History was made at Melbourne’s Etihad stadium on Saturday night when a crowd of over 25,000 witnessed the first Australian FIM Speedway Grand Prix.
Local fans were left with their hearts in their mouths when current Australian Champion Jason Doyle was left unconscious in the final event. The big prize was taken out by American Greg Hancock.
Earlier in the evening, local favourites Jason Doyle, Chris Holder, Troy Batchelor and wildcard Sam Masters, were met with a rousing response from a strong partisan crowd.
Doyle looked superb on the expansive Etihad circuit, finishing the heats on nine points. The Hunter Valley hurricane advanced easily to the semi-final behind eventual winner Hancock, much to the delight of the crowd.
Doyle’s night came to a sudden halt when in the final, his decision to clamp down on the fast starting Hancock, resulted in the two careening into the shale. Doyle was taken away by the medical team where it was later made public he had been left unconscious.
Though the Leicester and Torun star could not compete in the re-run, his top-eight goal at seasons opening was well established by finishing fifth overall. Doyle is in a stable condition at Melbourne’s Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he has sustained neck and chest injuries.
2012 World Champion Chris Holder’s night wasn’t to his lofty standards. Though he showed speed early on, his gating wasn’t of his usual heights.
Although Holder didn’t make the final, he was kept on his toes well past his final race of the night. Heading into the event, the five-time Australian Champion held a comfortable fourteen-point cushion over Dane Peter Kildemand for the final top-eight qualifying position into next year’s series.
By virtue of finishing the heats on twelve points with extra races in hand, Kildemand had the opportunity to jump into the final qualifying spot if he could win the semi-final and final.
When leading the semi-final luck, was not on Kildemands side when newly crowned World Champion Tai Woffinden hit the deck, causing a stoppage. In the re-run Kildemand was left third, thus missing a final birth and Holder breathing a massive sigh of relief.
Joining Holder on two points after the heats was 2013 Australian Champion Troy Batchelor, who’s night never quite got going.
Wildcard Sam Masters had a dramatic night, an altercation with the Dane Nicki Pedersen had the crowd enthralled, and with five-points, more than held his own on his SGP debut.
With Doyle missing in the re-ran final, it was adopted Australian Greg Hancock who had the crowd’s support. His unbeaten night well and truly clinched his bid to win the silver medal. Hancock beat home Dane Niels-Kristian Iversen and Pole Maciej Janowski.
Perth raised Tai Woffinden finally got his hands on his second World title at the tender age of 25. Joining Woffinden for the overall medals was Greg Hancock and Nicki Pedersen.
Speedway attention now turns north of the state where Mildura’s Olympic Park Speedway will hold the final of the World Under-21 World Team Cup final on Saturday the 31st of October.
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