Denmark Into Final

The 2012 Speedway World Cup race-off was won by 2008 champions, Denmark, in Malilla, Sweden. The Danes won the meeting by four points and were only behind after heat two. Nicky Pedersen came back from his week off in  Grand Canaria, to slot into the Denmark side ahead of 17-year old Mikkel B Jensen.

Second placed Poland also made one change for the race-off, Krzystof Buczkowski replacing Grzegorz Walasek who didn't win a heat in event one. Czech Republic and Britain remained unchanged from event two but neither were expected to really mount a challenge for a place in the final.

The opening heat saw Thomasz Gollob go down under a challenge from Niels-Kristian Iversen, but referee, Craig Akroyd, deemed Gollob to have gone down too easily and was subsequently excluded. Iversen went onto take the heat with Tai Woffinden second. Leon Madsen was the only Dane not to win a heat in the race-off and began the night by falling in the first corner and getting excluded. Josef Franc surprisingly took the heat to give Czech Republic the lead, the only time Denmark didn't have it.

Ales Dryml became the third faller in three heats, but he got up, allowing the heat to continue. Nicky Pedersen won it before Michael Jepsen Jensen made it three heats from four for Denmark. This gave the Danes nine points. With Scott Nicholls the only Brit not to finish second, Britain sat on seven points after four heats. Czech Republic and Poland were both on four points.

The next three heats were all taken by Denmark. Nicholls packed up in heat seven, opening up an eight point lead between Denmark and Britain. They responded with Woffinden playing Britain's joker and won heat eight, Madsen finished fourth which closed the game back down to two points. Denmark sat on 18 with Britain on 16. Second places from Maciej Janowski and Piotr Protasiewicz helped Poland onto nine points with a second place from Franc putting Czech Republic on eight.

Heats 9-12 weren't won by a Dane, yet they still had a three point lead at the end of it. Buczkowski took heat nine before Woffinden made it two heats in a row. Ales Dryml false started in heat-11 and was excluded, Gollob won it but a second place for Chris Harris meant Britain were now just a point behind Denmark. Gollob then used Poland's joker and claimed his second heat in a row, Danny King could only manage fourth, meaning Poland were now level with Britain on 22-points. Iversen finished second, meaning Denmark had 25-points after 12-heats. Czech Republic were now further down, Lukas Dryml's third place in heat-12 the only point they managed in the four heats, keeping them on nine points.

Denmark once again extended their lead with Iversen taking heat-13. Czech Republic used their joker in heat-14 and Franc won the heat to give them a much needed six points. Jepsen Jensen took his second heat of the night to reassert Denmark's authority. Gollob's win in heat-16 meant Denmark had a four point lead going into the final four heats. The Danes had 34-points with Poland on 30. A third from Harris and a second from Woffinden saw Britain's challenge fall away as they sat on 25-points. Lukas Dryml earned another point for Czech Republic who bounced to 16-points.

Czech Republic's final points came in heat-17 courtesy of a victory for Ales Dryml. Madsen came second, extending the lead to five. Harris replaced King in heat-18 and managed to win the heat. Another second place, this time from Pedersen, meant the gap was now six and anything other than two last places would be enough to see Denmark make the final. That was confirmed in heat-19 with Iversen getting second behind Buczkowski, claiming his second heat of the night. The final heat was taken by Gollob but another second place from Jepsen Jensen meant the winning margin was four points. The final tally for Denmark was 42 with Poland on 38. Britain fell away towards the end and finished on 30-points with Czech Republic way behind on 19. Denmark will now face Russia, Australia and Sweden on Saturday.