2007 Speedway Grand Prix Explained

Year:2007
Dates:28 April - 13 October
Events:11
Cities:11
Country:9
Per:15
Wc:1
Tr:2
Heats:253 + 1 Run-off
P1f:DEN
P2f:AUS
P3f:AUS
P3:Jason Crump

The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix was the 62nd edition of the official World Championship[1] [2] and the 13th season in the Speedway Grand Prix era used to determine the Speedway World Champion. It was the first under the promotion of IMG, who had purchased series organisers Benfield Sports International (BSI).

Event format

The format for 2007 was a revision of that used in 2006, with 16 riders taking part in each Grand Prix and over the course of 20 heats each rider racing against every other rider once. The top 8 scorers advanced to a semi-final and from each semi-final the 1st and 2nd placed riders advanced to the Grand Prix final.

All rides counted towards Grand Prix points totals, including the semi-final and final, which counted as double (6-4-2-0) and therefore the maximum points for a single Grand Prix was 24 (5x heat wins, semi final win and final win). This scoring revision was introduced as a result of comments made during 2006 that the four finalists received too many points compared to the losing semi-finalists who received little benefit compared to the 9th placed non-qualifier.[3] This format also meant that the winner of each Grand Prix may not be the rider who scores most Grand Prix points from each race.

Cities

Cities of 2007 Grand Prix:

Qualification for Grand Prix

See main article: 2007 Speedway Grand Prix Qualification. For the 2007 season, there were 15 permanent riders joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card. The top eight riders from the 2006 championship qualified as of right, although as Hans Andersen had already qualified the 9th placed rider was also included. These eight qualifiers were, in championship order:-

They were joined by three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Qualifying final. These riders were, in order by qualifying position:-

The final four riders were nominated by series promoters, Benfield Sports International, following the completion of the 2006 Grand Prix season.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX. British Speedway. 10 July 2021.
  2. Web site: Speedway riders, history and results. wwosbackup. 10 July 2021.
  3. Web site: Olsen pleased with new system . Benfield Sports International . 2007 . 2008-11-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213912/http://www.speedwayworld.tv/en/sgp/a7292 . 2007-09-27 .