Mental steel key to retaining FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship
World champion Tai Woffinden says mental steel could be the deciding factor in this season’s FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship race ahead of Saturday’s Danish SGP in Copenhagen.
The Team Great Britain skipper showed astonishing cool to become the youngest world champ in the Grand Prix era in 2013, and he leads the standings by a point ahead of American legend Greg Hancock.
Woffinden, who has 63, knows his rivals will pile on the pressure as just 12 points separate the top six. But the 23-year-old is determined to display his composure once again as he bids for a third straight SGP win following his triumphs in Prague and Malilla.
He said: “It could all come down to who is strongest mentally and who stays calm under all the pressure. Every point is crucial right now and as everyone knows, points make prizes, so I’ll go to Denmark looking to stay calm as I always do.
“I’ve got the benefit of last season when there was a lot of pressure on the title race and I managed to pull it off to win the world title.
"I would like nothing more than to do it again, but it’s too close to call at the minute.”
The Wolverhampton, Wroclaw and Vetlanda man says he’s in a good place heading into the showpiece event in the Danish capital.
He said: “I’m just trying to stay relaxed and enjoy my racing. I’m looking forward to Copenhagen, things are going well for me right now and long may it continue.
“I’m both relaxed and determined. I’m totally focussed on doing the job and things have started going better in England for me too. I had a good one on Monday against King’s Lynn but sadly Wolverhampton lost.
“It’s been a busy time for me again, but I had a good day in London at Monster Energy HQ on Wednesday which was nice and I feel I’m in a good frame of mind with things going so well.
“The team are working well around me and I’m in a good place with everything right now. I just need to keep it going.”
Copenhagen is followed by the biggest event on the speedway calendar – the British FIM Speedway Grand Prix at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on July 12.
Woffy would love to deliver a big performance in both meetings before he captains his country for the first time in the Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup, which gets underway at King’s Lynn on July 26.
He said: “I want to have two good meetings at Copenhagen and then at Cardiff a fortnight later and still be in a strong position when we go into the break for the SWC.”
