2014 Speedway Grand Prix

The 2014 Speedway Grand Prix season was the 69th edition of the official World Championship[1][2] and the 20th season of the Speedway Grand Prix era, deciding the FIM Speedway World Championship. It was the fourteenth series under the promotion of Benfield Sports International, an IMG company. Tai Woffinden was the defending champion from 2013.

2014 Speedway Grand Prix
Season details
Dates5 April – 11 October
Events12
Riders15 permanents
1 wild card(s)
2 track reserves
Heats276 (in 12 events)
Winners
Champion USA Greg Hancock
Runner-up POL Krzysztof Kasprzak
3rd place DEN Nicki Pedersen

Greg Hancock won his third world title, after taking top-five placings in all but one race he contested, including a victory at the British round, in Cardiff. Hancock won the title by eight points ahead of Krzysztof Kasprzak, who was the season's most frequent winner, with three victories. Third place in the championship was decided in a run-off at the final round of the season at Torún in Poland. Three-time world champion Nicki Pedersen and defending champion Woffinden – a winner in back-to-back events in Prague and Målilla, Sweden – finished tied on points, but Pedersen clinched the position after beating Woffinden in the run-off.

Aside from Hancock, Kasprzak and Woffinden, six other riders won rounds during the season. Martin Smolinski was the winner of the opening race in Auckland; it was his first victory in the series. Like Smolinski, Slovenia's Matej Žagar was a first-time winner in the Finnish round at Tampere, en route to a fifth-place finish in the championship. Niels Kristian Iversen and Jarosław Hampel, who finished third and second behind Woffinden in 2013, each won races; Iversen won in Copenhagen while Hampel triumphed at Stockholm. Other winners were Andreas Jonsson in Vojens and Bartosz Zmarzlik, who won on a wildcard appearance, on home soil, at the Edward Jancarz Stadium.

Darcy Ward failed a pre-meeting alcohol breath test before the Latvian Grand Prix and received an immediate ban.[3]

Qualification

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For the 2014 season there were 15 permanent riders, joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card and two track reserves.

The top eight riders from the 2013 championship qualified automatically. In March 2014, before the start of the season, Emil Sayfutdinov – who finished sixth in 2013 – elected not to compete in 2014 series, because he has failed to recover from serious injuries sustained the previous season. He was replaced by second substitute Troy Batchelor.[4] Those riders were joined by three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Challenge. Since the winner of the Grand Prix Challenge, Niels Kristian Iversen, had already qualified following his third position in the 2013 championship, fourth-placed Martin Smolinski qualified.

The final four riders were nominated by series promoters, Benfield Sports International, following the completion of the 2013 season.[5] Early in October 2013, former world champion Tomasz Gollob accepted a nomination for the series, but later withdrew from the competition due to unforeseen developments in his sponsorship program. He was replaced by first substitute Chris Harris.[6]

Qualified riders

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# Riders 2013 place GP Ch place Appearance Previous appearances in series
1   Tai Woffinden 1 3rd 2010, 2011, 2013
33   Jarosław Hampel 2 9th 2000–2002, 2004–2007, 2008–2009, 2010–2013
88   Niels Kristian Iversen 3 1 4th 2004–2005, 2006, 2008, 2009–2010, 2013
45   Greg Hancock 4 20th 1995–2013
5   Nicki Pedersen 5 14th 2000, 2001–2013
55   Matej Žagar 7 4th 2003–2005, 2006–2007, 2008–2009, 2011, 2013
43   Darcy Ward 8 2nd 2011, 2013
507   Krzysztof Kasprzak 10 2 3rd 2004–2007, 2008, 2012, 2013
66   Fredrik Lindgren 11 7th 2004, 2006–2007, 2008–2013
23   Chris Holder 12 5th 2010–2013
100   Andreas Jonsson 13 13th 2001, 2002–2013
91   Kenneth Bjerre 3 5th 2004–2008, 2009–2012
84   Martin Smolinski 4 1st 2008
37   Chris Harris 20 5 7th 2003, 2007–2012, 2013
75   Troy Batchelor 6 1st 2013

Qualified substitute

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The following rider qualified as a substitute due to their result in the Grand Prix Challenge.[5]

# Riders 2013 place GP Ch place
19   (19) Michael Jepsen Jensen 21 7

Calendar

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The 2014 season consisted of 12 events, just like 2013.

