The 2013 Speedway Grand Prix season was the 68th edition of the official World Championship and the 19th season of the Speedway Grand Prix era, deciding the FIM Speedway World Championship. It was the thirteenth series under the promotion of Benfield Sports International, an IMG company.
The British rider Tai Woffinden became world champion, making him the first British rider to win the gold medal since Mark Loram in the 2000 Speedway Grand Prix. Jarosław Hampel won his third world championship medal, while Danish rider Niels Kristian Iversen won his first medal finishing third in the series.
Qualification For the 2013 season there were 15 permanent riders, joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card and two track reserves.
Since Jason Crump decided to retire from the series, the top eight riders – except Crump, who was replaced by ninth-placed Andreas Jonsson – from the 2012 championship qualified. Those riders were joined by 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 2012 season.
Qualified riders
# Riders 2012 place GP Ch place Appearance Previous appearances in series1 Chris Holder 1 — 4th 2010–20122 Nicki Pedersen 2 — 13th 2000, 2001–20123 Greg Hancock 3 — 19th 1995–20124 Tomasz Gollob 4 — 18th 1995, 1996, 1997–20125 Emil Sayfutdinov 5 — 5th 2009–20126 Antonio Lindbäck 7 F 6th 2004, 2005–2007, 2009–2010, 2011–20127 Fredrik Lindgren 8 — 6th 2004, 2006–2007, 2008–20128 Andreas Jonsson 9 — 12th 2001, 2002–20129 Martin Vaculík 11 8 1st 201210 Jarosław Hampel 14 — 8th 2000–2002, 2004–2007, 2008–2009, 2010–201211 Krzysztof Kasprzak 18 1 2nd 2004–2007, 2008, 201212 Matej Žagar — 2 3rd 2003–2005, 2006–2007, 2008–2009, 201113 Niels Kristian Iversen — 3 3rd 2004–2005, 2006, 2008, 2009–201014 Tai Woffinden — — 2nd 2010, 201115 Darcy Ward — — 1st 2011
Qualified substitutes
The following riders qualified as substitutes due to their results in the Grand Prix Challenge.
# Riders 2012 place GP Ch place19 (19) Aleš Dryml, Jr. — 420 (20) Leon Madsen — 521 (21) Troy Batchelor — 622 (22) Hans N. Andersen 10 723 (23) Peter Ljung 15 9
Crump spot controversy
Before the Toruń event in 2012, former three-times World Champion, Jason Crump announced his retirement at the end of the 2012 season.
According to the SGP Regulation, Crump's spot for the 2013 season – as sixth place in 2012 – should be taken by the first Qualified Substitute, Aleš Dryml, Jr. However, BSI has announced that Crump's spot would be awarded to Andreas Jonsson, the ninth-place finisher in the 2012 standings, per FIM regulations.
Calendar
The 2013 season consisted of 12 events, just like the 2012 Speedway Grand Prix.
Classification
See also 2013 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship
References
External links