# 2014 Speedway Grand Prix

The 2014 Speedway Grand Prix season was the 69th edition of the official World Championship and the 20th season of the Speedway Grand Prix era, deciding the FIM Speedway World Championship. It was the fourteenth series under the promotion of Benfield Sports International, an IMG company. Tai Woffinden was the defending champion from 2013.
Greg Hancock won his third world title, after taking top-five placings in all but one race he contested, including a victory at the British round, in Cardiff. Hancock won the title by eight points ahead of Krzysztof Kasprzak, who was the season's most frequent winner, with three victories. Third place in the championship was decided in a run-off at the final round of the season at Torún in Poland. Three-time world champion Nicki Pedersen and defending champion Woffinden – a winner in back-to-back events in Prague and Målilla, Sweden – finished tied on points, but Pedersen clinched the position after beating Woffinden in the run-off.
Aside from Hancock, Kasprzak and Woffinden, six other riders won rounds during the season. Martin Smolinski was the winner of the opening race in Auckland; it was his first victory in the series. Like Smolinski, Slovenia's Matej Žagar was a first-time winner in the Finnish round at Tampere, en route to a fifth-place finish in the championship. Niels Kristian Iversen and Jarosław Hampel, who finished third and second behind Woffinden in 2013, each won races; Iversen won in Copenhagen while Hampel triumphed at Stockholm. Other winners were Andreas Jonsson in Vojens and Bartosz Zmarzlik, who won on a wildcard appearance, on home soil, at the Edward Jancarz Stadium.
Darcy Ward failed a pre-meeting alcohol breath test before the Latvian Grand Prix and received an immediate ban.

## Qualification

For the 2014 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 2013 championship qualified automatically. In March 2014, before the start of the season, Emil Sayfutdinov – who finished sixth in 2013 – elected not to compete in 2014 series, because he has failed to recover from serious injuries sustained the previous season. He was replaced by second substitute Troy Batchelor. Those riders were joined by three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Challenge. Since the winner of the Grand Prix Challenge, Niels Kristian Iversen, had already qualified following his third position in the 2013 championship, fourth-placed Martin Smolinski qualified.
The final four riders were nominated by series promoters, Benfield Sports International, following the completion of the 2013 season. Early in October 2013, former world champion Tomasz Gollob accepted a nomination for the series, but later withdrew from the competition due to unforeseen developments in his sponsorship program. He was replaced by first substitute Chris Harris.

### Qualified riders

| # | Riders | 2013 place | GP Ch place | Appearance | Previous appearances in series |
| 1 | Tai Woffinden | 1 | — | 3rd | 2010, 2011, 2013 |
| 33 | Jarosław Hampel | 2 | — | 9th | 2000–2002, 2004–2007, 2008–2009, 2010–2013 |
| 88 | Niels Kristian Iversen | 3 | 1 | 4th | 2004–2005, 2006, 2008, 2009–2010, 2013 |
| 45 | Greg Hancock | 4 | — | 20th | 1995–2013 |
| 5 | Nicki Pedersen | 5 | — | 14th | 2000, 2001–2013 |
| 55 | Matej Žagar | 7 | — | 4th | 2003–2005, 2006–2007, 2008–2009, 2011, 2013 |
| 43 | Darcy Ward | 8 | — | 2nd | 2011, 2013 |
| 507 | Krzysztof Kasprzak | 10 | 2 | 3rd | 2004–2007, 2008, 2012, 2013 |
| 66 | Fredrik Lindgren | 11 | — | 7th | 2004, 2006–2007, 2008–2013 |
| 23 | Chris Holder | 12 | — | 5th | 2010–2013 |
| 100 | Andreas Jonsson | 13 | — | 13th | 2001, 2002–2013 |
| 91 | Kenneth Bjerre | — | 3 | 5th | 2004–2008, 2009–2012 |
| 84 | Martin Smolinski | — | 4 | 1st | 2008 |
| 37 | Chris Harris | 20 | 5 | 7th | 2003, 2007–2012, 2013 |
| 75 | Troy Batchelor | — | 6 | 1st | 2013 |

### Qualified substitute

The following rider qualified as a substitute due to their result in the Grand Prix Challenge.
| # | Riders | 2013 place | GP Ch place |
| 19 | (19) Michael Jepsen Jensen | 21 | 7 |

