2008 Speedway World Cup

The 2008 FIM Nordicbet Speedway World Cup (SWC) is the 8th FIM Speedway World Cup season. The final took place on 19 July 2008 in Vojens, Denmark. The tournament was won by host team Denmark (49 pts) and they beat defending champion Poland (46 pts), Sweden (39 pts) and Australia (21 pts) in the Final.^[1][2]

FIM Nordicbet Speedway World Cup
Venue	Vojens
Location	Denmark
Start date	12 July
End date	19 July
Nations	8
Champions
Denmark
← 2007 2009 →

It was the second time the Speedway World Cup was won by Denmark and their thirteenth Team World Champion title overall. It was the second time Hans Andersen, Niels Kristian Iversen, Bjarne Pedersen and Nicki Pedersen had been members of a World Cup winning team (Champions in 2006, but it was the first time for Kenneth Bjerre.^[3]

Calendar

Day	Venue	Winner
Qualification
25 May	Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc	Hungary	result
29 June	Ilirija Sports Park, Ljubljana	Czech Republic	result
Semi-Finals
12 July	Alfred Smoczyk Stadium, Leszno	Australia	result
14 July	Brandon Stadium, Coventry	Denmark	result
Race-Off
17 July	Vojens Speedway Center, Vojens	Sweden	result
Final
19 July	Vojens Speedway Center, Vojens	Denmark	result

Qualification

Main article: 2008 Speedway World Cup Qualification

The top 6 teams of the overall 2007 Speedway World Cup was directly seeded into the 2008 SWC Final Tournament: Poland (Rank #1 - the defending Champion), Denmark (#2), Australia (#3), Great Britain (#4), Sweden (#5) and Russia (#6). 2 other teams was shall qualify to the SWC through 2 preliminary rounds: Czech Republic (#7) and Hungary (#8).

In Preliminary Round 1, Hungary won with (51+3 points) after a run-off between Matej Ferjan and Tobias Kroner from Germany (51+2 pts). The last places were taken by Latvia (36 pts) and United States (12 pts) competing without Grand Prix rider Greg Hancock.

In Preliminary Round 2, the Czech Republic team won with (59 points). They beat Finland (40 pts), Slovenia (35 pts) and Italy (16 pts).

Qualifying round 1 Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc	Qualifying round 2 Ilirija Sports Park, Ljubljana
Pos. National team Pts. 1  Hungary 51+3 2  Germany 51+e 3  Latvia 36 4  United States 12	Pos. National team Pts. 1  Czech Republic 59 2  Finland 40 3  Slovenia 35 4  Italy 16

Tournament

The SWC Final Tournament was held by Poland (Event 1), Great Britain (Event 2) and Denmark (Race-Off and The Final). The first Semi-Final (Event 1) was held in Leszno, Poland. This meeting was won by Australia (56+3 points) after a Run-Off between Leigh Adams and Jarosław Hampel from Poland (56+2 points). In Event 2 in Coventry, Great Britain, the Denmark team won (63 points).

The Race-Off and the Final were held in Vojens, Denmark. The Swedish team won the Race-Off(53 points). Sweden and Poland (50 points) qualified for the Final. The last two places were taken by Great Britain (36 points) and Russia (17 points).

Semifinals

Race-off

Final

12 July - Leszno (details)

Australia

56+3

Poland

56+2

Russia

36

17 July - Vojens (details)

19 July - Vojens

Hungary

10

Sweden

53

Denmark

49

Poland

50

Poland

46

14 July - Coventry (details)

Great Britain

36

Sweden

39

Denmark

63

Russia

17

Australia

21

Sweden

50.5

Great Britain

25.5

Czech Republic

13

Final

The 2008 Speedway World Cup Final took place on 19 July at the Speedway Center in Vojens.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]} In the final the Denmark team won with 49 points beating Poland (46), Sweden (39) and Australia (21).

