Speedway Grand Prix of Australia

The Speedway Grand Prix of Australia is a speedway event that is part of the Speedway Grand Prix Series.

Speedway Grand Prix of Australia
StadiumDocklands Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria
Years4 (2002, 2015-2017, 2019-date)
Tracktemporary track
Track Length346 m
Last Event (season 2017)
Date28 October 2017
Referee Carif Ackroyd
Winner Jason Doyle
2nd place Tai Woffinden
3rd place Bartosz Zmarzlik

The inaugural event, run on a 400 metres (440 yards) long temporary track at Stadium Australia in Sydney, was won by American rider Greg Hancock, from England's Scott Nicholls and Australian Jason Crump in 2002. The event was not retained in 2003, and it was 13 years before a Grand Prix returned to Australia.

The Speedway Grand Prix of Australian was resurrected in 2015, this time taking place at the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne. The event was once again won by Hancock.

Winners
Season City Stadium Winner
1 2002 Sydney Stadium Australia Greg Hancock result
2 2015 Melbourne Docklands Stadium Greg Hancock result
3 2016 Melbourne Docklands Stadium Chris Holder result
4 2017 Melbourne Docklands Stadium Jason Doyle result

Most wins

Greg Hancock 2 times [1]
Chris Holder 1 time
Jason Doyle 1 time

Future

Despite Australia being the birthplace of motorcycle speedway in 1923, and producing three World Champions since 2002 in Jason Crump (2004, 2006 and 2009), Chris Holder (2012) and Jason Doyle in 2017, as well as dual Under-21 World Champion Darcy Ward (2009, 2010), the Speedway Grand Prix of Australia had not returned to the SGP calendar as of 2014.

This changed from 2015 with Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, a 53,359 seat stadium with a retractable roof and movable seating, signing a 5-year deal to host the event.[2] Eithad is mostly used by the Australian Football League so a temporary track some 346 metres (378 yards) long will be installed for the 2015 event which was held on 24 October (after the end of the 2015 AFL season). The Grand Prix was the 12th and final round of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix series.[3] The event didn't take place in 2018 because of Docklands Stadium pulling out of the contract and as of 2018 a replacement venue has yet to be found.

Triple World Champion Jason Crump and ten time Australian Champion Leigh Adams served as Australian SGP ambassadors in 2015.

References
  1. Hancock wins in Melbourne
  2. Speedway GP Series Returns to Australia in 2015
  3. 2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia details
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