Tai Woffinden overcame a crash to become Great Britain’s first-ever triple speedway world champion.
He clinched his third title in Saturday’s Torun Grand Prix of Poland despite a ten-point lead over challenger Bartosz Zmarzlik being halved during the qualifying races as Woffinden was disqualified when the two rivals met in Heat 11.
The rider nicknamed Woofie secured the crown in the semi-final when he got the better of Zmarzlik for second place, having required just a point from the race to make sure.
And he then defeated Russian duo Artem Laguta and Emil Sayfutdinov, and Danish star Niels-Kristian Iversen to win the Final.
Woffinden said: “I always say I don’t like to start the season well, and that’s what I did this year. It’s always nice to be behind chasing.
“This year was the hardest year for me physically and mentally. I’m pretty strong in the head, but there were times when I kind of sat there thinking ‘wow man, this is tough.’ One hundred percent this was my hardest one to date.
“They say the hardest thing is being World Champion – it’s not. The hardest thing is being World Champion the following year.
“When you have that target on your back, it’s tough. I’ve had a few cracks at trying to win it back to back and now I have a third time.
“Hopefully it is third time lucky. I’ll put the work in and make sure I can give it my best shot next year.”
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