Results

Pos.		National team	Pts.
1		Denmark	49
2		Poland	46
3		Sweden	39
4		Australia	21

Heat details

Placing	Team / Rider name	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
1	Denmark	49	3	5	6	7	9	12	15	15	15	17	20	21	23	24	27	28	30	33	35	38	39	42	45	48	49
	(1) Nicki Pedersen	11	3					3					3					1					1
	(2) Bjarne Pedersen	11		2					3					1					2					3
	(3) Kenneth Bjerre	9			1					0					2					3					3
	(4) Niels Kristian Iversen	7				1					0					1					2					3
	(5) Hans N. Andersen (c)	11					2					2					3					3					1
2	Poland	46	1	4	7	7	10	12	12	15	17	20	21	23	24	27	29	31	34	34	37	37	37	38	39	43	46
	(1) Rune Holta	5	1								2				1							E4		1
	(2) Wiesław Jaguś	12		3								3				3		2							1
	(3) Tomasz Gollob (c)	14			3			2									2		3							4J
	(4) Grzegorz Walasek	4				0			0				1							0							3
	(5) Jarosław Hampel	11					3			3				2							3		F2x
Placing	Team / Rider name	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
3	Sweden	39	0	0	0	3	3	3	4	5	11	11	13	16	19	21	21	24	25	27	27	29	32	34	36	37	39
	(1) Andreas Jonsson (c)	9	0							1						2			1				3				2
	(2) Daniel Nermark	0		0							-						0			-			-
	(3) Peter Ljung	4			X							0	2								F4			2
	(4) Fredrik Lindgren	16				3		X			6J			3								2			2
	(5) Jonas Davidsson	10					0		1						3			3		2						1
4	Australia	21	2	3	5	7	8	9	11	13	14	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	16	17	18	19	21	21	21	21	21
	(1) Leigh Adams (c)	6	2						2								1				1				0		0J
	(2) Chris Holder	4		1						2			0	F2x								1				E1
	(3) Jason Crump	3			2						1			-				-									-
	(4) Ryan Sullivan	5				2						1			E4				0				2
	(5) Davey Watt	3					1	1								0		0		1				0
Placing	Team / Rider name	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25

M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell

Helmet colours were permanent for each team (red, blue, white and yellow/black). Colours in tables show gate positions:
gate A – inside	gate B	gate C	gate D – outside

Heat after heat

Extended content

N.Pedersen, Adams, Holta, Jonsson Jaguś, B.Pedersen, Holder, Nermark Gollob, Crump, Bjerre, Ljung (X) Lindgren, Sullivan, Iversen, Walasek Hampel, Andersen, Watt, Davidsson N.Pedersen, Gollob, Watt, Lindgren (Fx) B.Pedersen, Adams, Davidsson, Walasek Hampel, Holder, Jonsson, Bjerre Lindgren (6 - joker), Holta, Crump, Iversen Jaguś, Andersen, Sullivan, Ljung N.Pedersen, Ljung, Walasek, Holder Lindgren, Hampel, B.Pedersen, Holder (Fx) Davidsson, Bjerre, Holta, Sullivan (e4) Jaguś, Jonsson, Iversen, Watt Andersen, Gollob, Adams, Nermark Davidsson, Jaguś, N.Pedersen, Watt Gollob, B.Pedersen, Jonsson, Sullivan (e4) Bjerre, Davidsson, Watt, Walasek Hampel, Iversen, Adams, Ljung (F4) Andersen, Lindgren, Holder, Holta (e4) Jonsson, Sullivan, N.Pedersen, Hampel (Fx) B.Pedersen, Ljung, Holta, Watt Bjerre, Lindgren, Jaguś, Adams Iversen, Gollob (4 - joker), Davidsson, Holder (e1) Walasek, Jonsson, Andersen, Adams (0 - joker)

Final classification

Pos.	National team	Pts.
	Denmark	49
	Poland	46
	Sweden	39
4	Australia	21
5	Great Britain	36
6	Russia	17
7	Czech Republic	13
8	Hungary	10