Speedway: SGP title race hots up

AFTER POLISH BATTLELadies and Gentlemen, we have a title race on our hands.The seventh instalment of this year’s Speedway Grand Prix may just have been the best yet and it has blown the world title race wide open with four rounds to go.17,000 people packed in to the Edward Jancarz Stadium in Gorzow and created a cauldron of noise and anticipation, and if it had a roof it would’ve been long gone by the time the action started.Greg Hancock held a 12-point cushion over his rivals going into the meeting and that advantage was slashed down to seven by Australian Jason Doyle as he got the better of the other man chasing Hancock – Tai Woffinden – in a final that was good enough to be the showpiece of any event.Two eyes weren’t enough to watch all the action in the final because while Doyle and Woffinden were throwing the bikes at each other up front, Chris Holder was busy trying to edge ahead of hometown hero Bartek Zmarzlik and after four enthralling laps, he eventually got the nod and joined Doyle and Woffy on the podium.The battle at the front was epic, with Woffy hugging the inside and looking to have thwarted Doyle for good until the last bend, when the Aussie racer pinned it to the fence and squeezed by to take his second GP victory and put even more pressure on Hancock at the top of the standings.Nobody creates an atmosphere quite like the Polish fans and they were at their vociferous best, especially when a home rider took a win. The early running was made by Doyle and Zmarzlik, while there was a return to form for triple world champion Nicki Pedersen too.It was actually Holder who topped the scorechart after the qualifying races though and he provided further evidence that he’s back to his hard-charging best, ending his night on 15 points and moving into fourth place overall.He’s just nine back on Woffinden, and he was happy to get back on the steps after a tough run; “Points wise it was a great night for me, it’s a tricky one because I don’t really like the track here. I’ve been on the podium here twice but I’m not sure how, in the league I’m terrible here but I got a few points and was winning races so it felt good,” he said.“It was a good battle with Bartek in the final, he doesn’t lose many races here so it was hard. You were trying to do your own thing but trying to watch what everyone else was doing at the same time and trying not to get cut up by somebody! I’m pleased to finish third and get an extra point out of it.“It’s so tight this year, it’s really easy to drop down the standings, so obviously I want to keep going forward but when the two boys sat next to me keep scoring points is hard to claw some back!”It was a good night’s work for Woffinden too, who was pleased with his score despite just missing out on the win.“It’s nice to be back on the podium, we closed the gap on Greg and Jason pegged some on me but as you can see from the racing, it’s going to be a tough one but I’m pretty excited.“You know, even though I came second I enjoyed that race more than the last time I won. This one was more enjoyable because I got to race against my mates and have fun, obviously I wanted to win but I enjoyed it so much and you can’t ask for more than that. It’s gunna be close now for the title but I know I have what it takes, so we’ll see how we go.”The next round takes place in Teterow, Germany for the first German GP since 2007 and heading into it, Hancock has a lead of seven points on Doyle, with Woffinden a further point back.Buckle up, because it’s going to be one hell of a ride for the last four rounds and you aren’t going to want to miss a thing.Polish Speedway Grand Prix Result;1 - Jason Doyle (16 points)2 – Tai Woffinden (15 points)3 – Chris Holder (15 points)4 – Bartek Zmarzlik (14 points)Series Top Eight1 – Greg Hancock (94 points)2 – Jason Doyle (87 points)3 – Tai Woffinden (86 points)4 – Chris Holder (77 points)5 – Bartek Zmarzlik (75 points)6 – Maciej Janowski (70 points)7 – Antonio Lindback (64 points)8 – Piotr Pawlicki (60 points)


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