2018 FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX WORLD CHAMPION
WOOFY, WOOFY, WOOFY!
Tai Woffinden became the first British rider ever to be crowned as a three-time FIM Speedway World Champion and secure his status as a true legend of the sport at the final round of the 2018 season in Toruń, Poland.
After another strong and consistent campaign, ‘Woofy’ headed into a title showdown with Bartosz Zmarzlik in front of 20,000 passionate fans at the Pole’s home round in Toruń needing just twelve points to claim the title. However, Zmarzlik produced an inspired performance to take four straight heat victories and keep the pressure on the British rider, who looked like he might have cracked in heat 11 when he crashed and suffered a suspected broken metacarpal in his foot.
Woffinden rode through the pain barrier and after a victory in heat 20 he took second place in the semi-final to wrap up the championship. The gritty Brit then rode with the shackles off in the final to win his second Grand Prix in a row and top the podium, inflicting Artem Laguta’s sole loss of a sensational night.
The championship runner-up spot for Zmarzlik, upgrading the bronze medal he won in 2016 to silver, was just reward for a strong season that included a famous win at Woffinden’s home round in Cardiff, whilst Lindgren’s first ever World Championship medal was the ideal way to bounce back after his 2017 season was ended by a spinal injury.
Woffinden, who also took gold in 2013 and 2015, surpasses fellow countrymen Freddie Williams and Peter Craven on two world titles and has already set his sights on matching Ivan Mauger and Tony Rickardsson’s record haul of six. His more immediate target for next season, though, is to retain the title for the first time and become only the third rider to do so in the SGP era since 1995.
PALMARES
3 World titles – 2018, 2015, 2013