The 2012 Speedway World Cup kicked off in Bydgoszcz, Poland with the first four nations vying to take their place alongside reigning champions, Sweden, in Saturday's final. The 2009 and 2010 champions faced 2008 champions Denmark, Russia and a returning USA team.
It would be Russia who made it into the final in a last heat shoot-out. Denmark and Poland will meet again on Thursday to compete in the race-off while USA are the first nation to crash out of this year's tournament. Four wins from five, including a joker, by Emil Sayfutdinov was enough to put his country through by a solitary point.
It was a familiar looking Russian line-up with GP rider Sayfutdinov joined by the Laguta brothers and resident captain, Roman Povazhny. Poland were missing GP rider Jaroslaw Hampel and Janusz Kolodziej through injury. 2010 world champion, Thomasz Gollob, captained the side with Piotr Protasiewicz, who declined a place in this year's GP series, also headlining. Grzegorz Walasek and U-21 world champion, Maciej Janowski were also in the team.
It was no surprise to see current world champion, Greg Hancock, captaining the American side. 1996 world champion, Billy Hamill, had retired in 2008 but performed a U-turn to compete in this monumental tournament for American speedway. Ryan Fisher and Ricky Wells were the other two in the USA side.
The Danish side was perhaps the most surprising. All four GP riders; Kenneth Bjerre, Hans Andersen, Bjarne Pedersen and Nicky Pedersen, had been omitted from the side. Two time World Cup winner, Niels-Kristian Iversen, captained the side with three youngsters all under his wing. 23-year old Leon Madsen, 20-year old Michael Jepsen Jensen and 17-year old Mikkel B Jensen (the latter two appeared in the Danish GP earlier this year) completed the inexperienced looking side.
The first four heats saw all 'number one' riders take the chequered flag. Two second places from the Laguta brothers meant that Russia had an early lead on seven points. A second from Protasiewicz and a third from Walasek saw Poland have six points with Denmark also on that score courtesy of third places from the other three Danish drivers. USA were fourth with five points, Ricky Wells the only other points scorer apart from Hancock, picking up second in the opening heat.
The first restart of the night came in heat five when someone was Walasek was adjudged to have false started. It looked minimal but the Pole would eventually fall from his own mistake on the last corner to miss out on the points, Hancock again took the win. Gollob and Iversen continued their dominance as did Sayfutdinov in heat eight after a bit of drama. It had to be restarted when three of the four drivers crashed in the opening corner, thankfully no-one was injured and all four could continue. After eight heats Russia lead with 15, Poland and Denmark had 12 with USA still within touching distance on nine.
Iversen then became the first 'number one' rider to fail to win a heat as Janowski took heat nine for Poland. This was followed by Madsen edging Hancock out in heat ten and Jensen beating Gollob in heat-11. Sayfutdinov continued his winning ways, making it three heats from three. Walasek's night got worse in that heat as he packed up in the final corner. The third win helped Russia to 20 points, but it was only enough to see them in second. Denmark were now in the lead on 22 with two wins and two seconds in the third set of heats. Poland were now on 18 with a 1-2-3-4 sequence of results with USA falling behind on just 12.
Janowski would then make it two heats in a row as Hancock played the joker for USA, gaining four points for his second place finish. Madsen would do the same in heat-15 after Jepsen Jensen gave Denmark another victory in the previous heat. Sayfutdinov played Russia's joker in heat-16 and his fourth victory was enough to level with Denmark. Madsen's win saw Denmark move up to 28 with Russia on 22, Sayfutdinov's victory meant Russia also scored 28 with Iversen finishing in fourth to keep Denmark on the same score. Poland were still in touch on 26 courtesy of second place finishes from Protasiewicz and Gollob to back up Janowski's second win. USA were now seemingly out of it, languishing on 19 points.
Artem Laguta took heat 17 which meant Russia gained a point over Denmark as Jensen finished second. But wins from Protasiewicz and Janowski, his third of the night, meant that Russia had 34, Denmark 33 and Poland 32 going into the final heat. It would be the ultimate showdown as well as Sayfutdinov, Gollob and Hancock took to the stage with Jepsen Jensen carrying the weight of Denmark on his shoulders. Hancock crashed the party, sending USA off with his third win of the night. Gollob sealed second but a third place for Sayfutdinov meant it would be the Russians who scraped through by a point. Final result:
Russia 35
Poland 34
Denmark 33
USA 23
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