Polish GP

POLISH GRAND PRIX

So at the end of another amazing GP season we would finally get to find out who would be crowned as the 18th Sim Speedway World Champion. Would it be a 3rd consecutive title for Liam Reay, matching Nick Ambrose's achievement, could surprise packet Luke Treadwell lift himself one final time and complete an amazing victory or could young Pole Gabrys Irzyk repeat his stunning World Pairs Final form and shock everyone in his home GP?

The home crowd were extremely vocal as Irzyk came out in the first heat but they were silenced as he fell when trying to challenge the race leader and started with a pointless ride. It was Treadwell's turn in heat 3 and just a single point appeared to shift the momentum very much in the favour of series leader Reay who stamped home his advantage by winning heat 4. Was the title chase all but over?

The next round of heats saw both Treadwell and Irzyk make up a point on Reay but the gap at the top was still 4 points in favour of the Englishman, although just a point for Reay in heat 9 gave hope to the chasing pair. Treadwell and Irzyk met in heat 11 but as they watched each other Steen Eriksen raced away for the win, although Treadwell followed him home to cut the overall lead at the top to just 3 points.

Heat 15 was a crunch race as Reay and Irzyk met, with the Englishman taking another huge step towards the title and all but ending the Polish riders hopes as he raced from tapes to flag for the win and put the pressure firmly on Treadwell in the next. Heat 16 looked like it could be the key heat in this season's title race as Treadwell trailed in last and with just 9 points to race for he found himself 6 behind, with Irzyk now just a further 3 back.

Heat 18 could see the title decided with Reay and Treadwell up against each other, former 3 time champion Nick Ambrose and wild card Jakub Baran thrown in for good measure. A thrilling heat saw Treadwell battle past Ambrose for the win with Reay stranded at the back and suddenly the gap was back to 3 points overall and it was game on once more. Just 2 points for Irzyk in heat 19 ended any outside hopes he had although he can be very proud of his 3rd place finish this season and he'll be looking to push on next season and challenge once again. Whilst heat 20 had no real bearing on anything the result did mean the top 8 was settled for next season and Eriksen, Thoresen, McChesney, Federenko, Hansen, Adams and Tercjak would all definitely be going to the GP Challenge.

The first Semi Final brought Liam Reay to the tapes knowing that a win would surely all but guarantee him the title but he started on the outside of Adams, Bergestol and Eriksen so it certainly wasn't going to be easy. Bergestol it was who took the win but Reay sensibly followed him home to join him in the Grand Final and stretch his overall lead to 5 points to put the pressure on Treadwell in the second Semi. Up against Wood, Chong and Hansen in the next Luke Treadwell needed at least second, ideally a win, to keep his hopes alive. It was Chong who roared away with Treadwell unable to get by and he would line up against Reay in the Grand Final with the overall gap at 3 points.

So to the final race of the series and Treadwell on the outside knew he not only needed to win the heat but try and make sure Reay, who lined up next to him, ended at the back - and even then this would only see a run-off to decide the World Championship. Amazingly the Scot rode the race of his life to get across the field, trap Reay against the riders on the inside and then he could do no more than race away for the 3 points, which he duly did. At the back Reay tried everything he could to get past Bergestol for the vital point but he also knew he had to be sensible as he could face a run-off to decide the title. That decider was confirmed as he couldn't make up the ground and Reay and Treadwell ended the series level on 105 points each at the top of the leaderboard!

The riders tossed for first pick of gate position in the vital race and it was Treadwell who won and chose the inside gates. There were mind games aplenty as Treadwell lined up in gate 2 and Reay got as close to him as possible rather than going out to the fence as many thought he would. As the tapes went up it was Treadwell who made the best start and held strong around the first turn to come out ahead. The gap wasn't a large one though and at the end of the second lap Reay went for a dive up the inside and came out ahead on the straight but Treadwell kept it wound on and went back into the lead around the outside on the first and second turns. As he straighted his wheels up he extended the gap and was faultless afterwards to complete possibly the most amazing title win Sim Speedway has ever seen. Liam Reay looked absolute distraught afterwards but he has finished in the top 2 of the series for an amazing 4th straight season - the first rider to do so - and will surely be back as the man to beat next season too.

