Speedway: Woffinden insists only gold should be good enough in World Cup

World speedway champion Tai Woffinden has called on British speedway’s bosses to back his plans to help the country win their first world team championship since 1989.

Woffinden led from the front in this year’s World Cup Final on Saturday, scoring 19 of Britain’s 32 points as they finished second to claim their first medal in 12 years.

Amid post-race jubilation at Manchester’s new National Speedway Stadium, Woffinden was the lone voice pointing out that the aim was to win, not finish second.

He has just issued a statement calling for help from the British Speedway Promoters Association, who are responsible for the national team.

He says: “I’m pleased with winning a medal – but I’m a winner and the reality of it is we lost to Poland. Poland have won so many World Cups down the years because they prepare properly, they are well organised and have a structured approach – this is something we need to do with Team GB and I’ve been saying it for the past three seasons.

“It seems very little gets done to give us the best opportunity to challenge for the gold medal and, in reality, that’s what I’m in it for,” he added.

Woffinden wants to see more organisation and help for his fellow British riders to reach the fitness levels and speed that has seen him win the world individual championship twice in the past three seasons.

He personally arranged fitness sessions for his British team-mates last winter, but isn’t sure any of them were informed of the opportunity. He has also suggested the authorities seek sponsorship from his own backers to help create a more unified team structure.

“I’m repeating what I’ve said before, but a structure needs to be put in place now – right now – for next year and the years ahead, but whether anything happens remains to be seen,” he said.

“I’m passionate about Great Britain and the World Cup, I’m passionate about my racing – 
and I’m passionate about winning. All I want is to see the boys given the best possible chance of winning things.”

Britain last won the title in 1989, a year before Woffinden was born, and the sport’s ruling body in this country seem reluctant to invest money in the national team. British speedway has fallen on hard times in the past three decades and clubs around the country aren’t exactly awash with cash to back the schemes Woffinden would like implemented.

A success-starved British speedway public were delighted just to see their team in the mix on Saturday night. They recovered from a nervous start to pull themselves back into contention with a few heats remaining.

But while most were celebrating, Woffinden was looking at what could have been. Just four more points from his team-mates could have been enough to claim a shock victory.

He said: “It’s a good achievement by the boys, but I hate losing, I wanted gold and we could have won it on Saturday.”