2018 Speedway Grand Prix
24th season of the Speedway Grand Prix
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The 2018 Speedway Grand Prix season was the 24th season of the Speedway Grand Prix era, and decided the 73rd FIM Speedway World Championship.[1][2] It was the eighteenth series under the promotion of Benfield Sports International, an IMG company.
| 2018 Speedway Grand Prix | |
|---|---|
| Season details | |
| Dates | May 12 – October 6 |
| Events | 10 |
| Cities | 10 |
| Countries | 7 |
| Riders | 15 permanents 1 wild card(s) 2 track reserves |
| Heats | 230 (in 10 events) |
| Winners | |
| Champion |  GBR Tai Woffinden |
| Runner-up |  POL Bartosz Zmarzlik |
| 3rd place |  SWE Fredrik Lindgren |
The world title was won by Tai Woffinden, who finished 10 points ahead of Bartosz Zmarzlik in second with Fredrik Lindgren taking the bronze medal. It was Woffinden's third world title, following his wins in 2013 and 2015, making him the most successful British rider in history. Defending champion Jason Doyle finished the season in seventh place.
Qualification
For the 2018 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 2017 championship qualified automatically. Those riders were joined by the three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Challenge.
The final four riders were nominated by series promoters, Benfield Sports International, following the completion of the 2017 season.[3]
Qualified riders
| # | Riders | 2017 place | GP Ch place | Appearance | Previous appearances in series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69 |  Jason Doyle | 1 | — | 4th | 2015–2017 |
| 692 | Patryk Dudek | 2 | 3 | 2nd | 2016, 2017 |
| 108 | Tai Woffinden | 3 | — | 7th | 2010, 2011, 2013–2017 |
| 71 | Maciej Janowski | 4 | — | 4th | 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015–2017 |
| 95 | Bartosz Zmarzlik | 5 | — | 3rd | 2012–2015, 2016–2017 |
| 89 |  Emil Sayfutdinov | 6 | — | 7th | 2009–2013, 2017 |
| 55 |  Matej Žagar | 7 | 12 | 8th | 2003–2005, 2006–2007, 2008–2009, 2011, 2013–2017 |
| 66 | Fredrik Lindgren | 8 | — | 9th | 2004, 2006–2007, 2008–2014, 2016, 2017 |
| 54 |  Martin Vaculík | 9 | 17 | 3rd | 2012, 2013, 2017 |
| 23 | Chris Holder | 10 | — | 9th | 2010–2017 |
| 45 |  Greg Hancock | 14 | — | 24th | 1995–2017 |
| 110 |  Nicki Pedersen | 20 | — | 18th | 2000, 2001–2017 |
| 59 | Przemysław Pawlicki | 29 | 1 | 1st | 2010, 2012, 2017 |
| 222 | Artem Laguta | — | 2 | 2nd | 2011 |
| 111 | Craig Cook | 32 | 4 | 1st | 2013–2015, 2017 |
Qualified substitutes
The following riders were nominated as substitutes:
| # | Riders | 2017 place | GP Ch place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | Niels Kristian Iversen | 15 | — |
| 225 |  Václav Milík Jr. | 16 | 8 |
| 53 | Linus Sundström | 32 | — |
| 133 | Maksym Drabik | — | — |
| 46 | Max Fricke | 18 | — |
Calendar
The 2018 season consisted of 10 events, two less than the 2017 series.[4]
Final Classification
| Qualifies for next season's Grand Prix series |
| Full-time Grand Prix rider |
| Wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | POL | CZE | DEN | SWE | GBR | SCA | PL2 | SVN | GER  | PL3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
(108) Tai Woffinden (C)
|
139 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 16 | 15 |
 |
(95) Bartosz Zmarzlik
|
129 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 14 | 18 | 12 | 15 | 15 |
 |
(66) Fredrik Lindgren
|
109 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 11 |
| 4 | (71) Maciej Janowski
|
104 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 6 |
| 5 | (45) Greg Hancock
|
102 | 8 | 7 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 12 | 9 |
| 6 | (222) Artem Laguta
|
97 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 20 |
| 7 | (69) Jason Doyle
|
93 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 16 | 7 |
| 8 | (89) Emil Sayfutdinov
|
89 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 |
| 9 | (692) Patryk Dudek
|
84 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 16 | – | – |
| 10 | (55) Matej Žagar
|
79 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 11 | – | 12 | 6 |
| 11 | (110) Nicki Pedersen
|
74 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| 12 | (23) Chris Holder
|
65 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 5 |
| 13 | (54) Martin Vaculík
|
52 | – | – | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 18 | 9 | 0 | 8 |
| 14 | (88) Niels-Kristian Iversen
|
36 | 4 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | 12 | 10 |
| 15 | (59) Przemysław Pawlicki
|
36 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 16 | (111) Craig Cook
|
30 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | – |
| 17 | (16) Vaclav Milik
|
11 | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 |
| 18 | (16) Szymon Woźniak
|
8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | – | – | – |
| 19 | (16) Krzysztof Kasprzak
|
7 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | (16) Andreas Jonsson
|
7 | – | – | – | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 21 | (16) Peter Ljung
|
5 | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| 22 | (16) Michael Jepsen Jensen
|
4 | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 23 | (17) Oliver Berntzon
|
3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 24 | (18) Kevin Wölbert
|
3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – |
| 25 | (17) Maksym Drabik
|
2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 26 | (18) Bartosz Smektała
|
2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 27 | (16) Kai Huckenbeck
|
2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – |
| 28 | (16) Daniel Kaczmarek
|
2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| 29 | (17) Mikkel Michelsen
|
1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 30 | (16) Robert Lambert
|
1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 31 | (18) Joel Kling
|
1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | (17) Martin Smolinski
|
1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| 33 | (18) Mikkel Bech Jensen
|
0 | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 34 | (17) Dan Bewley
|
0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 35 | (16) Matic Ivačič
|
0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – |
| 36 | (17) Nick Škorja
|
0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – |
| 37 | (17) Igor Kopeć-Sobczyński
|
0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | POL | CZE | DEN | SWE | GBR | SCA | PL2 | SVN | GER | PL3 |