Greg Hancock

Greg Hancock
Personal information
Nationality USA
Date of birth June 3, 1970
Place of birth    Whittier, California, USA
Nickname Herbie
Website www.greghancock.com
Current club information
Polish league Unia Tarnow
Swedish league Piraterna
Czech league PDK Grepl Mšeno
Career history
Cradley Heathens
Getingarna (SWE)
Leszno (POL)
Rospiggarna (SWE)
Gniezno (POL)
Coventry Bees
Wroclaw (POL)
Oxford Cheetahs
Gdańsk (POL)
Reading Bulldogs
Częstochowa (POL)
Piraterna (SWE)
Zielona Góra (POL)
Tarnów (POL)
Bydgoszcz (POL)
Poole Pirates		 1989–1996
1992–1994
1992–1994
1995–2009
1996–1997
1997–2001
1998–2004
2003–2005
2005
2006–2007
2006–2009
2010–
2010–2011
2012,2014
2013
2013
Speedway Grand Prix statistics
2009 Number 45
Starts 179
Podiums 57 (18–23–16)
Finalist 79 time
Winner 18 times
Individual honours
World Champion
USA National Champion

British Grand Prix Champion
Czech Grand Prix Champion
Polish Grand Prix Champion
Danish Grand Prix Champion
Australian Grand Prix Champion
Norwegian Grand Prix Champion
Latvian Grand Prix Champion
Croatian Grand Prix Champion
New Zealand Grand Prix Champion
Elite League Riders Champion
Scottish Open Champion		 1997, 2011, 2014
1995, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004
2005, 2006, 2009
1995, 2004, 2011, 2014
1997, 2011
1997, 2008
2000
2002
2003
2006, 2009, 2013
2010
2012
1997
1991, 1992
Team honours
World Pairs Champion
World Team Cup Winner
Swedish Elitserien Champion
British League KO Cup Winner
Craven Shield Winner
Premier League Fours Winner
Czech League Champion
Danish League Champion
Polish Div Two Champion		 1992
1992, 1993, 1998
1996, 1997, 2001, 2002
1989
1997, 2000, 2005
1995
2000, 2009, 2010
1995
1998

Gregory Alan "Greg" Hancock (born June 3, 1970)[1] is an American motorcycle speedway rider.

He is a three-time and current Speedway World Champion and a multiple World Team champion with USA, with whom he is currently captain. Hancock is the only rider to have appeared in every Grand Prix round since its creation in 1995.[2]

He rode for the Swedish team Rospiggarna for 15 years, but since 2010 he has ridden for Piraterna from Motala, Sweden.

Early career

Born in Whittier, California, USA, Hancock first came to the United Kingdom at the end of the 1988 speedway season to ride exhibition races with fellow 18 year old Californian Billy Hamill. It was during this time that Hancock agreed a deal to ride for Cradley Heath the following year – the same team that his mentor Bruce Penhall used to ride for. Hancock was an instant success for Cradley in the British League. He also won gold medals for the USA in the 1992 World Pairs and World Team Cup. However due to injury and problems with the American Motorcyclist Association, Hancock was not able to contest in the Individual World Championship until 1993. That year he went through to the World Final in Germany where he finished last place. In 1994, Hancock again qualified for the last ever 'one off' World Final. He went into his last race needing a victory to become world champion but he finished third in the race and fourth overall on the night.

Grand Prix years

In 1995 Hancock finished in 4th place in the first year of the Grand Prix (GP). He won the final round, the British GP at the Hackney Wick Stadium. The following year he joined with fellow American and Cradley teammate Billy Hamill to form Team Exide. With this new found sponsorship, the two young Californian's began to dominate world speedway. In 1996 Hamill won the world title and Hancock finished with the bronze medal in third place. In 1997 Hancock moved from Cradley Heath (due to the club's closure) to the Coventry Bees. He won the first GP of the year in Prague and continued the season in the same form. He won the world title (with Hamill finishing second for a Team Exide one two) and won the Elite League Riders' Championship.

