Thriller In Malilla

The 2008 World Champions, Denmark, came through the race-off to go onto win the 2012 Speedway World Cup in Malilla, Sweden. It was a tight fought contest with Australia, Sweden and Russia with tactics very much coming into play. Denmark would eventually finish three points ahead of Australia who had battled with the Danes throughout.

Mikkel B Jensen returned from Event 1 to replace Leon Madsen to help Nicky Pedersen, Niels-Kristian Iversen and Michael Jepsen Jensen. Australia had also made a change with Darcy Ward coming back from a broken hand to replace Troy Batchelor, Davey Watt kept his place alongside Jason Crump and Chris Holder.

The Russian side remained unchanged, meaning Emil Sayfutdinov, Roman Povazhny and both Artem and Grigory Laguta continued to race in their colours. Sweden's team saw no place for GP rider Antonio Lindback. Fellow GP riders, Andreas Jonsson, Freddie Lindgren and Peter Ljung did race for the host nation with Thomas H Jonasson, who made it into the final of the Swedish GP as a wildcard, filling the team.

Holder got Australia off to the best start before a false start in the second heat allowed Pedersen to give Denmark a one point lead after two rides. A win for Crump put Australia and Denmark level with a second place for Ward just enough to give the Aussies a one point lead after four heats. They sat on nine with Denmark on eight. A win for Jonsson put Sweden on four points after failing to score in the opening two heats. A third from Sayfutdinov and a second from Grigory Laguta placed Russia on three points as they failed to score in the third and fourth heats.

A second win for Crump extended Australia's lead to two points. But wins from Jepsen Jensen and Pedersen meant Denmark and Australia were locked on 16-points after seven heats. Peter Ljung did fall in heat six but got off the track to allow the result to stand. Povazhny would then fall on the final lap of heat eight but the race was again allowed to finish. This was good new for Iversen as his second place, ahead of Watt in third, was enough to give Denmark a point lead after eight heats. The Danes were now 18 with Australia on 17. A joker won by Jonsson in heat eight boosted Sweden's tally to 11. Just a third place from Sayfutdinov added to Russia's total which was now just five.

Ward grabbed second ahead of Pedersen in heat nine which once again put Denmark and Australia level on points. A win four Iversen in heat ten with Watt finishing fourth in heat-11 gave Denmark a two point lead before Holder's second win placed them level again, this time on 24 after 12-heats. A win for Jonasson in heat nine before a second place for Lindgren in heat-11 gave Sweden 16-points. A win for Sayfutdinov in heat-11 alongside a third from Artem Laguta and a second from Grigory Laguta meant Russia were now into double figures on 11-points.

A false start from Povazhny in heat-13 delayed Lindgren's only win of the night. A second place from Jensen gave Denmark that one point lead again. That was extended to three when Jepsen Jensen picked up a victory with Watt only managing third. The gap became five when Iversen won heat-15 with Ward again only managing third. The tactics were then played in heat-16. Pedersen was easily going to get second with Crump third, but the Dane slowed down on the final corner to allow Crump to overtake him. This meant the gap became four, preventing Australia from being able to use their joker in the next heat. Denmark had 33-points after 16-heats with Australia on 29. A further second place from Lindgren put Sweden on 21 with Artem Laguta adding to Sayfutdinov's heat-16 victory giving Russia 16-points.

Jensen tried doing the same trick in heat-17. But this time Watt was aware of it and he himself slowed down, allowing Ljung to take third. This meant the gap was now six courtesy of that second place for Jensen. Sayfutdinov played Russia's joker in that heat and won all six points to put them level with Sweden.

Holder would instantly play Australia's joker in heat-18 and would take all six points. Jonasson did fall initially, leading to a restart, and Artem Laguta kept Pedersen in third place. This meant Australia had now closed the gap to the just one point. Grigory Laguta was the spoiler as he took heat-19. But Jepsen Jensen finished second ahead of Holder to give Denmark a two point cushion going into the final heat.

The final heat saw four GP riders take part, Jonsson, Crump, Sayfutdinov and Iversen. Crump got all out of shape after the first corner and this put him into fourth. That would ultimately be where Crump would finish with third being enough for Iversen to claim the World Cup for Denmark. Sayfutdinov did win the final heat which meant they cemented third ahead of Sweden. Denmark finished on 39 with Australia second on 36. Russian ended up with 30-points leaving Sweden fourth on 24.