# 2008 Speedway Grand Prix of Europe

The 2008 Speedway Grand Prix of Europe was the second race of the 2008 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on May 10 in the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium in Leszno, Poland. The main sponsor was the commercial bank Bank Zachodni WBK.
The Grand Prind was won by Leigh Adams from Australia. It was the 7th Grand Prix win of his career. In the final, Adams beat American Greg Hancock and defending World Champion Danish Nicki Pedersen.

## Riders

The Speedway Grand Prix Commission nominated Jarosław Hampel as wild card, and Damian Baliński and Krzysztof Buczkowski as track reserves. The draw was made on April 29 at the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme Headquarters in Mies, Switzerland. Because of an injury, Bjarne Pedersen was replaced by Luboš Tomíček, Jr. Adams, Kasprzak, Hampel and Baliński are all riding for Unia Leszno, whose home track is at the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium, in the 2008 season in Poland.
* Draw No 1: (11) Bjarne Pedersen → (19) Luboš Tomíček, Jr.

## Heat details

| Placing | Draw | Rider | Total | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pts | Pos | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 1 | 9 | (2) Leigh Adams | 20 | | | 2 | | 3 | | | | | | 0 | | | | | 3 | | 3 | | | 11 | 4 | 3 | | 3 |
| 2 | 7 | (6) Greg Hancock | 20 | | 3 | | | | | 3 | | | | | 3 | 3 | | | | | 2 | | | 14 | 1 | 2 | | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | (1) Nicki Pedersen | 16 | 3 | | | | | | 2 | | | | 1 | | | | 3 | | | | 3 | | 12 | 3 | | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | 8 | (16) Jarosław Hampel | 16 | | 2 | | | | | | 2 | | | 3 | | | 3 | | | 3 | | | | 13 | 2 | | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | 16 | (4) Tomasz Gollob | 12 | | | | 3 | | | | 3 | 3 | | | | | | 1 | | | 1 | | | 11 | 5 | | 1 | |
| 6 | 14 | (12) Niels Kristian Iversen | 10 | | | | 2 | | 0 | | | | | 2 | | 2 | | | | | | | 3 | 9 | 7 | 1 | | |
| 7 | 6 | (3) Jason Crump | 8 | | 0 | | | | 2 | | | 2 | | | | | | | 2 | | | 2 | | 8 | 8 | | X | |
| 8 | 10 | (10) Andreas Jonsson | 9 | | | 3 | | | 3 | | | | | | 1 | | | 0 | | 2 | | | | 9 | 6 | 0 | | |
| 9 | 5 | (15) Fredrik Lindgren | 7 | | 1 | | | 1 | | | | | 1 | | | | | 2 | | | | | 2 | 7 | 9 | | | |
| 10 | 12 | (5) Hans N. Andersen | 6 | | | 0 | | | | | 1 | | 3 | | | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | 6 | 10 | | | |
| 11 | 2 | (9) Chris Harris | 6 | 2 | | | | | 1 | | | | 2 | | | | 1 | | | | 0 | | | 6 | 11 | | | |
| 12 | 13 | (7) Rune Holta | 4 | | | | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 2 | | 2 | | | | | 0 | | 4 | 12 | | | |
| 13 | 1 | (19) Luboš Tomíček, Jr. | 3 | 0 | | | | 2 | | | | 0 | | | | 0 | | | | 1 | | | | 3 | 13 | | | |
| 14 | 11 | (14) Krzysztof Kasprzak | 3 | | | 1 | | | | 0 | | 1 | | | | | 0 | | | | | | 1 | 3 | 14 | | | |
| 15 | 4 | (13) Lukáš Dryml | 2 | 1 | | | | | | | 0 | | | | 0 | | | | 1 | | | | 0 | 2 | 15 | | | |
| 16 | 15 | (8) Scott Nicholls | 2 | | | | 1 | | | 1 | | | 0 | | | | | | 0 | E4 | | | | 2 | 16 | | | |
| 17 | 17 | (17) Damian Baliński | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - | 17 | | | |
| 18 | 18 | (18) Krzysztof Buczkowski | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - | 18 | | | |
| Placing | Draw | Rider | Total | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pts | Pos | 21 | 22 | 23 |
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fell ns: non-starter • nc: non-classify Semi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats) Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats) Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals
| gate A – inside | gate B | gate C | gate D – outside |

