Greg Hancock - Grand Prix Years

Grand Prix Years

In 1995 Greg finished in 4th place in the first year of the Grand Prix (GP). He won the final round, the British GP at the Hackney Wick Stadium. The following year he joined with fellow American and Cradley teammate Billy Hamill to form Team Exide. With this new found sponsorship, the two young Californian's began to dominate world Speedway. In 1996 Hamill won the World Title and Hancock finished with the bronze medal in third place. In 1997 Greg moved from Cradley Heath (due to the clubs closure) to the Coventry Bees. He won the first GP of the year in Prague and continued the season in the same form. He won the World Title (with Hamill finishing second for a Team Exide one two) and won the Premier League Riders Championship.

In 1998 to Grand Prix format changed to a more cut throat elimination system. Greg did not fare so well and finished the year in sixth place but won win the World Team Cup with Hamill and Sam Ermolenko. The next year was even worse for Greg and he finished in 11th place in the Grand Prix. 2000 Saw Greg win his first Grand Prix since his title winning season and he finished a in fifth place and in 2001 he finished in 13th place. In 2002 Hancock won the last Grand Prix round in Australia and finished 6th overall. He went one better in 2003 finishing in 5th place after again winning the final round, this time in Haamar, Norway. The following Season Greg was back amongst the medals, finishing the season in third place. That year he won the British GP at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. In 2005 Greg slipped back to fifth in the world unable to win a GP. A 36 year old Greg finished the Grand Prix series in second place in 2006 and remained unbeaten in that year's World Cup but the USA did not qualify for the final as the rest of the team struggled. In 2007 Greg Finished in sixth place. Although he failed to win a GP, he finished in second place on three occasions. In 2008 Greg finished fourth overall in the Grand Prix series. He was on the podium four times, winning the Polish Grand Prix in Bydgoszcz.

Hancock finished the 2009 Speedway Grand Prix season in fourth position and achieved two podium places as runner up at the Danish Grand Prix and winner of the Latvian Grand Prix. He became the USA Speedway National Champion for the eight time in 2009 and was subsequently named as the Racing Athlete of the Year by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).

Greg finished 1st place in the 2011 Czech, British and Nordic Grand Prix. He secured the 2011 World Championship during the Croatian Grand Prix on September 24, reclaiming the title after a record 14 years at the age of 41 years and 113 days.