Cycle News

IN THE WIND P22 HANCOCK WINS BRITISH GP! T wo-time World Champion Greg Hancock was relieved to end his wait for a 2014 Speedway Grand Prix victory after complet- ing a glorious hat-trick of Cardiff victories in the Mitas British GP. The 43-year-old Californian held firm under immense pressure from home hero Tai Woffinden and Aussie star Darcy Ward to seal a popular win in front of a raucous crowd at the Millennium Stadium. In the process, Hancock equaled three-time World Champion Jason Crump's record haul of three wins in the Welsh capital. Hancock, who also triumphed in 2004 and 2011, lost his World Championship lead to defending champ Woffinden, however, with the Brit now three points clear at the top with 90 points going into the series' month-long break for the Monster Energy FIM Speed- way World Cup. "It's huge," Hancock said. "I've wanted to win one so badly. When you get to the final, all you want to do is win. I haven't been tak- ing the points in the heats – go- ing away with 12 points in Prague for second and then 11 for third in Copenhagen is tough. I only had 11 going into the final tonight and I was thinking 'man, I want more points. The win gave me three extra and it feels so much better. I can't say enough about how un- believable it is to win in Cardiff in front of these fans. It's my all-time favorite place." Hancock paid tribute to runner- up Woffinden, who dealt with the massive weight of home expec- tation superbly to top the heat scorechart on 13 points, before heading the American in their semi and finishing second in the final to end his night with 18 points. "Tai has been an unbeliev- able representative for Britain," Hancock said. "He's the world champ and he has such a cha- risma and personality. It was rad to be there and feel the buzz – it kept going all night. It was rad to see how loud they got on the last lap of Tai's heats. The crowd just got louder and louder. It was speedway at its absolute best." Woffinden paid tribute to a partisan British crowd for roaring him to second place – just over a year after he left the Millennium Stadium in an ambulance, nurs- ing the broken collarbone that nearly wrecked his title dream. "I knew it was going to be loud from the start, being a British rider coming to a British Grand Prix," he said. "It was hectic when they called my name last year and I was the underdog. What a great audience today. They put on a good show for the people watching on TV, hopefully mak- ing them want to get a ticket for next year. It's a wicked venue and it was a pleasure to be a part of it. I was in the wrong spot at the wrong time last year and I broke my collarbone. This year was a lot better. The old dog pipped me to the line. But Greg has a lot of ex- perience and we had a Monster one-two-three – we can't ask for anything more than that." John Hipkiss Greg Hancock celebrates his first win of the 2014 Speedway Grand Prix season and his third win in the British GP at Cardiff. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN HIPKISS

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