The 2016 Speedway Grand Prix season was the 22nd season of the

Speedway Grand Prix Speedway Grand Prix are a series of stand-alone motorcycle speedway events over the course of a season used to determine the Speedway World Champion. The series started in 1995 replacing the previous format of a single event final. The first win ...

era, and decided the 71st FIM

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...

. It was the sixteenth series under the promotion of Benfield Sports International, an

IMG img or IMG is an abbreviation for image. img or IMG may also refer to: * IMG (company), global sports and media business headquartered in New York City but with its main offices in Cleveland, originally known as the "International Management Group ...

company.

Tai Woffinden Tai Woffinden (born 10 August 1990) is a British speedway rider. He is a three-time World Champion (2013, 2015 and 2018). Early life Woffinden was born in Scunthorpe, the son of former speedway rider Rob Woffinden. Although born in the United ...

was the defending champion from

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

Greg Hancock Gregory Alan Hancock (born June 3, 1970 in Whittier, California) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway rider. As of 2023, he was one of only six riders to have won the individual World Championship four or more times. In addit ...

won the title, the fourth of his career. He won the series by nine points from 2015 champion Woffinden, who finished second ahead of debutant

Bartosz Zmarzlik Bartosz Zmarzlik (; born 12 April 1995) is a Polish motorcycle speedway rider and three-time World Champion (2019, 2020 and 2022). He has been decorated with the Order of Polonia Restituta, V class. Biography Born in Szczecin, Poland, Zmarzlik i ...

Jason Doyle Jason Kevin Doyle (born 6 October 1985) is an Australian motorcycle speedway rider. He became World Champion in 2017. He won the 2015 Australian Solo Championship. He has also won the South Australian Championship in 2014, and the Elite Leag ...

was leading the series with two rounds to go, but suffered an injury in his first heat during the penultimate round in Poland and was unable to complete the season. He eventually finished fifth, behind Australian compatriot and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

world champion

Chris Holder Christopher Robert Holder (born 24 September 1987 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian speedway rider currently riding for Lejonen in the Swedish Elitserien and for Apator Toruń in the Polish Speedway Ekstraliga. He became the Aus ...

, who won his home Grand Prix in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

(his first SGP win since 2012) to move in fourth in the standings. The title lifted Hancock to sixth on the all-time list, joining

Ivan Mauger Ivan Gerald Mauger (4 October 1939 – 16 April 2018) was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships (Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Championships by Tony Rickardsson o ...

and

Tony Rickardsson Tony Rickardsson (born on 17 August 1970) is a Swedish former professional motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in the Speedway World Championships from 1989 to 2006. Rickardsson is notable for winning six Speedway World Championship titles in 1 ...

(6 each),

Ove Fundin Ove Fundin (born 23 May 1933) is a Swedish former professional motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in the Speedway World Championships from 1951 to 1970. Fundin is notable for winning the Speedway World Cham ...

(5) and

Barry Briggs Barry Briggs (born 30 December 1934) is a New Zealand former speedway rider. Career He won the World Individual Championship title four times – in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedw ...

and

Hans Nielsen Hans Nielsen may refer to: * Hans Nielsen (American football) (born 1952), Denmark football player * Hans Nielsen (composer) (1580–1626), Danish madrigal composer at the court of Christian IV * Hans Nielsen (actor) (1911–1965), German actor * H ...

(4 each) as riders to win at least four individual world championships.

Qualification

For the 2016 season there were 15 permanent riders, joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card and two track reserves. The top eight riders from the 2015 championship qualified automatically. Those riders were joined by the three riders who qualified via the

Grand Prix Challenge ''Grand Prix Challenge'' is a Formula One racing video game developed by Australian developer Infogrames Melbourne House and published by Infogrames for PlayStation 2. It was released in Europe on 22 November 2002, and was officially licensed ...

. The final four riders were nominated by series promoters, Benfield Sports International, following the completion of the 2015 season.

Qualified riders

Qualified substitutes

The following riders were nominated as substitutes: Fredrik Lindgren replaced the injured

Jarosław Hampel Jarosław "Jarek" Hampel (; born 17 April 1982 in Łódź, Poland) is a Polish Speedway rider. He was a participant of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix in 2007 and 2010. He received his speedway license in 1998 with the Polish team Polonia Piła, alt ...

for the first six rounds. Hampel then officially withdrew from the competition on 22 August 2016, promoting Lindgren to a full-time place in the series.

Calendar

The 2016 season consisted of 11 events, one less than the

series.

Final Classification

References

External links

SpeedwayGP.com – Speedway World Championships
{{Speedway Grand Prix seasons 2016

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...