Poland Bidding for Third Straight World Cup Success

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The Speedway World Cup returns this year after a six-year gap between the last one. Poland defended their title in 2017 and they will be bidding to become the first country in history to win the tournament for a record-extending ninth time when they host the tournament in July.

Poland recently won the FIM European Team Speedway Championship in Germany. Bartosz Zmarzlik, Szymon Wozniak, Dominik Kubera and Jaroslaw Hampel combined for success, with Zmarzlik and Wozniak top scoring for their team with 13 points each.

The reigning world champions dominated the European event, finishing with 49 points. Their nearest pursuits were Denmark who ended the competition in second place with 35 points.

Poland Has Automatic Spot in World Cup Final

As the hosts of the 2023 World Cup, Poland will receive an automatic spot in the final. As we explored here at the Speedway Digest before, this means Poland will not need to qualify for one of the two semi-final events across the schedules for the week. Their team is likely to include the four European Team Speedway Championship winners and then they must decide who to include as their fifth rider who will act as the first reserve.

Given their record in this tournament, Poland is considered the team to beat again this year. As of the 19th of May, they are the odds-on favourites at 2/5 with Betway to lift the trophy in front of their home supporters.

Should Poland prevail again, they will get the chance to win World Cup number 10 in 2026. The FIM has announced the event will now take place every three years following the relaunch of the competition.

Great Britain Vying for Maiden World Cup Victory

As we’ve explained previously on Speedway Digest, despite being one of the leading speedway teams for some time in the sport, Great Britain has yet to win the World Cup in its current format. They finished second in 2004 and 2016, while in 2006 they were third, but those are their best results in the event.

GB will be buoyed by their success at the 2021 Speedway of Nations success in Manchester. As reported by the BBC, They defeated Denmark 6-3 in the Grand Final Qualifier and then in the Grand Final, they got the better of Poland 5-4 in a close encounter for the gold medal.

Tai Woffinden is set to captain the Great Britain team once again. He has a wealth of experience racing in Poland, so that is going to prove invaluable as GB look to upset the hosts and get pick up the biggest success in the history of British speedway racing.

Denmark Second Most Success Nation in World Cup History

With World Cup wins in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014, Denmark is the second most successful speedway nation of all time. They have consistently been in contention for major events over the last few years. As a rider, Nicki Pedersen has won four World Cup trophies, he will now be bidding to prevail as the manager of his country. He was named as Hans Nielsen’s replacement last December. Despite the new role, he will continue to ride for Denmark.

Leon Madsen is the Denmark rider who has shone in individual events over the last couple of years. He will be supported in a strong Danish team by Mikkel Michelsen and Anders Thomsen.

Australia Looking to Complete World Cup Hat-Trick

As we highlighted in the points standing at Speedway Digest before, in its latest format, Australia was the first winner of the Speedway World Cup in 2001. The team of Jason Crump, Todd Wiltshire, Craig Boyce, Ryan Sullivan and Leigh Adams edged Poland to victory in the standings that year. Twelve months later in Peterborough, they defended their crown.

It has been 22 years now since Australia’s last triumph, so they will be keen to put that right when they feature in the latest renewal. Jason Doyle is the rider a lot of the Aussie hopes will rest upon due to his experience. Jack Holder and Max Fricke will be doing all they can to also help their nation lift the trophy.

The 2023 Speedway World Cup starts on the 25th of July and will run through to the final on the 29th of July. Wroclaw’s Olympic Stadium will host each of them events, with nine countries involved in the competition.

Speedway Digest Staff
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