On 9 June 2019 as British born, Tai Woffinden, was riding Polish club Wroclaw, he tried to pass two Lublin riders to prevent a 5:1 victory for his rivals in the first heat, when he clipped his opponent. As Woffinden slid off the bike he missed the inflatable barrier by a couple of metres and crashed hard into the side walls damaging his spine, shoulder and lungs.
It was not until the Polish SGP back in Wroclaw nearly two months later on 3 August that he would return to competitive racing.
Two months out of competition in the middle of the year has almost certainly put paid to any chance of the three times world champion defending his title this year. The injuries also prevented him from being part of the Speedway of Nations competition where he played a significant role in Britain winning bronze in 2018.
On the national league front, he absence definitely caused his Swedish team, Kumla Indianerna to suffer. On his return team leader Peter Johansson said that said that it wasn’t just his points scoring but his role as an experienced rider and team leader that Kumla has missed whilst the Brit was on sick leave.
By contrast, his Polish team, Sparta Wroclaw is so talented that they continued to win without him showing a strength-in-depth few clubs in the world can rival finishing the season in second place.
The summer break has given the Brit a chance to write his biography due to be released in time for British SGP in Cardiff as well as giving him the chance to get involved in a bit of commentary work in the UK.
And now, less than a month after his on his return, he could be part of winning teams in both Sweden and Poland, as the postseason kicks off next week.
But typical of his luck this season, the 29 year old lost his position as the best rider in the Ekstraliga in the very last match of the season as Wrocław went to pieces in the hands of league leaders, Leszno. Despite the injury had held this position since before that crash on 9 June.
In Poland he racked up an impressive 2.321 P/H. But only nine points in six outings in the final match meant his average slipped from over 2.4 which was needed to beat the best in Ekstraliga. That left him in fourth behind SGP rivals Bartosz Zmarzlik, Martin Vaculik and Leon Madsen.
And in Sweden he is in third with a more than acceptable 2.326 P/H. He sits behind another SGP rival, Artem Laguta and the practically unstoppable Zmarzlik (see separate article).
It remains to be seen if the Brit will finish the SGP season within the top eight and automatically qualify for the event in 2020. But surely the FIM will give the superstar a wildcard place because of his status as a world renowned figure with speedway.
UK fans will be eager to see the Scunthorpe born rider win the British GP on home turf. But I think a win with Indianerna in Sweden’s Elitserien might be his best chance of silverware this season.
If everyone remains fit, he will have fellow World Champion, Chris Holder and Danish pairing of Kenneth Bjerre and Anders Thomsen who are all more than capable of beating any rider in the top Swedish league.