Round Date City and venue Winner Runner-up 3rd placed 4th placed Results
1 5 April   Auckland , New Zealand
Western Springs Stadium
  Martin Smolinski   Nicki Pedersen   Krzysztof Kasprzak   Fredrik Lindgren results
2 26 April   Bydgoszcz, Poland
Polonia Stadium
  Krzysztof Kasprzak   Darcy Ward   Jarosław Hampel   Greg Hancock results
3 17 May   Tampere , Finland
Tampere Stadium
  Matej Žagar   Tai Woffinden   Fredrik Lindgren   Greg Hancock results
4 31 May   Prague , Czech Republic
Markéta Stadium
  Tai Woffinden   Greg Hancock   Matej Žagar   Nicki Pedersen results
5 14 June   Målilla , Sweden
G&B Stadium
  Tai Woffinden   Greg Hancock   Chris Holder   Jarosław Hampel results
6 28 June   Copenhagen , Denmark
Parken Stadium
  Niels Kristian Iversen   Troy Batchelor   Greg Hancock   Peter Kildemand results
7 12 July   Cardiff , Great Britain
Millennium Stadium
  Greg Hancock   Tai Woffinden   Darcy Ward   Krzysztof Kasprzak results
8 17 August   Daugavpils, Latvia
Latvijas Spīdveja Centrs
  Krzysztof Kasprzak   Nicki Pedersen   Greg Hancock   Kenneth Bjerre results
9 30 August   Gorzów Wielkopolski , Poland
Jancarz Stadium
  Bartosz Zmarzlik   Matej Žagar   Krzysztof Kasprzak   Michael Jepsen Jensen results
10 13 September   Vojens , Denmark
Speedway Center
  Andreas Jonsson   Peter Kildemand   Krzysztof Kasprzak   Troy Batchelor results
11 27 September   Stockholm , Sweden
Friends Arena
  Jarosław Hampel   Greg Hancock   Krzysztof Kasprzak   Chris Holder results
12 11 October   Toruń , Poland
Rose Motoarena
  Krzysztof Kasprzak   Andreas Jonsson   Jarosław Hampel   Nicki Pedersen results

Classification

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Qualifies for next season's Grand Prix series
Full-time Grand Prix rider
Wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
Pos. Rider Points NZL
 
EUR
 
FIN
 
CZE
 
SWE
 
DEN
 
GBR
 
LAT
 
POL
 
NOR
 
SCA
 
PL2
 
    (45) Greg Hancock 140 6 16 12 12 16 11 14 16 9 15 13
    (507) Krzysztof Kasprzak 132 17 18 7 0 7 10 17 16 12 11 17
    (5) Nicki Pedersen 121 19 5 10 10 11 5 8 18 7 8 6 14
4   (1) Tai Woffinden 121 7 5 16 18 17 9 18 8 7 7 9
5   (55) Matej Žagar 114 6 6 15 16 10 7 6 9 16 6 12 5
6   (100) Andreas Jonsson 103 7 10 7 7 4 6 8 6 4 15 12 17
7   (23) Chris Holder 100 11 11 10 8 15 6 9 10 13 7
8   (33) Jarosław Hampel 98 8 14 7 2 13 10 5 4 0 3 21 11
9   (75) Troy Batchelor 91 4 4 10 3 5 20 3 8 9 13 6 6
10   (66) Fredrik Lindgren 90 13 5 12 8 5 4 10 6 6 9 9 3
11   (88) Niels Kristian Iversen 87 6 10 6 13 11 16 12 7 6
12   (84) Martin Smolinski 81 15 7 9 6 3 5 8 6 5 6 7 4
13   (91) Kenneth Bjerre 79 11 4 3 4 10 3 4 11 10 10 1 8
14   (43) Darcy Ward 75 5 16 8 16 6 9 15
15   (37) Chris Harris 48 0 2 4 6 5 3 6 3 6 5 4 4
16   (19) Michael Jepsen Jensen 42 8 9 14 7 4
17   (16) Peter Kildemand 33 15 18
18   (16) Bartosz Zmarzlik 17 17
19   (16) Adrian Miedziński 14 5 9
20   (17) Kjasts Puodžuks 10 10
21   (16) Thomas H. Jonasson 7 7
22   (16) Peter Ljung 7 7
23   (18) Mikkel B. Jensen 7 7
24   (20) Maciej Janowski 7 7
25   (16) Joonas Kylmäkorpi 5 5
26   (17) Kauko Nieminen 4 4
27   (17) Paweł Przedpełski 4 4
28   (16) Andžejs Ļebedevs 3 3
29   (20) Kim Nilsson 3 3
30   (16) Jason Bunyan 2 2
31   (16) Craig Cook 2 2
32   (16) Vaclav Milik 2 2
33   (17) Adrian Cyfer 2 2
34   (18) Lukasz Kaczmarek 2 2
35   (18) Lasse Bjerre 1 1
Pos. Rider Points NZL
 
EUR
 
FIN
 
CZE
 
SWE
 
DEN
 
GBR
 
LAT
 
POL
 
NOR
 
SCA
 
PL2
 

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Darcy Ward: Poole Pirates do not expect star to race again in 2014". BBC Sport. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  4. ^ "EMIL OUT OF SGP 2014". speedwaygp.com. 4 March 2014. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  5. ^ a b "CHAMPS HANDED SGP WILD CARDS". speedwaygp.com. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  6. ^ "HARRIS REPLACES GOLLOB IN SGP". speedwaygp.com. 11 December 2013. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
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