The Final Round of the Speedway World Championship in Daugavpils Was a Success

According to the Head of the Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia Vladimir Rybnikov, the competitions were a success – they were held at a high organisational and technical level and were highly evaluated by FIM (the International Motorcycling Federation).

The races took place at the Locomotive Stadium, which was completely full. According to the data of the organisers, there were about eight thousand spectators – exceeding the official capacity of the stadium by one thousand seats.

The first ridings already showed how interesting and intriguing these competitions promised to be, as all the currently strongest racers in the world had arrived to participate. In the course of a very tight and fierce struggle, the three best competitors were determined. A rider from Great Britain Tai Woffinden finished third, Darcy Ward from Australia came second, and the 43 year old American sportsman Greg Hancock won with a convincing victory. It has to be especially noted that the Latvian junior sportsman Andzej Lebedev, in spite of his young age, showed an excellent result and took sixth place.

The competitions in Daugavpils caused huge interest not only among sportsmen and fans of this motor sport, but also among the widest circles of residents of Daugavpils, Latvia and neighbouring countries – Belarus, Russia and Poland. The course of the competitions was broadcasted by television to 152 countries, and in 64 countries it was broadcasted live. There were about 70 reporters at the stadium, who were accredited at the competitions.

‘These competitions have not only convincingly confirmed the status of Daugavpils as one of the European capitals of speedway, but also our ability to hold international competitions at the highest level. In this general success, I would like to note the contribution of not only all the sportsmen and organisers, but also of all those who made it possible to arrange a real feast of speedway,’ said Vladimir Rybnikov, Head of the Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia.

On Friday, on the eve of the competitions, the Prime Minister of Latvia Valdis Dombrovskis visited Daugavpils, met organisers of the event, personally casted lots and wished success to the sportsmen.

The grand prize for the winner of the Rietumu Bank Latvian FIM Speedway Grand Prix was awarded by the Deputy Chairman of the Rietumu Bank Council Arkady Suharenko.

This year, the final round of the Speedway World Championship coincided with the jubilee of the Daugavpils speedway club. The club celebrated its 50^th anniversary, not only with the arrangement of the races, but also with a specially prepared programme – the atmosphere of the special event was emphasised by a parade of Latvian speedway veterans on retro motorcycles and a big rock concert which took place upon the completion of the competitions.

The general sponsor of the final round of the Speedway World Championship in Daugavpils was the biggest private bank in Latvia – Rietumu. The event was supported by the Daugavpils municipality, the government of Latvia and the Latvian Railways.