Great Britain‰Ûªs Tai Woffinden was over the moon to defy the bookmakers and two broken collarbones and seal the FIM Speedway World Championship at the Torun FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland on Saturday.
The 23-year-old started the evening needing just six points to secure the gold medal and tallied 10 to end the season on 151. He finished the job off with a sublime victory in heat five and was aided by Torun SGP winner Adrian Miedzinski, who passed Woffy‰Ûªs nearest rival Jaroslaw Hampel for second place.
But the Polish star bounced back to claim his second World Championship silver medal on 142 points, while Danish champion Niels-Kristian Iversen marked his return to the SGP series after a four-year absence with bronze, scoring 132 points.
The night belonged to Woffy, though. Despite being written off by some before the season, not to mention breaking his collarbone twice, his combination of fitness, speed and sheer determination saw him become Britain‰Ûªs first world champion since Mark Loram in 2000.
‰ÛÏIt has been an amazing season. It hasn‰Ûªt been an easy one, but I‰Ûªve put everything I can into my speedway this year and really made it happen." The delighted Scunthorpe-born star said:
‰ÛÏI‰Ûªve had two broken collarbones and I‰Ûªve come back from that fighting fit. To put in the performances I‰Ûªve been putting in all season was a great achievement.
‰ÛÏI got a wild card and I was 500/1 in January to win it. I know people who put å£20 or å£30 on me back in January. I think they‰Ûªre going to be pretty happy.‰Û
