# 2008 Speedway Grand Prix

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 Main article: 2007 Speedway 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 Main article: 2008 Speedway Grand Prix Qualification 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 | Age | 2008 Clubs | 2008 Clubs | 2008 Clubs | 2008 Clubs | 2008 Clubs |
| No | Rider | DOB | Age | British | Polish | Swedish | Danish | Others |
| 1 | DEN Nicki Pedersen | 1977-04-02 | 31 | | Częstochowa | Gislaved | Holsted (DEN) | Togliatti (RUS) |
| 2 | AUS Leigh Adams | 1971-04-28 | 37 | Swindon | Leszno | Avesta | | |
| 3 | AUS Jason Crump | 1975-08-06 | 33 | Belle Vue | Wrocław | Vetlanda | | |
| 4 | POL Tomasz Gollob | 1971-04-11 | 37 | | Gorzów Wlkp. | Västervik | | |
| 5 | DEN Hans Andersen | 1980-11-03 | 28 | Coventry | Toruń | Målilla | Fjelsted (DEN) | |
| 6 | USA Greg Hancock | 1970-06-03 | 38 | | Częstochowa | Hallstavik | | |
| 7 | POL Rune Holta | 1973-08-29 | 35 | | Gorzów Wlkp. | Vetlanda | Grindsted (DEN) | |
| 8 | GBR Scott Nicholls | 1978-05-16 | 30 | Eastbourne | Rzeszów | Stockholm | | |
| 9 | GBR Chris Harris | 1982-11-28 | 26 | Coventry | Ostrów | Västervik | | |
| 10 | SWE Andreas Jonsson | 1980-09-03 | 28 | Lakeside | Bydgoszcz | Målilla | | |
| 11 | DEN Bjarne Pedersen | 1978-07-12 | 30 | Poole | Gdańsk | Västervik | Holstebro (DEN) | |
| 12 | DEN Niels Kristian Iversen | 1982-05-20 | 26 | Wolverhampton | Zielona Góra | Västervik | Holsted (DEN) | |
| 13 | CZE Lukáš Dryml | 1981-04-16 | 27 | Peterborough | Ostrów Wlkp. | Målilla | | Pardubice (CZE) |
| 14 | POL Krzysztof Kasprzak | 1984-07-18 | 24 | Poole | Leszno | Eskilstuna | | |
| 15 | SWE Fredrik Lindgren | 1985-09-15 | 23 | Wolverhampton | Zielona Góra | Målilla | | Pardubice (CZE) |

## Cities

* Bydgoszcz
* Cardiff
* Copenhagen
* Daugavpils
* Gelsenkirchen
* Gothenburg
* Krško
* Leszno
* Lonigo
* Målilla
* Prague

## Calendar

| Round | Date | City and venue | Winner | Runner-up | 3rd placed | 4th placed | Results |
| 1 | April 26 | Krško , Slovenia Matija Gubec Stadium | Tomasz Gollob | Nicki Pedersen | Hans N. Andersen | Andreas Jonsson | results |
| 2 | May 10 | Leszno , Poland Alfred Smoczyk Stadium | Leigh Adams | Greg Hancock | Nicki Pedersen | Jarosław Hampel | results |
| 3 | May 24 | Gothenburg , Sweden Ullevi | Rune Holta | Fredrik Lindgren | Nicki Pedersen | Jason Crump | results |
| 4 | June 14 | Copenhagen , Denmark Parken Stadium | Tomasz Gollob | Nicki Pedersen | Jason Crump | Hans N. Andersen | results |
| 5 | June 28 | Cardiff , Great Britain Millennium Stadium | Jason Crump | Greg Hancock | Nicki Pedersen | Scott Nicholls | results |
| 6 | August 2 | Prague , Czech Republic Markéta Stadium | Nicki Pedersen | Hans N. Andersen | Jason Crump | Greg Hancock | results |
| 7 | August 16 | Målilla , Sweden G&B Stadium | Leigh Adams | Hans N. Andersen | Nicki Pedersen | Jason Crump | results |
| 8 | August 30 | Daugavpils , Latvia Latvijas Spīdveja Centrs | Jason Crump | Nicki Pedersen | Tomasz Gollob | Greg Hancock | results |
| 9 | September 13 | Bydgoszcz , Poland Polonia Stadium | Greg Hancock | Nicki Pedersen | Tomasz Gollob | Scott Nicholls | results |
| 10 | September 27 | Lonigo , Italy Santa Marina Stadium | Hans N. Andersen | Bjarne Pedersen | Jason Crump | Leigh Adams | results |
| 11 | October 18 | Gelsenkirchen , Germany Veltins-Arena Bydgoszcz, Poland Polonia Stadium | Tomasz Gollob | Hans N. Andersen | Greg Hancock | Leigh Adams | results |

