The 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season was the 70th edition of the official World Championship[1][2] and the 21st season of the Speedway Grand Prix era, deciding the FIM Speedway World Championship. It was the fifteenth series under the promotion of Benfield Sports International, an IMG company. Greg Hancock was the defending champion from 2014.
| 2015 Speedway Grand Prix | |
|---|---|
| Season details | |
| Dates | 18 April — 24 October 24 |
| Events | 12 |
| Riders | 15 permanents 1 wild card(s) 2 track reserves |
| Heats | 276 (in 12 events) |
| Winners | |
| Champion |  GBR Tai Woffinden |
| Runner-up |  USA Greg Hancock |
| 3rd place |  DEN Nicki Pedersen |
Tai Woffinden won the world title, with Hancock second and Nicki Pedersen third. It was Woffinden's second title having also won in 2013.
Qualification
editFor the 2015 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 2014 championship qualified automatically. Those riders were joined by the three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Challenge. Since the winner of the Grand Prix Challenge, Matej Žagar, had already qualified following his fifth position in the 2014 championship, fourth-placed Maciej Janowski qualified.
The final four riders were nominated by series promoters, Benfield Sports International, following the completion of the 2014 season.
Qualified riders
edit| # | Riders | 2014 place | GP Ch place | Appearance | Previous appearances in series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | Greg Hancock |
1 | — | 21st | 1995–2014 |
| 507 |  Krzysztof Kasprzak |
2 | — | 4th | 2004–2007, 2008, 2012, 2013–2014 |
| 3 | Nicki Pedersen |
3 | 15th | 2000, 2001–2014 | |
| 108 | Tai Woffinden |
4 | — | 4th | 2010, 2011, 2013–2014 |
| 55 |  Matej Žagar |
5 | 1 | 5th | 2003–2005, 2006–2007, 2008–2009, 2011, 2013–2014 |
| 100 |  Andreas Jonsson |
6 | — | 14th | 2001, 2002–2014 |
| 23 |  Chris Holder |
7 | — | 6th | 2010–2014 |
| 33 | Jarosław Hampel |
8 | 10th | 2000–2002, 2004–2007, 2008–2009, 2010–2014 | |
| 75 | Troy Batchelor |
9 | — | 2nd | 2013, 2014 |
| 88 | Niels Kristian Iversen |
11 | — | 5th | 2004–2005, 2006, 2008, 2009–2010, 2013–2014 |
| 69 | Jason Doyle |
— | 2 | 1st | |
| 37 | Chris Harris |
15 | 3 | 9th | 2003, 2007–2014 |
| 71 | Maciej Janowski |
— | 4 | 1st | 2008, 2012, 2014 |
| 30 | Thomas H. Jonasson |
21 | 5 | 1st | 2010–2012, 2014 |
| 52 | Michael Jepsen Jensen |
16 | 1st | 2012–2014 |
Qualified substitutes
editThe following riders were nominated as a substitutes:
| # | Riders | 2014 place | GP Ch place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | (19) Peter Kildemand |
17 | 8 |
| 20 | (20) Piotr Pawlicki Jr. |
||
| 21 | (21) Linus Sundström |
11 |
Calendar
editThe 2015 season consisted of 12 events, just like 2014, although the first Grand Prix was cut short after 12 heats, and the Latvian Grand Prix was awarded after 20 heats.
Classification
edit| Qualifies for next season's Grand Prix series |
| Full-time Grand Prix rider |
| Wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | POL |
FIN  |
CZE  |
GBR |
LAT  |
SWE |
DEN |
PL2 |
SVN |
SCA |
PL3 |
AUS
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
(108) Tai Woffinden (C)
|
163 | 5 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 8 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 12 |
|
(45) Greg Hancock
|
147 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 20 | 16 | 8 | 21 |
|
(3) Nicki Pedersen
|
131 | 3 | 16 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 19 | 7 |
| 4 | (88) Niels-Kristian Iversen
|
120 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 15 |
| 5 | (69) Jason Doyle
|
114 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 18 | 11 |
| 6 | (55) Matej Žagar
|
107 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| 7 | (71) Maciej Janowski
|
106 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| 8 | (23) Chris Holder
|
95 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 2 |
| 9 | (19) Peter Kildemand
|
92 | – | – | – | 12 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 13 |
| 10 | (100) Andreas Jonsson
|
88 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 11 | (52) Michael Jepsen Jensen
|
84 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 7 |
| 12 | (75) Troy Batchelor
|
59 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 13 | (37) Chris Harris
|
55 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| 13 | (30) Thomas H. Jonasson
|
55 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 15 | (507) Krzysztof Kasprzak
|
45 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| 16 | (33) Jarosław Hampel
|
31 | 7 | 11 | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 17 | (16) Antonio Lindbäck
|
20 | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | – | – | – | 6 | – | – |
| 18 | (17,16) Bartosz Zmarzlik
|
17 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | (18,17) Piotr Pawlicki Jr.
|
8 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | – |
| 20 | (16) Craig Cook
|
7 | – | – | – | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 21 | (16) Mikkel Michelsen
|
6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 22 | (16) Sam Masters
|
5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 |
| 23 | (16) Tomasz Gollob
|
4 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 24 | (16) Timo Lahti
|
3 | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 24 | (16) Kjasts Puodžuks
|
3 | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 26 | (16) Vaclav Milik
|
2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 27 | (18) Robert Lambert
|
1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 27 | (17) Adrian Cyfer
|
1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 27 | (16) Aleksander Conda
|
1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| 27 | (17) Denis Stojs
|
1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| 31 | (17) Nike Lunna
|
0 | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 31 | (18) Jiri Nieminen
|
0 | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 31 | (17) Matěj Kůs
|
0 | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 31 | (18) Josef Franc
|
0 | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 31 | (17) Jason Garrity
|
0 | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | POL |
FIN |
CZE |
GBR |
LAT |
SWE |
DEN |
PL2 |
SVN |
SCA |
PL3 |
AUS
|
The first Grand Prix was awarded after 12 heats because the riders deemed the track to be unsafe to race. The win went to Matej Žagar, with second place going to Chris Harris and third to Jarosław Hampel.
The fifth Grand Prix was awarded after 20 heats due to a waterlogged track. The win went to Maciej Jankowski, with second place going to Nicki Pedersen and third to Troy Batchelor.
In the twelfth Grand Prix, Australian Jason Doyle was injured in the final and was unable to partake in the rerun.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- ^ "2015 FIM Speedway World Championship standings". SGP.