Emil the Third

Emil Sayfutdinov extends his lead at the top of the Speedway GP standings after winning his third meeting in his fourth successive final, with only the touching of the tapes preventing him from winning the previous meeting. He now leads Tai Woffinden by eight points after five rounds. Woffinden did lead the way during the early parts of the meeting at his home British GP, but a suspected collarbone break his his fourth heat has dented his chances of winning the championship.

Sayfutdinov took the victory in Cardiff at the second time of asking in the final. Krzyzstof Kasprzak did lead the way when the final went ahead but Freddie Lindgren ended up crashing and forced a restart that the Swede was excluded for. Sayfutdinov took the lead on the restart with Kasprzak breathing down his neck. By the final lap, the Pole was right the Russian's tail. They contacted on the final corner but both managed to stay on their bikes. Kasprzak, who made the contact, was forced out wide which allowed Niels-Kristian Iversen, who performed brilliantly to make it in to only his second GP final of his career, to take second on the night.

It was Chris Holder and Greg Hancock who had first gate choices in the semi-finals and both chose gate two, which turned out to be a fatal error. Holder could only watch Lindgren and Kasprzak take the first two final spots while Nicki Pedersen pulled up and instantly clutched his broken arm once he had fallen to fourth. Hancock did finish fourth behind Iversen, Sayfutdinov and Martin Vaculik, who started his season in this meeting.

Despite making it to Cardiff, Darcy Ward was still unable to compete which meant Ales Dryml was able to take part in his second meeting of the season. There was also a welcome return for Chris Harris who was the wildcard after having a poor GP series last year.

There was nothing like starting the British GP with the hottest British property and it was Woffinden who won the opening heat ahead of Iversen, Matej Zagar and the continuing disappointment of Tomasz Gollob. With Cardiff known for having a tight first corner, it was no surprise to see heat two restarted due to Vaculik hitting the deck at the start. All four were able to come back and it was the Slovakian who took the chequered flag from Jaroslaw Hampel, Andreas Jonsson and Antonio Lindback.

Holder arguably started his title charge last year with victory in Cardiff and he began this night by winning heat three ahead of Hancock, Lindgren and Dryml. Pedersen was still nursing that broken arm as mentioned but he began his night with victory in heat four. Third place for Sayfutdinov, behind Kasprzak but ahead of Harris, meant that Woffinden now had a one point lead in the overall standings.

Holder went down in heat five at the first corner. Again all four were allowed to restart and Pedersen managed to make it two heats out of two with Holder second, Hampel third and Zagar fourth. Woffinden had to settle for second place in heat six behind Kasprzak but that would be more than sufficient as Sayfutdinov could only finish third again in heat seven, Lindgren won it with Gollob second and Lindback fourth for a second time. This meant that Woffinden would now have a point lead over Sayfutdinov. Hancock managed to win heat eight ahead of Iversen, Harris and Vaculik.

The British flags were flying once again in heat nine as Harris managed to beat Lindgren, Jonsson and Zagar to the chequered flag. It was the battle between Woffinden and Sayfutdinov in heat ten and the Russian would win it with Woffinden second, closing the gap to a solitary point at the top, Hancock was third with Hampel fourth. Holder would win his second heat of the night in heat-11 with Gollob again down in third, Vaculik second. Iversen would manage to win the battle of the Danes in heat-12 by winning the heat and succumbing Pedersen to his first defeat of the night, Lindgren finished third with Dryml fourth.

Kasprzak took his second heat of the night in heat-13, ahead of Hancock, Zagar and Lindback. Carnage would ensue in heat-14. As the four riders went in to the third corner, Lindgren would try and squeeze Woffinden to make it three abreast. This put Woffinden off and he veered wide which caused Vaculik to put his bike down, without there being any contact. Woffinden then crashed in to the back of the leader Pedersen, not for the first time this season, and both riders would smash in to the air fence. Woffinden landed hard on his shoulder as he hit the deck before being hit in the head by his bike as it came back down. Fortunately, both Vaculik and Pedersen were able to get up without sustaining any injuries. But Woffinden stayed the floor and it emerged that he suffered a broken collarbone which ended his night and his action for at least a couple of weeks.

Once the carnage had been swept away, the referee deemed that it was Lindgren who caused the drama and he, somewhat harshly perhaps, excluded the Swede from the restart. As Woffinden couldn't participate, Britain's Craig Cook stepped in and ultimately came third behind Vaculik and Pedersen. Heat-15 was taken by Hampel with fellow Pole Gollob fourth behind Dryml and Harris. Jonsson pulled up in heat-16 which meant he got to watch Iversen come around and pick up his second victory of the night ahead of Holder and Sayfutdinov, who now levelled with Woffinden on points.

Sayfutdinov then took full advantage of Woffinden's absence by winning heat-17, his second of the night. Britain's Josh Auty came in for Woffinden in heat-18 and managed to get third behind Harris and Holder who claimed his third heat of the night. The second place was just not enough for Harris to claim a place in the semi-finals. Jonsson pulled out of heat-19 due to a foot injury so Cook got a second heat and the small matter of racing three world champions in Hancock, Gollob and Pedersen, the young Brit finished at the back with the veteran American claiming his second victory of the night. The final heat of the night saw Lindgren also make it two victories.

After five rounds, Sayfutdinov continues to lead the standings on 69-points. Hopefully Woffinden can participate in the next meeting in two weeks, but it looks doubtful. For now, the Brit sits second on 61. If Woffinden can't compete, Pedersen will surely overtake him as he currently sits third on 56-points. Holder is also likely to overtake Woffinden as he's currently fourth on 54-points. A good night in Gorzow for Hampel could also see him overtake Woffinden as he's on 52-points. That final for Iversen sees him move up to 49-points with Gollob now down in seventh on 48. Hancock now completes the top eight on 45 with Zagar just four points behind him.