### Heat after heat

* (60.91) Pedersen, Harris, Dryml, Tomicek
* (60.82) Hancock, Hampel, Lindgren, Crump
* (60.63) Jonsson, Adams, Kasprzak, Andersen
* (59.44) Gollob, Iversen, Nicholls, Holta
* (60.62) Adams, Tomicek, Lindgren, Holta
* (59.94) Jonsson, Crump, Harris, Iversen
* (60.10) Hancock, Pedersen, Nicholls, Kasprzak
* (60.09) Gollob, Hampel, Andersen, Dryml
* (60.47) Gollob, Crump, Kasprzak, Tomicek
* (60.85) Andersen, Harris, Lindgren, Nicholls
* (60.04) Hampel, Iversen, Pedersen, Adams
* (60.25) Hancock, Holta, Jonsson, Dryml
* (60.96) Hancock, Iversen, Andersen, Tomicek
* (60.38) Hampel, Holta, Harris, Kasprzak
* (60.45) Pedersen, Lindgren, Gollob, Jonsson
* (60.19) Adams, Crump, Dryml, Nicholls
* (60.28) Hampel, Jonsson, Tomicek, Nicholls (E4)
* (60.38) Adams, Hancock, Gollob, Harris
* (60.67) Pedersen, Crump, Andersen, Holta
* (61.14) Iversen, Lindgren, Kasprzak, Dryml
    Semi-Finals:
* (60.73) Adams, Hancock, Iversen, Jonsson
* (60.19) Hampel, Pedersen, Gollob, Crump (X) Pedersen crashes on final lap due to collision to Crump. Crump excluded. Heat was no-restarted.
    Final:
* (60.23) Adams (6), Hancock (4), Pedersen (2), Hampel (0)

## The intermediate classification

* Qualifies for next season's Grand Prix series
* Full-time Grand Prix rider
* Wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
| Pos. | Rider | Points | SVN | EUR | SWE | DEN | GBR | CZE | SCA | LAT | POL | ITA | FIN |
| 1 | (1) Nicki Pedersen | 33 | 17 | 16 | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | (4) Tomasz Gollob | 31 | 19 | 12 | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | (6) Greg Hancock | 28 | 8 | 20 | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | (2) Leigh Adams | 25 | 5 | 20 | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | (10) Andreas Jonsson | 21 | 12 | 9 | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | (5) Hans N. Andersen | 20 | 14 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | (3) Jason Crump | 18 | 10 | 8 | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | (12) Niels Kristian Iversen | 18 | 8 | 10 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | (16) Jarosław Hampel | 16 | – | 16 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | (15) Fredrik Lindgren | 14 | 7 | 7 | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | (9) Chris Harris | 12 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | (13) Lukáš Dryml | 11 | 9 | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | (7) Rune Holta | 9 | 5 | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | (8) Scott Nicholls | 9 | 7 | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| 15 | (14) Krzysztof Kasprzak | 9 | 6 | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | (16) Matej Žagar | 7 | 7 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| 17 | (11) Bjarne Pedersen | 4 | 4 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| 18 | (19) Luboš Tomíček, Jr. | 3 | – | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| Rider(s) not classified ||||||||||||||
| | (17) Izak Šantej | — | ns | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | (17) Damian Baliński | — | – | ns | | | | | | | | | |
| | (18) Denis Štojs | — | ns | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | (18) Krzysztof Buczkowski | — | – | ns | | | | | | | | | |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | SVN | EUR | SWE | DEN | GBR | CZE | SCA | LAT | POL | ITA | FIN |