Tai Woffinden
| Tai Woffinden | ||
 | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nationality |  United Kingdom | |
| Date of birth | 10 August 1990 | |
| Place of birth | Scunthorpe, England | |
| Website | www.taiwoffinden.com | |
| Current club information | ||
| British league | Wolverhampton Wolves | |
| Polish league | WTS Wrocław | |
| Career history | ||
| Scunthorpe Scorpions Rye House Rockets Poole Pirates Wolverhampton Wolves |
2006-2007 2007-2008 2007 2009- | |
| Speedway Grand Prix statistics | ||
| 2009 Number | ||
| Starts | 23 | |
| Podiums | 5 (1-2-2) | |
| Finalist | 6 time | |
| Winner | 1 times | |
| Individual honours | ||
| Western Australia Under 16 Champion Conference League Riders Champion British Under 18 Champion British Under 21 Champion Premier League Riders Champion British Champion Czech Republic Grand Prix Winner World Champion |
2006 2007 2007 2008 2008 2013 2013 2013 | |
| Team honours | ||
| Elite League Champion Premier League Champion Conference League Champion Conference Trophy Winner Conference KO Cup Winner Conference Shield Winner |
2009 2007 2006, 2007 2006, 2007 2006, 2007 2006 | |
Tai Woffinden (born 10 August 1990, in Scunthorpe, England) is a speedway rider. In 2013 he became World Speedway Champion and currently rides for the Wolverhampton Wolves in the British Elite League,[1] and is the son of former speedway rider Rob Woffinden.
Career
Woffinden started his career with the Scunthorpe Scorpions in the Conference League in 2006. When he turned sixteen years of age he made his Premier League debut for the Sheffield Tigers as a guest rider. He is an asset of Wolverhampton Wolves after he signed a full contract with the Elite League side in 2006.[2]
2007 saw Woffinden return to Scunthorpe in the Conference League and signed on a season's loan with the Rye House Rockets in the Premier League. In August 2007 he also signed for the Poole Pirates in the Elite League to ride at reserve, sharing the spot with Rye House Rockets team-mate Steve Boxall for the rest of the season.[3]
Woffinden signed for the Rye House Rockets again for the 2008 season. He also made his debut for Great Britain in the Speedway World Cup, impressing with a win against world class opposition.[4][5][6] He also finished third in the British Speedway Championship. This finish qualified Woffinden to be a track reserve at the British Grand Prix but he did not have an opportunity to ride.[7] Woffinden has agreed to ride for his parent club, the Wolverhampton Wolves, for the 2009 Elite League season.[8]
Honours
With the Scunthorpe Scorpions in 2006 he completed a clean sweep of Conference League trophies, winning the Championship, Conference Trophy, Conference Shield and the Knockout Cup.
In 2007, Woffinden became the youngest ever rider to appear in the British Championship Final but suffered injury in a crash and had to withdraw from the meeting. In September he became the Conference League Riders Champion and then two days later won the British Under 18 Championship.
The Rockets clinched the Premier League Championship in 2007 after beating the Sheffield Tigers in the final.
Woffinden became British Under-21 Champion in 2008. The event was held at the Arena Essex Raceway, with Woffinden only dropping one point in the qualifying heats and winning the final ahead of Adam Roynon and Ben Barker.[9] Woffinden is the first rider to hold both the British Under-18 and British Under-21 title during the same season. He was also the first rider to be the British Under 18 Champion for two consecutive seasons. On 15 April 2011 Tai Woffinden won the British Under 21 Championship, held at the Arena Essex Raceway. [citation needed]
In 2013 Woffinden won the Speedway Grand Prix series to become World Champion.[10] Woffinden is the 7th British rider to become World Champion and the first one to hold the British Championship and World Championship in the same year since Gary Havelock in 1992. He is also the youngest World Champion in the modern day GP competition (bp).
Career details
World Championships
- Individual World Championship (Speedway Grand Prix)
- 2008 - did not classified (track reserve at British SGP)
- 2013 - World Champion
- Individual U-21 World Championship
- Team U-21World Championship (U-21 Speedway World Cup)
Speedway Grand Prix results
| Year | Position | Points | Best Finish | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 14th | 49 | 7th | |
| 2011 | 25th | 2 | 16th | Track wildcard at Cardiff GP. |
| 2013 | 1st | 151 | 1st | World Champion |
SGP Podium
-
Prague (18 May 2013) - 1st place 
Gorzów (15 June 2013) - 3rd Place
Terenzano (3 August 2013) - 2nd Place
Daugavpils (17 August 2013) - 3rd Place
Krško (7 September 2013) - 2nd Place
SGP Finals
Speedway European Championship results
| Year | Position | Points | Best Finish | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 |
SEC Podium
- Gdańsk (27 July 2013) - 3rd Place
SEC Finals
Togliatti (10 August 2013)
See also
References
- ↑ Oakes, Peter (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0.
- ↑ "Woffy a Wolf". BSPA. 2006-10-17. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
- ↑ Bamford, Robert (2007-03-01). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-4250-3.
- ↑ "Tai Woffinden shines but Britain crash out". Daily Mirror. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- ↑ "Team GB in FIM Speedway World Cup race off". Daily Express. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- ↑ "Teen star Tai Woffinden wins World Cup place". Daily Mirror. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- ↑ "Nicholls regains British Speedway Championship". Daily Express. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- ↑ "Wolves Tai up Woffinden". Sky Sports. 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ↑ "Tai takes national crown". WorldSpeedway.com. 2008-04-26. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
- ↑ "Tai Woffinden wins speedway world title in Torun", BBC, 5 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013