# 2008 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden

The 2008 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden is the third race of the 2008 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 24 May in the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden It is the fourth time that the Ullevi Stadium has staged a GP, the last time being the 2004 Grand Prix of Scandinavia. At 416 metres, the semi-permanent track is the largest track on the 2008 Grand Prix calendar, and the longest ever used for a Grand Prix event.
Sweden is also the first of four rounds of the 2008 Super Prix. The meeting winner will be given the red helmet in the SuperPrix final at Gelsenkirchen in October with a chance of winning a share of an extra $200,000 prize fund.

## Riders

The Speedway Grand Prix Commission nominated Jonas Davidsson as a wild card, and Sebastian Aldén and Billy Forsberg both as track reserves. Bjarne Pedersen was again replaced by Luboš Tomíček because of an injury. The draw was made on 13 May at the FIM Headquarters in Mies, Switzerland.
* Draw No 13: (11) Bjarne Pedersen → (19) Luboš Tomíček, Jr.

## Result

Rune Holta won the Swedish Grand Prix with a fast overtaking manoeuvre on the back straight on the first lap of the final. It was Holta's 50th Grand Prix and the first Grand Prix win of his career.
Fredrik Lindgren had been unbeaten from his previous races but had to settle for second place, although he did score the most points from the meeting. Nicki Pedersen extended his series lead to ten points with third place.
The meeting overran by over an hour due to a number of stoppages caused by the unpredictable, rutted track. Andreas Jonsson was taken to hospital after a high-speed crash but escaped serious injury, Niels Kristian Iversen also crashed in one of his heats and suffered a dislocated shoulder.

## 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 | 5 | (7) Rune Holta | 17 | | 3 | | | 1 | | | | | 2 | | | | | 0 | | | | | 3 | 9 | 4 | 2 | | 3 |
| 2 | 15 | (15) Fredrik Lindgren | 22 | | | | 3 | | | 3 | | | 3 | | | | | | 3 | 3 | | | | 15 | 1 | 3 | | 2 |
| 3 | 7 | (1) Nicki Pedersen | 16 | | 2 | | | | | 1 | | | | | 3 | 3 | | | | | 2 | | | 11 | 2 | | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | 1 | (3) Jason Crump | 12 | 3 | | | | 3 | | | | 1 | | | | 2 | | | | 1 | | | | 10 | 3 | | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | 6 | (4) Tomasz Gollob | 8 | | 0 | | | | 2 | | | 3 | | | | | | | Fx | | | 3 | | 8 | 5 | | 0 | |
| 6 | 3 | (10) Andreas Jonsson | 8 | 2 | | | | | | 2 | | | | 1 | | | | 3 | | | | Fx | | 8 | 7 | N | | |
| 7 | 16 | (2) Leigh Adams | 9 | | | | 2 | | | | 1 | 2 | | | | | | 2 | | | 1 | | | 8 | 6 | 1 | | |
| 8 | 8 | (5) Hans N. Andersen | 8 | | 1 | | | | | | 3 | | | 3 | | | F2 | | | 0 | | | | 7 | 8 | | 1 | |
| 9 | 4 | (8) Scott Nicholls | 7 | 1 | | | | | | | 2 | | | | 2 | | | | Fx | | | | 2 | 7 | 9 | | | |
| 10 | 10 | (16) Jonas Davidsson | 7 | | | E | | | 3 | | | | | | 1 | | | 1 | | 2 | | | | 7 | 10 | | | |
| 11 | 11 | (6) Greg Hancock | 6 | | | 3 | | | | 0 | | 0 | | | | | 3 | | | | | | Fx | 6 | 11 | | | |
| 12 | 2 | (14) Krzysztof Kasprzak | 5 | 0 | | | | | 0 | | | | 0 | | | | 2 | | | | 3 | | | 5 | 12 | | | |
| 13 | 13 | (19) Luboš Tomíček, Jr. | 5 | | | | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | 0 | | 1 | | | | | 2 | | 5 | 13 | | | |
| 14 | 14 | (9) Chris Harris | 5 | | | | 1 | | 1 | | | | | 2 | | 0 | | | | | | | 1 | 5 | 14 | | | |
| 15 | 12 | (13) Lukáš Dryml | 3 | | | 1 | | | | | 0 | | 1 | | | 1 | | | | | | Fx | | 3 | 15 | | | |
| 16 | 9 | (12) Niels Kristian Iversen | 2 | | | 2 | | Fx | | | | | | - | | | | | - | | - | | | 2 | 16 | | | |
| 17 | 18 | (18) Billy Forsberg | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | 2 | 17 | | | |
| 18 | 17 | (17) Sebastian Aldén | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | 0 | | | | | | | 0 | | | 0 | 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

* Crump, Jonsson, Nicholls, Kasprzak
* Holta, Pedersen, Andersen, Gollob
* Hancock, Iversen, Dryml, Davidsson (E/start)
* Lindgren, Adams, Harris, Tomicek
* Crump, Tomicek, Holta, Iversen (X/F2)
* Davidsson, Gollob, Harris, Kasprzak
* Lindgren, Jonsson, Pedersen, Hancock
* Andersen, Nicholls, Adams, Dryml
* Gollob, Adams, Crump, Hancock
* Lindgren, Holta, Dryml, Kasprzak
* Andersen, Harris, Jonsson, Alden
* Pedersen, Nicholls, Davidsson, Tomicek
* Pedersen, Crump, Dryml, Harris
* Hancock, Kasprzak, Tomicek, Andersen (F2)
* Jonsson, Adams, Davidsson, Holta
* Lindgren, Forsberg, Nicholls (X/F3), Gollob (X/F2)
* Lindgren, Davidsson, Crump, Andersen
* Kasprzak, Pedersen, Adams, Alden
* Gollob, Tomicek, Jonsson (X/F5), Dryml (X/F3)
* Holta, Nicholls, Harris, Hancock (X/F2)
    Semi-Finals:
* Lindgren, Holta, Adams, Jonsson (N)
* Pedersen, Crump, Andersen, Gollob
    Final:
* Holta (6), Lindgren (4), Pedersen (2), Crump (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 | 49 | 17 | 16 | 16 | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | (4) Tomasz Gollob | 39 | 19 | 12 | 8 | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | (15) Fredrik Lindgren | 36 | 7 | 7 | 22 | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | (2) Leigh Adams | 34 | 5 | 20 | 9 | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | (6) Greg Hancock | 34 | 8 | 20 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | (3) Jason Crump | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | (10) Andreas Jonsson | 29 | 12 | 9 | 8 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | (5) Hans N. Andersen | 28 | 14 | 6 | 8 | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | (7) Rune Holta | 26 | 5 | 4 | 17 | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | (12) Niels Kristian Iversen | 20 | 8 | 10 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | (9) Chris Harris | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | (8) Scott Nicholls | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | (16) Jarosław Hampel | 16 | – | 16 | – | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | (13) Lukáš Dryml | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 15 | (14) Krzysztof Kasprzak | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | (19) Luboš Tomíček, Jr. | 8 | – | 3 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| 17 | (16) Matej Žagar | 7 | 7 | – | – | | | | | | | | |
| 18 | (16) Jonas Davidsson | 7 | – | – | 7 | | | | | | | | |
| 19 | (11) Bjarne Pedersen | 4 | 4 | – | – | | | | | | | | |
| 20 | (18) Billy Forsberg | 2 | – | – | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| 21 | (17) Sebastian Aldén | 0 | – | – | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 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 |