2019 Speedway Grand Prix

The 2019 Speedway Grand Prix season was the 25th season of the Speedway Grand Prix era, and decided the 74th FIM Speedway World Championship.^[1][2] It was the nineteenth series under the promotion of Benfield Sports International, an IMG company.

2019 Speedway Grand Prix
Season details
Dates	May 18 – October 5
Events	10
Cities	10
Countries	7
Riders	15 permanents 1 wild card(s) 2 track reserves
Heats	230 (in 10 events)
Winners
Champion	POL Bartosz Zmarzlik
Runner-up	DEN Leon Madsen
3rd place	RUS Emil Sayfutdinov
← 2018 Speedway Grand Prix 2020 →

The title was won by Bartosz Zmarzlik, who beat debutant Leon Madsen by two points with Russia's Emil Sayfutdinov finishing third. Zmarzlik became the third Polish world champion after Jerzy Szczakiel won in 1973 and Tomasz Gollob took the title in 2010. Defending champion Tai Woffinden's season was hampered by injury and he finished in 13th place.

2019 changes

Qualifying for each Grand Prix was introduced for the first time in the 2019 season.^[3] On the day before the Grand Prix every rider completed a timed lap, with the fastest rider getting to select their position in the draw, followed by second and so on. Matej Žagar was the first ever rider to win a qualifying session when setting the fastest time at the 2019 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland.^[4]

Qualification

For the 2019 season there were 15 permanent riders, joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card and two track reserves.

The top eight riders from the 2018 championship qualified automatically. These riders were joined by the three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Challenge.

The final four riders were nominated by series promoters, Benfield Sports International, following the completion of the 2018 season.^[5]

On May 2 Greg Hancock announced he would not be competing in the 2019 season to support his wife's battle with cancer.^[6] The FIM and BSI unanimously supported Hancock's withdrawal.

Qualified riders

#	Riders	2018 place	GP Ch place	Appearance	Previous appearances in series
108	Tai Woffinden	1	—	8th	2010, 2011, 2013–2018
95	Bartosz Zmarzlik	2	—	4th	2012–2015, 2016–2018
66	Fredrik Lindgren	3	—	10th	2004, 2006–2007, 2008–2014, 2016, 2017–2018
71	Maciej Janowski	4	—	5th	2008, 2012, 2014, 2015–2018
45	Greg Hancock	5	—	25th	1995–2018
222	Artem Laguta	6	—	3rd	2011, 2018
69	Jason Doyle	7	—	5th	2015–2018
89	Emil Sayfutdinov	8	—	8th	2009–2013, 2017–2018
692	Patryk Dudek	9	—	3rd	2016, 2017–2018
55	Matej Žagar	10	15	9th	2003–2005, 2006–2007, 2008–2009, 2011, 2013–2018
54	Martin Vaculík	13	—	4th	2012, 2013, 2017–2018
333	Janusz Kołodziej	—	1	2nd	2006, 2010, 2011
88	Niels-Kristian Iversen	14	2	8th	2004–2005, 2006, 2008, 2009–2010, 2013–2017, 2018
85	Antonio Lindbäck	—	3	9th	2004, 2005–2007, 2009–2010, 2011–2013, 2015, 2016–2017
30	Leon Madsen	—	—	1st	2013

Qualified substitutes

The following riders were nominated as substitutes:

#	Riders	2018 place	GP Ch place
505	Robert Lambert	30	5
46	Max Fricke	18	7
155	Mikkel Michelsen	29	—
225	Václav Milík Jr.	17	11
115	Bartosz Smektała	26	—

Calendar

The 2019 season consisted of 10 events, the same number as in 2018.^[7]

