Tai Woffinden

Tai Woffinden (born 10 August 1990, in Scunthorpe, England) is a British speedway rider. In 2013 he became World Speedway Champion and currently rides for the WTS Wrocław in the Polish Speedway Ekstraliga and Indianerna Kumla in the Swedish Elitserien.[1] Until the end of 2014 he also rode for the Wolverhampton Wolves in the British Elite League, but announced in late 2014 that he would not be riding in Britain during 2015 in his quest to regain his World Championship.[2]

Tai Woffinden
Born (1990-08-10) 10 August 1990
Scunthorpe, England
Nationality Great Britain
Websitewww.taiwoffinden.com
Current club information
Polish leagueWTS Wrocław
Swedish leagueIndianerna
Career history
2006–2007Scunthorpe Scorpions
2007–2008Rye House Rockets
2007Poole Pirates
2008–2010Włókniarz Częstochowa
2009–2014, 2016Wolverhampton Wolves
2011–2012Start Gniezno
2013–2019Sparta Wrocław
2014–2016Elit Vetlanda
2017-2018Masarna
2018-2019Indianerna
Speedway Grand Prix statistics
SGP Number108
Starts88 (plus 1 as Reserve)
Podiums29 (11-13-5)
Finalist35 time
Winner11 times
Individual honours
2006Western Australia Under 16 Champion
2007Conference League Riders Champion
2007British Under 18 Champion
2008British Under 21 Champion
2008Premier League Riders Champion
2013, 2015, 2018World Champion
2013, 2014, 2015British Champion
2013, 2014, 2015Czech Republic Grand Prix Champion
2014Swedish Grand Prix Champion
2015Stockholm Grand Prix Champion
2016, 2018Warsaw Grand Prix Champion
2017Gorzow Grand Prix Champion
2018Danish Grand Prix Champion
2018German Grand Prix Champion
2018Torun Grand Prix Champion
Team honours
2006Conference Shield Winner
2006, 2007Conference KO Cup Winner
2006, 2007Conference Trophy Winner
2006, 2007Conference League Champion
2007Premier League Champion
2009, 2016Elite League Champion
2014, 2015Elitserien League Champion

Woffinden is the current captain of the Great Britain team that finished fourth in the 2014 Speedway World Cup Final in Bydgoszcz, Poland,in 2016 the final was held at the national speedway stadium at Belle Vue, Manchester where team GB were runners up to Poland.

Early life

He is the son of former speedway rider Rob Woffinden. Although born in England and competing as a British rider, Tai grew up in Perth, Western Australia after his parents Rob and Sue decided to move down under in 1994.

Career

Woffinden began his career in junior speedway in Perth where he won the 2006 Western Australian Under-16 title, though he unfortunately missed riding in the Australian Under-16 Championship in Adelaide.

Woffinden started his British career with the Scunthorpe Scorpions in the Conference League in 2006. When he turned sixteen years of age he made his Premier League debut for the Sheffield Tigers as a guest rider. He is an asset of Wolverhampton Wolves after he signed a full contract with the Elite League side in 2006.[3]

2007 saw Woffinden return to Scunthorpe in the Conference League and signed on a season's loan with the Rye House Rockets in the Premier League. In August 2007 he also signed for the Poole Pirates in the Elite League to ride at reserve, sharing the spot with Rye House Rockets team-mate Steve Boxall for the rest of the season.[4]

Woffinden signed for the Rye House Rockets again for the 2008 season. He also made his debut for Great Britain in the Speedway World Cup, impressing with a win against world class opposition.[5][6][7] He also finished third in the British Speedway Championship. This finish qualified Woffinden to be a track reserve at the British Grand Prix but he did not have an opportunity to ride.[8] Woffinden has agreed to ride for his parent club, the Wolverhampton Wolves, for the 2009 Elite League season.[9]

Honours

With the Scunthorpe Scorpions in 2006 he completed a clean sweep of Conference League trophies, winning the Championship, Conference Trophy, Conference Shield and the Knockout Cup.

In 2007, Woffinden became the youngest ever rider to appear in the British Championship Final but suffered injury in a crash and had to withdraw from the meeting. In September he became the Conference League Riders Champion and then two days later won the British Under 18 Championship.

The Rockets clinched the Premier League Championship in 2007 after beating the Sheffield Tigers in the final.

Woffinden became British Under-21 Champion in 2008. The event was held at the Arena Essex Raceway, with Woffinden only dropping one point in the qualifying heats and winning the final ahead of Adam Roynon and Ben Barker.[10] Woffinden is the first rider to hold both the British Under-18 and British Under-21 title during the same season. He was also the first rider to be the British Under 18 Champion for two consecutive seasons. On 15 April 2011 Tai Woffinden won the British Under 21 Championship, held at the Arena Essex Raceway.