So we have the first Scottish World Champion since 2009/10, which was also the last season a Polish rider finished on the rostrum before Gabrys Irzyk's 3rd this season. That's certainly some achievement for a rider who started the season with a place in a UK side before he joined Tunstall after beginning riding for Bratislava in the Euro Leagues!

1. Luke Treadwell............ 1 2 2 0 3 2 3 13

2. Fillippe Chong............ 3 3 0 1 3 3 2 15

3. Hans E Bergestol.......... Fx 3 3 3 1 3 1 14

4. Liam Reay................. 3 1 1 3 0 2 0 10

5. Hayden Wood............... 2 2 3 1 3 1 - 12

6. Steen Eriksen............. 2 1 3 3 0 1 - 10

7. Chris Adams............... 2 3 2 2 3 0 - 12

8. Henrik Hansen............. 1 3 3 2 1 0 - 10

9. Olle Bjorn Thoresen....... 3 2 1 0 2 - - 8

10. Gabrys Irzyk.............. F 2 1 2 2 - - 7

11. Braxton McChesney......... 2 1 1 1 2 - - 7

12. Nick Ambrose.............. 3 0 0 0 2 - - 5

13. Nikita Federenko.......... 0 1 2 1 1 - - 5

14. Maciej Tercjak............ 1 0 0 3 0 - - 4

15. Jakub Baran............... 1 0 0 2 1 - - 4

16. Boguslaw Kryznowek........ 0 0 2 0 0 - - 2

17. David Bedford............. Did not ride

18. Carsten Ostenstad......... Did not ride

No. Results

1: Fillippe Chong, Hayden Wood, Jakub Baran, Gabrys Irzyk (F)

2: Nick Ambrose, Braxton McChesney, Maciej Tercjak, Hans E Bergestol (Fx)

3: Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Chris Adams, Luke Treadwell, Nikita Federenko

4: Liam Reay, Steen Eriksen, Henrik Hansen, Boguslaw Kryznowek

5: Fillippe Chong, Luke Treadwell, Braxton McChesney, Boguslaw Kryznowek

6: Hans E Bergestol, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Steen Eriksen, Jakub Baran

7: Henrik Hansen, Gabrys Irzyk, Nikita Federenko, Nick Ambrose

8: Chris Adams, Hayden Wood, Liam Reay, Maciej Tercjak

9: Hans E Bergestol, Nikita Federenko, Liam Reay, Fillippe Chong

10: Henrik Hansen, Chris Adams, Braxton McChesney, Jakub Baran

11: Steen Eriksen, Luke Treadwell, Gabrys Irzyk, Maciej Tercjak

12: Hayden Wood, Boguslaw Kryznowek, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Nick Ambrose

13: Steen Eriksen, Chris Adams, Fillippe Chong, Nick Ambrose

14: Maciej Tercjak, Jakub Baran, Nikita Federenko, Boguslaw Kryznowek

15: Liam Reay, Gabrys Irzyk, Braxton McChesney, Olle Bjorn Thoresen

16: Hans E Bergestol, Henrik Hansen, Hayden Wood, Luke Treadwell

17: Fillippe Chong, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Henrik Hansen, Maciej Tercjak

18: Luke Treadwell, Nick Ambrose, Jakub Baran, Liam Reay

19: Chris Adams, Gabrys Irzyk, Hans E Bergestol, Boguslaw Kryznowek

20: Hayden Wood, Braxton McChesney, Nikita Federenko, Steen Eriksen

SEMI FINAL 1: Hans E Bergestol, Liam Reay, Steen Eriksen, Chris Adams

SEMI FINAL 2: Fillippe Chong, Luke Treadwell, Hayden Wood, Henrik Hansen

GRAND FINAL: Luke Treadwell, Fillippe Chong, Hans E Bergestol, Liam Reay

RUN OFF FOR WORLD TITLE: Luke Treadwell, Liam Reay