FINAL ROUND/OCTOBER 5, 2013
MARIAN ROSE MOTOARENA/TORUN, POLAND
SPEEDWAY
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GRAND PRIX SERIES
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY
JOHN HIPKISS
G
P78
reat Britain's Tai Woffinden
was over the moon to defy
the bookmakers and two
broken collarbones and seal the
Speedway World Championship
at the Torun Speedway Grand Prix
of Poland on Saturday.
The 23-year-old started the evening needing just six points to secure the gold medal and tallied 10
points to end the season with 151
points. He finished the job off with
a sublime victory in heat five and
was aided by Torun Speedway
Grand Prix winner Adrian Miedzinski, who passed Woffy's nearest
rival Jaroslaw Hampel for second
place.
But Hampel bounced back to
claim his second World Championship silver medal with 142
points, while Danish champion
Niels-Kristian Iversen marked his
return to the Speedway GP series after a four-year absence with
bronze, scoring 132 points.
The night belonged to Woffy,
though. Despite being written off
by some before the season, not to
mention breaking his collarbone
twice, his combination of fitness,
speed and sheer determination
saw him become Britain's first
World Champion since Mark Loram in 2000.
"It has been an amazing season," a delighted Woffinden said.
"It hasn't been an easy one, but
I've put everything I can into my
speedway this year and really
made it happen. I've had two bro-
WOFFINDE