2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia

The 2015 Don Smallgoods Australian FIM Speedway Grand Prix was the twelfth and final round of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 24 October at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.

Australia 2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia
2015 Don Smallgoods Australian FIM Speedway Grand Prix
Information
Date24 October 2015
CityAustralia Melbourne
Event12 of 12
RefereeDenmark Jesper Steentoft
Stadium details
StadiumEtihad Stadium
Capacity42,000
Length346 m (378 yd)
Tracktemporary track
SGP Results
Attendance26,609
Best TimeUnited States Greg Hancock
60.04 secs (in Heat 21)
1st place, gold medalist(s) WinnerUnited States Greg Hancock
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-upDenmark Niels-Kristian Iversen
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd placePoland Niels-Kristian Iversen

Riders

Australian rider Sam Masters was given the wildcard for the event. Fellow Aussies Justin Sedgemen and three time reigning Australian Under-21 Champion Max Fricke were named as the reserves.

Masters was involved in a heated clash with triple World Champion Nicki Pedersen at the end of Heat 8. Unhappy that Pedersen had squeezed him close to the wall on the back straight, the two exchanged words at the pit gate. Then as Masters was walking back to his pit he was confronted by Pedersen's mechanic Marek Hu. More words were exchanged and Masters punched Hu before being led away. For his actions Masters was fined by the FIM.[1]

Results

American Greg Hancock, who had won the only previous SGP of Australia in 2002, was unbeaten on the night to take his 20th Speedway Grand Prix win in his record 81st SGP Final. Danish star Niels-Kristian Iversen finished second with Poland's Maciej Janowski in third place.[2] Reigning Australian Champion Jason Doyle qualified for the final but was outed in a crash in the first turn in which he suffered neck and chest injuries. A fully conscious Doyle was then transported to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for observation. Greg Hancock took control of the re-run from the start and was never headed. His win also saw him finish in second place in the World Championship standings.[3]

Going into the second semi-final, Denmark's Peter Kildemand needed 4 points to join Australia's 2012 World Champion Chris Holder on 95 points for the season and force a run-off for the last automatic qualifying spot in the 2016 series. Tai Woffinden won the start of the second semi, but down the back straight Kildemand flew past into the lead and looked set for a place in the final where he would only need to finish second to secure his place or third to force the run-off. Unfortunately however, Woffinden fell on lap two and the race was stopped and re-run with the 2015 World Champion excluded. Kildemand could not repeat his effort in the re-run and finished in third place behind Niels-Kristian Iversen and Maciej Janowski, missing his chance for automatic qualification. However, as there are 15 permanent riders in the SGP, Kildemand as the 9th-place finisher in 2015 received one of the wildcard spots for the season essentially giving him automatic qualification for 2016.

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
Gold 6 United States (45) Greg Hancock 21 3 3 3 3 3 15 1 3 3
Silver 1 Denmark (88) Niels-Kristian Iversen 15 3 2 0 2 3 10 5 3 2
Bronze 10 Poland (71) Maciej Janowski 11 3 1 1 3 0 8 8 2 1
4 11 Australia (69) Jason Doyle 11 1 3 2 0 3 9 6 2 0
5 13 Denmark (19) Peter Kildemand 13 3 3 3 1 2 12 2 1
6 7 United Kingdom (108) Tai Woffinden 12 2 2 2 3 3 12 3 0
7 2 Sweden (100) Andreas Jonsson 12 2 2 3 2 2 11 4 1
8 8 Poland (507) Krzysztof Kasprzak 9 1 1 3 3 1 9 7 0
9 4 Slovenia (55) Matej Žagar 7 1 3 0 1 2 7 9
10 15 Denmark (52) Michael Jepsen Jensen 7 0 1 2 2 2 7 10
11 12 Denmark (3) Nicki Pedersen 7 2 2 1 1 1 7 11
12 16 Australia (16) Sam Masters 5 2 0 1 2 0 5 12
13 9 Sweden (30) Thomas H. Jonasson 4 0 1 2 0 1 4 13
14 14 Australia (23) Chris Holder 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 14
15 5 Australia (75) Troy Batchelor 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 15
16 3 United Kingdom (37) Chris Harris 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
17 17 Australia (17) Justin Sedgemen 0 0 17
18 18 Australia (18) Max Fricke 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

The intermediate classification

[4]

Qualifies for next season's Grand Prix series
Full-time Grand Prix rider
Wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
Pos. Rider Points POL
Poland
FIN
Finland
CZE
Czech Republic
GBR
United Kingdom
LVA
Latvia
SWE
Sweden
DEN
Denmark
PL2
Poland
SLO
Slovenia
SCA
Sweden
POL
Poland
AUS
Australia
Gold United Kingdom (108) Tai Woffinden (C) 163 517181581711181816812
Silver United States (45) Greg Hancock 147 5913121097172016821
Bronze Denmark (3) Nicki Pedersen 131 316159111777137197
4 Denmark (88) Niels-Kristian Iversen 120 7681481071011141015
5 Australia (69) Jason Doyle 114 411778111261181811
6 Slovenia (55) Matej Žagar 107 8791061312168477
7 Poland (71) Maciej Janowski 106 321831281259121111
8 Australia (23) Chris Holder 95 07618101010894112
9 Denmark (19) Peter Kildemand 92 12831491391113
10 Sweden (100) Andreas Jonsson 88 3129275764101112
11 Denmark (52) Michael Jepsen Jensen 84 510487713102657
12 Australia (75) Troy Batchelor 59 0764112649532
13 United Kingdom (37) Chris Harris 55 765545254930
13 Sweden (30) Thomas H. Jonasson 55 441777712654
15 Poland (507) Krzysztof Kasprzak 45 3104400413619
16 Poland (33) Jarosław Hampel 31 71113
17 Sweden (16) Antonio Lindback 20 146
18 Poland (17,16) Bartosz Zmarzlik 17 314
19 Poland (18,17) Piotr Pawlicki Jr. 8 17
20 United Kingdom (16) Craig Cook 7 7
21 Denmark (16) Mikkel Michelsen 6 6
22 Australia (16) Sam Masters 5 5
23 Poland (16) Tomasz Gollob 4 4
24 Finland (16) Timo Lahti 3 3
24 Latvia (16) Kjastas Puodzuks 3 3
26 Czech Republic (16) Vaclav Milik 2 2
27 United Kingdom (18) Robert Lambert 1 1
27 Poland (17) Adrian Cyfer 1 1
27 Slovenia (16) Aleksander Conda 1 1
27 Slovenia (17) Denis Stojs 1 1
31 Finland (17) Nike Lunna 0 0
31 Finland (18) Jiri Nieminen 0 0
31 Czech Republic (17) Matěj Kůs 0 0
31 Czech Republic (18) Josef Franc 0 0
31 United Kingdom (17) Jason Garrity 0 0
Pos. Rider Points POL
Poland
FIN
Finland
CZE
Czech Republic
GBR
United Kingdom
LVA
Latvia
SWE
Sweden
DEN
Denmark
PL2
Poland
SLO
Slovenia
SCA
Sweden
POL
Poland
AUS
Australia

See also

References

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