport’s biggest prize.
But despite taking another stride closer, Woffinden remains grounded and admits finishing fourth last year and losing his crown to Hancock helped him keep his feet on the ground and remain level-headed.
He said: “I’m excited. This year has gone really well for me. I can probably say that after 2013, I got a little bit arrogant. Not to the public or to anyone; just within myself. I had a tough year last year and I’ve bounced back. I needed that year to level me again.
“This year I’m just in cruise mode. When it happens, it happens. It’s a strange feeling to get on the bike and know you can put it anywhere you want, whenever you want, and it’s going to go well.
“I’d like to say thanks to all my sponsors, especially Monster Energy. I’d like to thank all the riders for another great meeting. Everyone was pretty fair and got stuck in, so that’s great to see. That was a great crowd in Sweden and thanks to everyone back in the UK.”
Woffinden has scored seven points on his two previous appearances at the Friends Arena, breaking his collarbone there in 2013 and racing with an injured hand last year. So he’s delighted to leave with a useful points tally and a clean bill of health.
He said: “I guess I was thinking a little bit about my previous years here. The first season I broke my collarbone, so that was a tough one. The following year was after I had an injury. I scored seven points in both those years. I’m glad I got this out of the way and got the points I needed.”
This was Hancock’s 35th SGP appearance in Sweden – the nation he calls home during the European season. He’s still chasing his first victory in the country, but was delighted to reach a third straight Friends Arena final.
He said: “It looks pretty good. I’ve still got this bad omen that I can’t win a round in Sweden.
"I’ve had some good success here at the Friends Arena, though. It’s a great place, and you know I’m a big fan of Sweden.”
Hancock admits Woffinden will take some stopping with just two rounds to race. But he said: “As long as there’s a chance, I’ll never give up. When you have a guy like Tai, who is riding on top of the world, it’s tough. You can only cling on to a little hope, but the reality is this guy is fast.”
Danish champion Niels-Kristian Iversen was more than happy with third spot as he continues his strong end to 2015, moving up to fourth place and within 10 points of Nicki Pedersen in third.
He said: “It was good. I started off pretty well. I had two races where I had to work pretty hard for it. I’m pretty happy with third.
“To get a podium is a good achievement. Things haven’t come so easily this year. I’ve had to work pretty hard to get anything. So I have really enjoyed this result.
“I came back from injury after last year and the beginning of the season was quite tough. When you start off the season badly, it’s quite difficult. But the last couple of GPs have been good. This is another step in the right direction.”
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.
STOCKHOLM SGP SCORES: 1. Tai Woffinden 16, 2. Greg Hancock 16, 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 14, 4. Maciej Janowski 12, 5. Andreas Jonsson 10, 6. Peter Kildemand 9, 7. Chris Harris 9, 8. Jason Doyle 8, 9. Nicki Pedersen 7, 10. Tomas H Jonasson 6, 11. Michael Jepsen Jensen 6, 12. Antonio Lindback 6, 13. Krzysztof Kasprzak 6, 14. Troy Batchelor 5, 15. Chris Holder 4, 16. Matej Zagar 4, 17. Fredrik Lindgren DNR, 18. Kim Nilsson DNR.
Speedway GP