SPEEDWAY: BRITISH GRAND PRIX | LIVE REPORT
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Sat 4 July
It seems like only yesterday lamé-suited crooner Tony Hadley serenaded the masses before the 2004 British Speedway Grand Prix. Now, a decade or so on and in its 15th year at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, Blighty’s leg of the gladiatorial FIM Speedway World Championships descended upon the Welsh capital to over 40,000 expectant fans and revealed a slick, high-speed show.
For those who don’t know, amid airhorns, flags (mainly Polish) and on an oval track under a closed roof, 18 riders wrestle with brake-less 500cc machines over four laps across 20 heats, two semi-finals and a final to determine a winner. In 2007 Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris won in front of his adoring public, and this year Britain’s multi-tattooed 2013 World Champion Tai Woffinden looked to extend his lead in the championship standings.
As the pomp, flames and lightshows faded it quickly became apparent that 2015’s event would not disappoint. Fast and frantic, the four-stroke gladiators fled through the dirt and noise with crowd favourites Woffinden, and Speedway’s very own Peter Pan, the 45-year-old reigning world champion Greg Hancock, establishing themselves amongst the frontrunners early on. Heat 7 saw a thrilling battle, Aussie star Troy Bachelor pipping Matej Zagar to the win before falling awkwardly at speed in Heat 16 and being taken away in an ambulance for treatment.
After some classic racing it was down to Dane Niels-Kristian Iversen to brilliantly swing around Chris Holder and hit the front holding on to cap a measured performance, beating the popular Australian rider to second place. With Woffinden missing a podium in third, it mattered little as the 24-year old extended his lead in the world championship – meaning the fans streamed into the Cardiff evening happy, possibly a bit drunk and definitely slightly more deaf.
words JAMES W ROBERTS photos ADRIAN FLUX