After his father's death from cancer in 2010, the Rob Woffinden Classic has become one of the biggest events for speedway bikes in Western Australia. Tai won the Classic named for his late father in 2012 at the 142 metres (155 yd) Pinjar Park Speedway in Perth.[11]

In 2013 Woffinden won the Speedway Grand Prix series to become World Champion.[12] Woffinden is the 8th British rider to become World Champion and the first one to hold the British Championship and World Championship in the same year since Gary Havelock in 1992. He is also the youngest World Champion in the modern day GP competition. He also won Motorcycle News Man of the Year Award for 2013.

After dropping to 4th place in the 2014 Speedway Grand Prix season, Tai Woffinden bounced back in 2015 to regain the Speedway World Championship, becoming the first British rider to win two world individual titles since Peter Craven won his second in 1962. On the way to his second championship success, Woffinden won the Czech Republic and Scandinavian Grand Prix while finishing second in Finland, Sweden and Slovenia and third in Poland II. In 2018 Tai became the first British rider to win three individual speedway World Championships. He won four speedway Grand Prixs during the season at Horsens, Warsaw, Teterow and Torun.

Career details

World Championships

Speedway Grand Prix results
YearPositionPointsBest FinishNotes
201014th497thDebut in SGP season.
201125th216thTrack wildcard at Cardiff GP.
20131st1511stSix podium finishes including his first SGP win at the Czech Republic Grand Prix. He eventually finished the season as World Champion with 151 points.
20144th1211stFour podium finishes including wins at both the Czech Republic and Swedish GP. He had to participate in a bronze medal race off with Nicki Pedersen but lost resulting in him finishing fourth in the overall standings for the world championship.
20151st1631stWon Czech Republic and Scandinavian GP. Woffinden becomes the first two time British World Champion since Peter Craven won in 1955 and 1962.
20162nd1301stWon Polish Grand Prix.
20181st1391stSix podium finishes, won Poland - Warsaw, Denmark - Horsens, Germany - Teterow, Poland - Torun. second at Czech Republic - Prague, Sweden - Hallstavik and third at Poland - Gorzów. Tai Woffinden became the first ever three time British World Champion.

SGP Podium
  1. Prague (18 May 2013) - 1st place
  2. Gorzów (15 June 2013) - 3rd Place
  3. Terenzano (3 August 2013) - 2nd Place
  4. Daugavpils (17 August 2013) - 3rd Place
  5. Krško (7 September 2013) - 2nd Place
  6. Tampere (17 May 2013) - 2nd Place
  7. Prague (31 May 2014) - 1st place
  8. Målilla (14 June 2014) - 1st place
  9. Cardiff (12 July 2014) - 2nd place
  10. Tampere (16 May 2015) - 2nd place
  11. Prague (23 May 2015) - 1st place
  12. Malilla (25 July 2015) - 2nd place
  13. Gorzow (29 August 2015) - 3rd Place
  14. Krsko (12 September 2015) - 2nd Place
  15. Stockholm (26 September 2015) - 1st Place
  16. Warsaw (14 May 2016) - 1st Place
  17. Horsens (11 June 2016) - 3rd Place
  18. Cardiff (9 July 2016) - 2nd Place
  19. Gorzów (27 August 2016) - 2nd Place
  20. Melbourne (22 October 2016) - 2nd Place
  21. Gorzow (26 August 2017) - 1st Place
  22. Torun (7 October 2017) - 2nd Place
  23. Melbourne (28 October 2017) - 2nd Place
  24. Warsaw (12 May 2018) - 1st Place
  25. Horsens (30 June 2018) - 1st Place
  26. Cardiff (21 July 2018) - 2nd Place
  27. Gorzow (25 August 2018) - 3rd Place
  28. Teterow (22 September 2018) - 1st Place
  29. Torun (6 October 2018) - 1st Place

SGP Finals
  1. Bydgoszcz (20 April 2013)
  2. Cardiff (4 July 2015)
  3. Horsens (8 August 2015)
  4. Krsko (30 April 2016)
  5. Prague (26 May 2018)
  6. Halistavik (7 July 2018)

Speedway European Championship results
YearPositionPointsBest FinishNotes
20135th333rd

SEC Podium
  1. Gdańsk (27 July 2013) - 3rd Place

SEC Finals
  1. Togliatti (10 August 2013)
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See also

References
  1. Oakes, Peter (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0.
  2. Woffy Sits Out Elite
  3. "Woffy a Wolf". BSPA. 17 October 2006. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  4. Bamford, Robert (1 March 2007). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-4250-3.
  5. "Tai Woffinden shines but Britain crash out". Daily Mirror. 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  6. "Team GB in FIM Speedway World Cup race off". Daily Express. 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  7. "Teen star Tai Woffinden wins World Cup place". Daily Mirror. 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  8. "Nicholls regains British Speedway Championship". Daily Express. 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  9. "Wolves Tai up Woffinden". Sky Sports. 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  10. "Tai takes national crown". WorldSpeedway.com. 26 April 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  11. 2012 Rob Woffinden Classic Final
  12. "Tai Woffinden wins speedway world title in Torun", BBC, 5 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013
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