## Calendar

The 2014 season consisted of 12 events, just like 2013.
| Round | Date | City and venue | Winner | Runner-up | 3rd placed | 4th placed | Results |
| 1 | 5 April | Auckland , New Zealand Western Springs Stadium | Martin Smolinski | Nicki Pedersen | Krzysztof Kasprzak | Fredrik Lindgren | results |
| 2 | 26 April | Bydgoszcz, Poland Polonia Stadium | Krzysztof Kasprzak | Darcy Ward | Jarosław Hampel | Greg Hancock | results |
| 3 | 17 May | Tampere , Finland Tampere Stadium | Matej Žagar | Tai Woffinden | Fredrik Lindgren | Greg Hancock | results |
| 4 | 31 May | Prague , Czech Republic Markéta Stadium | Tai Woffinden | Greg Hancock | Matej Žagar | Nicki Pedersen | results |
| 5 | 14 June | Målilla , Sweden G&B Stadium | Tai Woffinden | Greg Hancock | Chris Holder | Jarosław Hampel | results |
| 6 | 28 June | Copenhagen , Denmark Parken Stadium | Niels Kristian Iversen | Troy Batchelor | Greg Hancock | Peter Kildemand | results |
| 7 | 12 July | Cardiff , Great Britain Millennium Stadium | Greg Hancock | Tai Woffinden | Darcy Ward | Krzysztof Kasprzak | results |
| 8 | 17 August | Daugavpils, Latvia Latvijas Spīdveja Centrs | Krzysztof Kasprzak | Nicki Pedersen | Greg Hancock | Kenneth Bjerre | results |
| 9 | 30 August | Gorzów Wielkopolski , Poland Jancarz Stadium | Bartosz Zmarzlik | Matej Žagar | Krzysztof Kasprzak | Michael Jepsen Jensen | results |
| 10 | 13 September | Vojens , Denmark Speedway Center | Andreas Jonsson | Peter Kildemand | Krzysztof Kasprzak | Troy Batchelor | results |
| 11 | 27 September | Stockholm , Sweden Friends Arena | Jarosław Hampel | Greg Hancock | Krzysztof Kasprzak | Chris Holder | results |
| 12 | 11 October | Toruń , Poland Rose Motoarena | Krzysztof Kasprzak | Andreas Jonsson | Jarosław Hampel | Nicki Pedersen | results |

## Classification

* Qualifies for next season's Grand Prix series
* Full-time Grand Prix rider
* Wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
| Pos. | Rider | Points | NZL | EUR | FIN | CZE | SWE | DEN | GBR | LAT | POL | NOR | SCA | PL2 |
| | (45) Greg Hancock | 140 | 6 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 9 | – | 15 | 13 |
| | (507) Krzysztof Kasprzak | 132 | 17 | 18 | – | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 17 |
| | (5) Nicki Pedersen | 121 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| 4 | (1) Tai Woffinden | 121 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 9 | 18 | 8 | – | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| 5 | (55) Matej Žagar | 114 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 5 |
| 6 | (100) Andreas Jonsson | 103 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 12 | 17 |
| 7 | (23) Chris Holder | 100 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 15 | – | – | 6 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 7 |
| 8 | (33) Jarosław Hampel | 98 | 8 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 11 |
| 9 | (75) Troy Batchelor | 91 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 6 | 6 |
| 10 | (66) Fredrik Lindgren | 90 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 3 |
| 11 | (88) Niels Kristian Iversen | 87 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 6 | – | – | – |
| 12 | (84) Martin Smolinski | 81 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 |
| 13 | (91) Kenneth Bjerre | 79 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 8 |
| 14 | (43) Darcy Ward | 75 | 5 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 15 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 15 | (37) Chris Harris | 48 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| 16 | (19) Michael Jepsen Jensen | 42 | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 9 | – | 14 | 7 | 4 | – |
| 17 | (16) Peter Kildemand | 33 | – | – | – | – | – | 15 | – | – | – | 18 | – | – |
| 18 | (16) Bartosz Zmarzlik | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | – | – | – |
| 19 | (16) Adrian Miedziński | 14 | – | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 |
| 20 | (17) Kjasts Puodžuks | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | – | – | – | – |
| 21 | (16) Thomas H. Jonasson | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | – |
| 22 | (16) Peter Ljung | 7 | – | – | – | – | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 23 | (18) Mikkel B. Jensen | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | – | – |
| 24 | (20) Maciej Janowski | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 |
| 25 | (16) Joonas Kylmäkorpi | 5 | – | – | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 26 | (17) Kauko Nieminen | 4 | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 27 | (17) Paweł Przedpełski | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 |
| 28 | (16) Andžejs Ļebedevs | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 29 | (20) Kim Nilsson | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – |
| 30 | (16) Jason Bunyan | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 31 | (16) Craig Cook | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | (16) Vaclav Milik | 2 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 33 | (17) Adrian Cyfer | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| 34 | (18) Lukasz Kaczmarek | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| 35 | (18) Lasse Bjerre | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | NZL | EUR | FIN | CZE | SWE | DEN | GBR | LAT | POL | NOR | SCA | PL2 |