Round	Date	City and venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd placed	4th placed	Results
1	May 18	Warsaw, Poland Stadion Narodowy	Leon Madsen	Fredrik Lindgren	Patryk Dudek	Niels-Kristian Iversen	results
2	June 1	Krsko, Slovenia Stadion Matije Gubca	Bartosz Zmarzlik	Martin Vaculík	Leon Madsen	Patryk Dudek	results
3	June 15	Prague, Czech Republic Markéta Stadium	Janusz Kołodziej	Leon Madsen	Patryk Dudek	Jason Doyle	results
4	July 6	Hallstavik , Sweden HZ Bygg Arena	Emil Sayfutdinov	Martin Vaculík	Maciej Janowski	Max Fricke	results
5	August 3	Wrocław, Poland Olympic Stadium	Bartosz Zmarzlik	Martin Vaculík	Leon Madsen	Janusz Kołodziej	results
6	August 17	Målilla , Sweden G&B Arena	Fredrik Lindgren	Leon Madsen	Maciej Janowski	Artem Laguta	results
7	August 31	Teterow, Germany Bergring Arena	Maciej Janowski	Bartosz Zmarzlik	Matej Žagar	Niels-Kristian Iversen	results
8	September 7	Vojens, Denmark Vojens Speedway Center	Bartosz Zmarzlik	Matej Žagar	Fredrik Lindgren	Emil Sayfutdinov	results
9	September 21	Cardiff, Great Britain Principality Stadium	Leon Madsen	Emil Sayfutdinov	Bartosz Zmarzlik	Jason Doyle	results
10	October 5	Torun, Poland Rose Motoarena	Leon Madsen	Emil Sayfutdinov	Niels-Kristian Iversen	Bartosz Zmarzlik	results

Final Classification

^[8]

Qualifies for next season's Grand Prix series

Full-time Grand Prix rider

Wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve

Pos.	Rider	Points	POL	SVN	CZE	SWE	PL2	SCA	GER	DEN	GBR	PL3
	(95) Bartosz Zmarzlik (C)	132	10	18	8	8	17	8	16	18	15	14
	(30) Leon Madsen	130	13	13	14	7	14	14	10	7	17	21
	(89) Emil Sayfutdinov	126	6	13	11	17	14	7	10	16	17	15
4	(66) Fredrik Lindgren	105	15	5	12	10	5	16	9	15	11	7
5	(54) Martin Vaculík	95	7	17	4	16	15	9	4	7	9	7
6	(71) Maciej Janowski	87	–	4	7	13	12	15	16	6	7	7
7	(69) Jason Doyle	84	5	6	12	7	5	7	6	12	13	11
8	(692) Patryk Dudek	79	16	12	12	7	8	6	8	3	3	4
9	(55) Matej Žagar	78	7	6	4	10	3	7	15	13	9	4
10	(88) Niels-Kristian Iversen	77	14	7	3	8	2	7	13	7	5	11
11	(222) Artem Laguta	76	4	9	9	5	7	16	8	5	6	7
12	(85) Antonio Lindbäck	63	10	3	4	6	7	8	–	9	9	7
13	(108) Tai Woffinden	60	6	9	–	–	6	6	8	11	5	9
14	(333) Janusz Kołodziej	57	4	7	15	3	15	4	2	0	1	6
15	(505) Robert Lambert	39	8	7	6	3	–	–	4	3	6	2
16	(46) Max Fricke	36	3	–	13	11	4	5	–	–	–	–
17	(155) Mikkel Michelsen	15	–	–	–	–	–	9	–	6	–	–
18	(16) Bartosz Smektała	10	10	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
19	(16) Oliver Berntzon	7	–	–	–	7	–	–	–	–	–	–
20	(16) Charles Wright	5	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	5	–
21	(16) Václav Milík	4	–	–	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
22	(16) Maksym Drabik	4	–	–	–	–	4	–	–	–	–	–
23	(16) Adrian Miedziński	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4
24	(16) Matic Ivačič	2	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
25	(16) Jacob Thorssell	2	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	–	–
26	(16) Martin Smolinski	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–
27	(17) Zdeněk Holub	0	–	–	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
28	(17) Kai Huckenbeck	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	0	–	–	–
Pos.	Rider	Points	POL	SVN	CZE	SWE	PL2	SCA	GER	DEN	GBR	PL3

See also

• 2019 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship

References

1. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
2. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
3. "Qualifying and timing introduced for 2019". World Speedway.^{[permanent dead link]}
4. "Zagar tops charts". World Speedway.^{[permanent dead link]}
5. "2019 SGP Wildcards". SGP.
6. "Greg Hancock statement". greghancock.com.
7. "2019 FIM Speedway World Championship provisional calendar". SGP.
8. "2019 FIM Speedway World Championship standings". SGP.

External links

• SpeedwayGP.com – Speedway World Championships