1996 Speedway Grand Prix

Last updated
1996 Speedway Grand Prix
Season details
DatesMay 18 - September 21
Events6
Cities6
Countries6
Riders17 permanents
1 wild card(s)
Heats144 (in 6 events)
Winners
ChampionFlag of the United States.svg  USA Billy Hamill
Runner-upFlag of Denmark.svg  DEN Hans Nielsen
3rd placeFlag of the United States.svg  USA Greg Hancock

The 1996 Speedway Grand Prix was the 51st edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. [1] [2] [3] It was the second season in the Speedway Grand Prix era and was used to determine the Speedway World Champion.

Contents

The world title was won by Billy Hamill; it was his first and only World Champion title. [4] [5] Defending champion Hans Nielsen was set to win his fifth world crown with a nine point lead going into the last of the six events at Vojens. However Hamill won the event gaining 25 points and Nielsen only managed 14 points leaving the Dane two points behind the American in the final standings. [6]

Event format

During 1996 the initial SGP scoring system used in 1995 remained in place. Each rider raced every other in the meeting with the top 4 qualifying for a final - the points for all other riders determined their finishing position in the meeting and therefore their championship Grand Prix points. The 4 finalists scored 25, 20, 18 and 16 points, with the reminder scoring 14, 13, 12, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Qualification for Grand Prix

The 1996 season had 17 permanent riders and one wild card at each event. The permanent riders are highlighted in the results table below.

Calendar

RoundDateCity and venueWinnerRunner-up3rd placed4th placedResults
1May 18 Flag of Poland.svg Wrocław , Poland
Olympic Stadium
Flag of Denmark.svg Tommy Knudsen Flag of Sweden.svg Tony Rickardsson Flag of Denmark.svg Hans Nielsen Flag of the United States.svg Billy Hamill results
2June 14 Flag of Italy.svg Lonigo , Italy
Santa Marina Stadium
Flag of Denmark.svg Hans Nielsen Flag of the United States.svg Billy Hamill Flag of Sweden.svg Tony Rickardsson Flag of Denmark.svg Tommy Knudsen results
3July 6 Flag of Germany.svg Pocking , Germany
Rottalstadion
Flag of Denmark.svg Hans Nielsen Flag of Sweden.svg Peter Karlsson Flag of Sweden.svg Henrik Gustafsson Flag of Sweden.svg Tony Rickardsson results
4August 10 Flag of Sweden.svg Linköping , Sweden
Motorstadium
Flag of the United States.svg Billy Hamill Flag of Sweden.svg Henrik Gustafsson Flag of Poland.svg Tomasz Gollob Flag of the United States.svg Greg Hancock results
5August 31 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg London , Great Britain
London Stadium
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Crump Flag of Denmark.svg Hans Nielsen Flag of the United States.svg Billy Hamill Flag of the United States.svg Greg Hancock results
6September 21 Flag of Denmark.svg Vojens , Denmark
Speedway Center
Flag of the United States.svg Billy Hamill Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Loram Flag of the United States.svg Greg Hancock Flag of the United States.svg Sam Ermolenko results

Final standings

Qualifies for next season's Grand Prix series
Full-time Grand Prix rider
Wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
Pos.RiderPoints POL
Flag of Poland.svg
ITA
Flag of Italy.svg
GER
Flag of Germany.svg
SWE
Flag of Sweden.svg
GBR
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
DEN
Flag of Denmark.svg
Gold medal icon.svg Flag of the United States.svg (5) Billy Hamill 11316209251825
Silver medal icon.svg Flag of Denmark.svg (1) Hans Nielsen 11118252592014
Bronze medal icon.svg Flag of the United States.svg (4) Greg Hancock 88121313161618
4 Flag of Sweden.svg (2) Tony Rickardsson 8620181614711
5 Flag of Sweden.svg (8) Henrik Gustafsson 8014418201113
6 Flag of Sweden.svg (12) Peter Karlsson 62732071312
7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg (6) Mark Loram 58626121220
8 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg (7) Chris Louis 548914869
9 Flag of the United States.svg (3) Sam Ermolenko 5291413916
10 Flag of Australia (converted).svg (15) Jason Crump 451ns76256
11 Flag of Denmark.svg (11) Tommy Knudsen 44251612
12 Flag of Poland.svg (16) (19) Tomasz Gollob 4311ns1814ns
13 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg (13) Joe Screen 383711287
14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg (17) Craig Boyce 30ns122448
15 Flag of Australia (converted).svg (9) Leigh Adams 282ns81134
16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg (14) Gary Havelock 271314
17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg (18) Andy Smith 19ns11332ns
18 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg (10) Marvyn Cox 154811ns1
19 Flag of Germany.svg (16) Gerd Riss 1212
20 Flag of Italy.svg (16) Stefano Alfonso 66
21 Flag of Poland.svg (16) Piotr Protasiewicz 33
Rider(s) not classified
Flag of Denmark.svg (20) Jan Stæchmann nsns
Flag of Sweden.svg (21) Mikael Karlsson ns
Pos. RiderPoints POL
Flag of Poland.svg
ITA
Flag of Italy.svg
GER
Flag of Germany.svg
SWE
Flag of Sweden.svg
GBR
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
DEN
Flag of Denmark.svg

See also

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References

  1. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  2. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. speedwaygp.republika.pl. Retrieved on 2009-03-23. Archived 2009-05-12.
  5. world.speedway.org. Retrieved on 2009-03-123. Archived 2009-05-11.
  6. "Sportsdesk" . Reading Evening Post. 23 September 1996. Retrieved 11 July 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.