Britain's Tai Woffinden closes on FIM Speedway GP World Championship

World Championship leader Tai Woffinden challenged his FIM Speedway Grand Prix rivals to crack his winning formula as he closes on becoming Great Britain’s first speedway world champion since 2000.

The 23-year-old could secure speedway’s biggest prize if he leaves the Rockklassiker Scandinavian FIM Speedway Grand Prix at Stockholm’s Friends Arena on Saturday with a lead of 22 points or more over his nearest rival.

The Scunthorpe-born hotshot has 134 points and is 20 clear of Emil Sayfutdinov, who holds second place on 114. But the Russian’s season has been ended by knee and elbow ligament damage, meaning Poland’s Jaroslaw Hampel, who is third on 112, is Woffy’s nearest rival.

The British champion, bidding to follow in 2000 champion Mark Loram’s footsteps, has made a dramatic transformation from rank outsider to firm favourite since being named as one of this season’s permanent wild card riders in October 2012.

Woffinden, who has ridden much of this season with the broken collarbone he suffered at the Fogo British SGP in Cardiff on June 1, has taken everything from his engines to his exercise regime up a level.

But asked what has been the secret to his success, the Mitas Czech SGP winner is keeping his cards close to his chest in a bid to stay ahead of the competition.

He said: “I’ve been doing all sorts of things with my training. What I have been doing is for me to know and other people to find out. I don’t want to tell everyone; otherwise they’ll do it next year.

“If I can do anything to give myself an advantage, I’ll keep hush, hush about it. It has been a big season and I have changed a lot of things. Things are working professionally and personally.

“There are other things to the package besides my training. I’ve put in the effort to find out what works for me. I don’t want to tell everyone because you don’t have a long career in speedway and I’ll keep it to myself, but good luck to everyone else trying to find out!

“I’m not going to sit and tell everyone all our secrets, what me and the team talk about, or brag to the world about what we’re doing. That’s our package and how we do it.”

Woffinden knows he hasn’t secured the gold medal just yet and is determined to maintain his focus and form in the Swedish capital to avoid taking the title race to the last round at Polish track Torun on October 5.

He said: “Some people are saying it’s my World Championship to win, but it’s really mine to lose. It’s still up for grabs. If I have a bad one in Stockholm and Jarek Hampel or Nicki Pedersen have a good one, it could come down to Torun.

“I’ve just got to do what I do normally this weekend and not change anything. If by the end of it I’m world champion, I’m world champion. If not, I’m not.

“As everyone has seen, anything can happen in speedway and I’ll just take everything with a pinch of salt and see how everything is after Sweden. I won’t worry about the maths; how many points I need to score or lead by. I’ll just go out and take each race as it comes.”

Woffinden is sorry to see Sayfutdinov forced out of what was shaping up to be an epic title fight following a crash at Torun on August 31.

But having overtaken his rival for top spot at the Rietumu Bank Latvian SGP in Daugavpils on August 17, Woffinden believes he merits top spot in the world.

The Team Great Britain star, who has reached six of this year’s 10 SGP finals, said: “I was lucky enough to pass Emil before he got injured, so where I am at the moment … I’ve earned that place. I haven’t been given it at all.

“It’s not nice to see a fellow rider leave the championship like that and the same with world champion Chris Holder. He had a nasty crash at Coventry in July and that was his season over.

“That’s the way our sport is and there is not really much we can do about it, unfortunately. You race on a 500cc motorbike with no brakes and these things do happen. Everyone knows that, I’m sure. They’ve just got to come back stronger next year.”


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