In 1998 to Grand Prix format changed to a more cut throat elimination system. Hancock did not fare so well and finished the year in sixth place but won the World Team Cup with Hamill and Sam Ermolenko. The next year was even worse for Hancock and he finished in 11th place in the Grand Prix. 2000 saw Hancock win his first Grand Prix since his title winning season and he finished in fifth place and in 2001 he finished in 13th place. In 2002 Hancock won the last Grand Prix round in Australia and finished 6th overall. He went one better in 2003 finishing in 5th place after again winning the final round, this time in Haamar, Norway. The following season Hancock was back amongst the medals, finishing the season in third place. That year he won the British GP at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. In 2005 Hancock slipped back to fifth in the world unable to win a GP. A 36-year old Hancock finished the Grand Prix series in second place in 2006 and remained unbeaten in that year's World Cup but the USA did not qualify for the final as the rest of the team struggled. In 2007 Hancock finished in sixth place. Although he failed to win a GP, he finished in second place on three occasions. In 2008 Hancock finished fourth overall in the Grand Prix series. He was on the podium four times, winning the Polish Grand Prix in Bydgoszcz.

Hancock finished the 2009 Speedway Grand Prix season in fourth position and achieved two podium places as runner up at the Danish Grand Prix and winner of the Latvian Grand Prix. He became the USA Speedway National Champion for the eighth time in 2009 and was subsequently named as the Racing Athlete of the Year by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).[3][4]

Greg finished 1st place in the 2011 Czech, British and Nordic Grand Prix. He secured the 2011 World Championship during the Croatian Grand Prix on 24 September, reclaiming the title after a record 14 years at the age of 41 years and 113 days. Hancock clinched the 2014 World Championship during the Polish Grand Prix on October 11, 2014 and broke his own record of oldest title winner at 44 years and 130 days.

Personal

Greg lives in Costa Mesa, California. During the European speedway season he is based in Hallstavik, Sweden with his wife Jennie and 3 sons Wilbur, Bill, and Karl.

World final appearances

Individual World Championship

World Pairs Championship

World Team Cup

World Cup

Speedway Grand Prix results

Year Position Points Best Finish Notes
1995 4th 82 Winner Won British Grand Prix
1996 3rd 88 3rd Third in Danish Grand Prix
1997 1st 118 Winner Won Czech Republic and Polish Grand Prix
1998 6th 69 4th
1999 9th 62 2nd Second in Czech Republic Grand Prix
2000 5th 76 Winner Won Danish Grand Prix
2001 13th 43 8th
2002 6th 122 Winner Won Australian Grand Prix
2003 5th 121 Winner Won Norwegian Grand Prix
2004 3rd 137 Winner Won British Grand Prix
2005 5th 100 2nd Second in Danish Grand Prix
2006 2nd 144 Winner Won Latvian Grand Prix
2007 6th 106 2nd Second in Italian, British and German Grand Prix
2008 4th 144 Winner Won Polish Grand Prix
2009 4th 121 Winner Won Latvian Grand Prix
2010 5th 107 Winner Won Croatian Grand Prix
2011 1st 165 Winner Won Czech Republic, British, Nordic and Poland II Grand Prix
2012 3rd 148 Winner Won New Zealand Grand Prix
2013 4th 129 Winner Won Latvian Grand Prix
2014 1st 140 Winner Won British Grand Prix

[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Oakes, P.(2005). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-30-1
  2. ↑ "Greg Hancock". Speedway Grand Prix. 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  3. ↑ "Herbie Honoured". BSI Speedway. 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  4. ↑ "Speedway Champion Greg Hancock wins AMA Athlete of the Year award". American Motorcyclist Association. 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  5. ↑ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
  6. ↑ speedwaygp.com

External links

colspan=10 bgcolor="FFA07A" border:1px solid red; width:87%" | 2011 Speedway Grand Prix riders
1 Poland Gollob 2 Poland Hampel 3 Australia Crump 4 Poland Holta 5 United States Hancock
6 United Kingdom Harris 7 Denmark Bjerre 8 Australia Holder 9 Sweden Jonsson 10 Denmark Pedersen
11 Sweden Lindgren 12 Russia Sayfutdinov 13 Russia Laguta 14 Sweden Lindbäck 15 Poland Kołodziej