Motorcycle Speedway - Competitions - International

International

An international individual speedway championship has taken various forms since its beginnings in the 1930s. The present FIM Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) championship organised by Speedway Grand Prix (IMG since 2007) has taken place since 1995. The SGP uses a scoring system based on each riders overall final position. The rider who has gained the most points at the end of the tournament is declared the World Champion. American rider Greg Hancock is the current World Champion, which is his second championship win after his first title in 1997. The annual British Grand Prix is currently held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

Scoring in Grand Prix events changed in 2005 with riders scoring 3-2-1-0 in their races and these points being carried forward to decide the winner of each Grand Prix. At the end of the series the highest scorer becomes the world champion.

World Speedway Champions include Ivan Mauger (six-time World Champion), fellow New Zealander Barry Briggs (four-times), Ole Olsen (three-times), Ove Fundin (five-times), Lionel Van Praag (inaugural World Champion in 1936), Hans Nielsen (nicknamed "The Professor", four-times World Champion), Tony Rickardsson (six-times), Erik Gundersen and Jason Crump, both three-times World Champions.

The Speedway World Cup is also held each year, featuring teams from the major speedway countries, usually in a series of meetings over the space of a week in the summer. The current champions are Denmark (2012).

The Speedway World Pairs Championship was an annual speedway event held each year in different countries. Competing countries picked their top two riders to represent them. The first competition was held in 1970 and the final competition was held in 1993. From 1994 it was merged with the World Team Cup.