2024 Speedway Grand Prix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 2024 Speedway Grand Prix | |
|---|---|
| Season details | |
| Dates | 27 April – 28 September |
| Events | 11 |
| Cities | 11 |
| Countries | 8 |
| Riders | 15 permanents 1 wild card(s) 2 track reserves |
| Heats | 253 (in 11 events) |
| Winners | |
| Champion |  POL Bartosz Zmarzlik |
| Runner-up |  GBR Robert Lambert |
| 3rd place |  SWE Fredrik Lindgren |
The 2024 Speedway Grand Prix season was the 30th season of the Speedway Grand Prix era, and decided the 79th FIM Speedway World Championship.[1] It was the third series promoted by Discovery Sports Events. A new sprint race was introduced at selected Grand Prix during the qualifying session, with the fastest rider in each qualifying session progressing to a single race for extra points. The idea behind the sprint race was similar to that brought into the Formula One, whereby the qualifying sessions were given more importance.[2]
Bartosz Zmarzlik successfully defended the title, which was his third in a row and a fifth overall. Robert Lambert took second place with Fredrik Lindgren in third.
Jack Holder won the opening round, which was the first Grand Prix win of his career.[3] After Jason Doyle won round two, Mikkel Michelsen won his maiden Grand Prix by claiming the German Grand Prix.[4] Doyle was later ruled out for four months after suffering a torn rotator cuff and tendon damage after a crash at Ipswich, ending his hopes of a second world title.[5]
By winning the 2024 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden, Zmarzlik broke Jason Crump's all-time record of 23 Grand Prix wins, although ten of them were won on home soil, whereas Crump's were all outside of Australia.[6]
Qualification
For the 2024 season there were 15 permanent riders, who were joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card and two track reserves. The top six riders from the 2023 championship qualified automatically. These riders were joined by the three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Challenge and the 2023 Speedway European Championship winner. The final five riders were nominated by the SGP Commission.[1]
Qualified riders
| # | Riders | 2023 place | GP Ch place | Permanent rider appearance | Previous appearances in series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95 | Bartosz Zmarzlik | 1 | — | 9th | 2012–2015, 2016–2023 |
| 66 | Fredrik Lindgren | 2 | — | 15th | 2004, 2006–2007, 2008–2014, 2016, 2017–2023 |
| 54 |  Martin Vaculík | 3 | 2 | 9th | 2012, 2013, 2017–2023 |
| 25 |  Jack Holder | 4 | — | 3rd | 2016, 2020, 2022–2023 |
| 30 |  Leon Madsen | 5 | — | 6th | 2010, 2013, 2019–2023 |
| 505 | Robert Lambert | 6 | 4 | 4th | 2015, 2018–2019, 2021–2023 |
| 99 | Dan Bewley | 7 | — | 3rd | 2018, 2022–2023 |
| 69 | Jason Doyle | 8 | 1 | 10th | 2015–2023 |
| 108 | Tai Woffinden | 11 | — | 13th | 2010, 2011, 2013–2023 |
| 155 | Mikkel Michelsen | 12 | — | 4th | 2015, 2018–2019, 2020, 2021, 2022–2023 |
| 29 |  Andžejs Ļebedevs | 16 | 7 | 1st | 2013–2014, 2022–2023 |
| 744 |  Kai Huckenbeck | 17 | — | 1st | 2017–2019, 2022–2023 |
| 415 | Dominik Kubera | =21 | — | 1st | 2021, 2023 |
| 48 | Szymon Woźniak | =26 | 3 | 1st | 2018, 2022–2023 |
| 201 |  Jan Kvěch | =31 | 5 | 1st | 2020–2023 |
Qualified substitutes
The following riders were nominated as substitutes:
| # | Riders | 2023 place | GP Ch place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | Max Fricke | 9 | — |
| 71 | Maciej Janowski | 14 | — |
| 233 | Kim Nilsson | 13 | — |
| 67 | Rasmus Jensen | =19 | — |
| 22 |  Luke Becker | =24 | 8 |
| 96 |  Dimitri Bergé | — | 10 |
| 842 | Mateusz Cierniak | — | — |