## The Final 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 | GER |
| | (1) Nicki Pedersen | 174 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 20 | 11 | 22 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 6 | 13 |
| | (3) Jason Crump | 152 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 22 | 17 | 12 | 19 | 9 | 18 | 7 |
| | (4) Tomasz Gollob | 148 | 19 | 12 | 8 | 19 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 20 | 9 | 21 |
| 4 | (6) Greg Hancock | 144 | 8 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 18 | 9 | 15 |
| 5 | (5) Hans N. Andersen | 139 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 20 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 17 |
| 6 | (2) Leigh Adams | 125 | 5 | 20 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| 7 | (10) Andreas Jonsson | 100 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 12 |
| 8 | (7) Rune Holta | 80 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 7 |
| 9 | (8) Scott Nicholls | 77 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 7 |
| 10 | (15) Fredrik Lindgren | 73 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| 11 | (11) Bjarne Pedersen | 69 | 4 | – | – | 7 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 17 | 3 |
| 12 | (12) Niels Kristian Iversen | 59 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ns |
| 13 | (9) Chris Harris | 58 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 5 | ns | 4 |
| 14 | (14) Krzysztof Kasprzak | 57 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 |
| 15 | (13) Lukáš Dryml | 47 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 16 | (16) Jarosław Hampel | 16 | – | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 17 | (16) Kenneth Bjerre | 11 | – | – | – | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | (16) Wiesław Jaguś | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | – | – |
| 19 | (16) (19) Luboš Tomíček, Jr. | 8 | – | 3 | 5 | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | (16) Matej Žagar | 7 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 21 | (16) (17) Jonas Davidsson | 7 | – | – | 7 | – | – | – | ns | – | – | – | – |
| 22 | (16) Edward Kennett | 4 | – | – | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 23 | (16) Peter Ljung | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 24 | (16) Grigory Laguta | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| 25 | (17) Mattia Carpanese | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – |
| 26 | (18) Billy Forsberg | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 27 | (17) Nicolai Klindt | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 28 | (17) (18) Krzysztof Buczkowski | 1 | – | ns | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| 29 | (17) (18) Maciej Janowski | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ns | – | 1 |
| 30 | (16) Guglielmo Franchetti | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – |
| 31 | (16) Martin Smolinski | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 32 | (17) Sebastian Aldén | 0 | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 33 | (17) Maksims Bogdanovs | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – |
| 34 | (18) Alessandro Milanese | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – |
| 35 | (18) Grzegorz Zengota | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| Rider(s) not classified ||||||||||||||
| | (17) Izak Šantej | — | ns | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | (17) Damian Baliński | — | – | ns | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | (17) Tai Woffinden | — | – | – | – | – | ns | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | (17) Adrian Rymel | — | – | – | – | – | – | ns | – | – | – | – | – |
| | (18) Denis Štojs | — | ns | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | (18) Patrick Hougaard | — | – | – | – | ns | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | (18) Simon Stead | — | – | – | – | – | ns | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | (18) Filip Šitera | — | – | – | – | – | – | ns | – | – | – | – | – |
| | (18) Thomas H. Jonasson | — | – | – | – | – | – | – | ns | – | – | – | – |
| | (18) Kasts Poudzuks | — | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ns | – | – | – |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | SVN | EUR | SWE | DEN | GBR | CZE | SCA | LAT | POL | ITA | GER |