The Speedway Grand Prix series has taken a break this week as the Speedway World Cup began yesterday. It is split into four events where eight nations compete for the title. The winners from events one and two will progress into the final whereas the teams who finish second and third will meet in the play-off on Thursday. Event One was held in Vojens, Denmark, where the scoring system is the same as normal Speedway: three points for first, two for second and three for third. But in the World Cup, if a nation is six or more points behind the leader during the twenty-five heats they can use a joker for one heat where the points scored in that race will be doubled.
The four teams who competed in event one were Denmark, Sweden, Australia and Germany. The hosts controversially left out last year's captain Hans Andersen in favour of Mads Korneliussen. Grand Prix riders Nicky Pedersen and Kenneth Bjerre were also joined by Niels-Kristian Iversen and Bjarne Pedersen. Sweden's controversial choice saw Magnus 'Zorro' Zetterstrom left out. Grand Prix riders Andreas Jonsson, Freddie Lindgren and Antonio Lindback were joined by Jonas Davidsson and Thomas H Jonasson. Australia left out Davey Watt for a more younger set up. GP riders Jason Crump and Chris Holder were joined by Darcy Ward, Troy Batchelor and Rory Schlein. Germany were definitely the minnows as none of their riders take part in the GP and were represented by Kevin Wolbert, Max Dilger, Tobias Busch, Mathias Schultz and Tobias Kroner.
Jonsson won the first heat for Sweden but Bjarne Pedersen and Kenneth Bjerre won the next two to give Denamrk a point lead after three heats. Australia got off to an awful start and Batchelor packed up in heat three to give Germany their second point in three heats to take third place. Jonas Davidsson won heat four with Mads Korneliussen proving his critics wrong to win the fifth heat. After five heats Denmark had twelve, Sweden eleven, Australia five and Germany two.
Kenneth Bjerre won his second heat in the heat six with Germany using their joker, but Wolbert could only manage third to pick up two points. Chris holder won Australia's first heat before Korneliussen continued the Danish charge in heat eight with his second win. Heat nine saw Nicky Pedersen fall and was subsequently excluded, allowing Freddie Lindgren to take the lead over Denmark. But Bjarne Pedersen restored parity by winning the tenth heat. After ten heats Denamrk and Sweden both had twenty-one points, Australia thirteen and Germany six.
Australia began a gallant fight back in the following five heats; Darcy Ward won heat eleven with Holder, Crump and Ward again winning after Lindgren had taken heat twelve. Heat fourteen saw Bjarne Pedersen pack-up which led to Crump's victory. After fifteen heats Sweden had taken the lead on thirty, Australia were now level with Denmark on twenty-seven with Germany on seven.
Heats 16-20 were very much Denmark's power surge. Bjarne Pedersen and Bjerre took heats sixteen and seventeen. Ward won his third heat before Korneliussen and Nicky Pedersen put Denmark in charge. After twenty heats Denmark had forty points, Sweden thirty-eight, Australia thirty-six and Germany seven.
Darcy Ward won his fourth heat to level with Sweden after twenty-one heats. The two Pedersen's won the following heats to almost ensure their progression into the final. Heat twenty-three saw Holder play Australia's joker but could only manage third before winning the following heat, Lindgren finished second with Sweden's joker. The final heat was won by Crump but it wasn't enough to steal second. Denmark won the event with fifty points, Sweden and Australia will take part in Thursday's race-off with forty-eight and forty-seven points respectively, Germany unsurprisingly finished last with a solitary nine points. Event two takes place on Monday and features Poland, Great Britain, Russia and Czech Republic.
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