The 2008 Speedway Grand Prix was the 63rd edition of the official World Championship and the 14th season in the Speedway Grand Prix used to determine the Speedway World Champion. It was the second under the promotion of IMG.
Event format The format for 2008 was the same as that used in 2007 with 16 riders taking part in each Grand Prix. Over the course of 20 heats each rider raced against every other rider once. The top eight scorers advanced to a semi-final and from each semi-final the first and second placed riders advanced to the GP final.
All rides count towards Grand Prix points totals, including the semi-final and final, which counts double (6-4-2-0) and therefore the maximum points for a single Grand Prix is 24 (five heat wins, semi final win and final win). This format means that the winner of each Grand Prix may not be the rider who scores most GP points from each race.
Qualification For the 2008 season, there were 15 permanent riders who were joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card and two track reserves.
2007 Grand Prix
The top eight riders from the 2007 championship qualified as of right. These eight qualifiers were, in championship order:
(1) Nicki Pedersen (2) Leigh Adams (3) Jason Crump (4) Tomasz Gollob (5) Hans Andersen (6) Greg Hancock (7) Rune Holta (8) Scott Nicholls Grand Prix Challenge
The top eight riders from 2007 were joined by three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Challenge. These riders were, in order by qualifying position:
(12) Niels Kristian Iversen (13) Lukáš Dryml (11) Bjarne Pedersen
Nominations
The final four riders were nominated by series promoters, Benfield Sports International, following the completion of the 2007 season.
(9) Chris Harris (British SGP Winner) (10) Andreas Jonsson (Danish and German SGP Winner) (14) Krzysztof Kasprzak (2nd in Polish SGP and SWC Winner) (15) Fredrik Lindgren (3rd in Swedish SGP)
2008 Riders No Rider DOB AgeAge in 2008. 2008 Clubs British Polish Swedish Danish Others1 DEN Nicki Pedersen1977-04-0231CzęstochowaLejonenHolstedTogliatti (RUS)2 AUS Leigh Adams1971-04-2837SwindonLesznoMasarna3 AUS Jason Crump1975-08-0633Belle VueWrocławVetlanda4 POL Tomasz Gollob1971-04-1137Gorzów Wlkp.Västervik5 DEN Hans Andersen1980-11-0328CoventryToruńDackarnaFjelsted6 USA Greg Hancock1970-06-0338CzęstochowaRospiggarna7 POL Rune Holta1973-08-2935Gorzów Wlkp.VetlandaGrindsted8 GBR Scott Nicholls1978-05-1630EastbourneRzeszówHammarby9 GBR Chris Harris1982-11-2826CoventryOstrówVästervik10 SWE Andreas Jonsson1980-09-0328LakesideBydgoszczDackarna11 DEN Bjarne Pedersen1978-07-1230PooleGdańskVästervikHolstebro12 DEN Niels Kristian Iversen1982-05-2026WolverhamptonZielona GóraVästervikHolsted13 CZE Lukáš Dryml1981-04-1627PeterboroughOstrów Wlkp.DackarnaPardubice (CZE)14 POL Krzysztof Kasprzak1984-07-1824PooleLesznoSmederna15 SWE Fredrik Lindgren1985-09-1523WolverhamptonZielona GóraDackarnaPardubice (CZE)
Cities
Bydgoszcz Cardiff Copenhagen Daugavpils Gelsenkirchen Gothenburg Krško Leszno Lonigo Målilla Prague
Calendar
The Final Classification
See also
References
External links (en) SpeedwayWorld.tv - SGP news