The 2021 Speedway Grand Prix season was the 27th season of the Speedway Grand Prix era, and decided the 76th FIM Speedway World Championship.[1][2] The calendar of events was disrupted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic[3] and the series was dominated by Polish venues once again, with six of the 11 races taking place in Poland. Great Britain and Germany did not hold an event, however Russia was added to the calendar for the first time. In 2020, six of the eight races had been held in Poland.[4]
| 2021 Speedway Grand Prix | |
|---|---|
| Season details | |
| Dates | 16 July - 2 October |
| Events | 11 |
| Cities | 7 |
| Countries | 5 |
| Riders | 15 permanents 1 wild card(s) 2 track reserves |
| Heats | 253 (in 11 events) |
| Winners | |
| Champion |  Artem Laguta |
| Runner-up |  Bartosz Zmarzlik |
| 3rd place | Emil Sayfutdinov |
Artem Laguta won his first world title. Laguta overtook defending champion Bartosz Zmarzlik in the points standings in round 10, which proved to be the pivotal moment of the championship.
Russian athletes competed as neutral competitors using the designation MFR (Motorcycle Federation of Russia), as the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on Russia competing at World Championships. The ban was implemented by the World Anti-Doping Agency in response to state-sponsored doping program of Russian athletes.[5]
Qualification
For the 2021 season there were 15 permanent riders, who were joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card and two track reserves.
The top six riders from the 2020 championship qualified automatically.[6] These riders were joined by the three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Challenge and the winner of the 2020 Speedway European Championship.[7]
The final four riders were nominated by the SGP Commission following the completion of the 2020 season.[8][9]
Qualified riders
| # | Riders | 2020 place | GP Ch place | Appearance | Previous appearances in series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95 | Bartosz Zmarzlik | 1 | — | 6th | 2012–2015, 2016–2020 |
| 108 |  Tai Woffinden | 2 | — | 10th | 2010, 2011, 2013–2020 |
| 66 |  Fredrik Lindgren | 3 | — | 12th | 2004, 2006–2007, 2008–2014, 2016, 2017–2020 |
| 71 | Maciej Janowski | 4 | — | 7th | 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015–2020 |
| 30 |  Leon Madsen | 5 | — | 3rd | 2013, 2019–2020 |
| 69 |  Jason Doyle | 6 | — | 7th | 2015–2020 |
| 222 | Artem Laguta | 7 | — | 5th | 2011, 2018–2020 |
| 89 | Emil Sayfutdinov | 8 | — | 10th | 2009–2013, 2017–2020 |
| 54 |  Martin Vaculík | 9 | — | 6th | 2012, 2013, 2017–2020 |
| 46 | Max Fricke | 10 | — | 2nd | 2016-2017, 2019, 2020 |
| 55 |  Matej Žagar | 11 | 1 | 11th | 2003–2005, 2006–2007, 2008–2009, 2011, 2013–2020 |
| 93 | Oliver Berntzon | — | 2 | 1st | 2019 |
| 187 | Krzysztof Kasprzak | — | 3 | 5th | 2004–2007, 2008, 2012, 2013–2014 |
| 105 | Anders Thomsen | — | — | 1st | 2016, 2020 |
| 505 | Robert Lambert | — | — | 1st | 2015, 2018–2019 |
Qualified substitutes
The following riders were nominated as substitutes:
| # | Riders | 2020 place | GP Ch place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 575 |  Aleksandr Loktaev | — | 4 |
| 27 | Jaimon Lidsey | — | — |
| 415 | Dominik Kubera | — | — |
| 999 |  Oļegs Mihailovs | — | — |
| 99 | Dan Bewley | — | — |
| 125 |  Lukas Fienhage | — | — |
| 201 |  Jan Kvěch | =21 | — |
Calendar
The 2021 season consisted of 11 events.
Final Classification
| Qualifies for next season's Grand Prix series |
| Full-time Grand Prix rider |
| Wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | CZE | CZE | POL | PL2 | PL3 | PL4 | SWE | RUS | DEN | PL5 | PL6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | (222) Artem Laguta | 192 | 12 | 20 | 16 | 18 | 14 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 14 |
 | (95) Bartosz Zmarzlik | 189 | 11 | 12 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 12 | 20 |
 | (89) Emil Sayfutdinov | 149 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 10 | 18 |
| 4 | (66) Fredrik Lindgren | 129 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 | (71) Maciej Janowski | 129 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 18 | 16 |
| 6 | (108) Tai Woffinden | 122 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 14 | 16 | 10 |
| 7 | (30) Leon Madsen | 108 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 12 |
| 8 | (46) Max Fricke | 94 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
| 9 | (69) Jason Doyle | 87 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 9 |
| 10 | (505) Robert Lambert | 82 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| 11 | (105) Anders Thomsen | 73 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| 12 | (54) Martin Vaculík | 54 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | – | – | 8 | 1 | – |
| 13 | (55) Matej Žagar | 45 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | (415) Dominik Kubera | 44 | – | – | – | – | 18 | 16 | 10 | – | – | – | – |
| 15 | (93) Oliver Berntzon | 32 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 4 |
| 16 | (187) Krzysztof Kasprzak | 28 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| 17 | (16) Paweł Przedpełski | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | 6 |
| 18 | (16) Mikkel Michelsen | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | – | – |
| 19 | (16) Gleb Chugunov | 8 | – | – | 3 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | (201) Jan Kvěch | 7 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 21 | (575) Aleksandr Loktaev | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | – | – | – |
| 22 | (16) Vadim Tarasenko | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | – | – | – |
| 23 | (27) Jaimon Lidsey | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| " | (20) Pontus Aspgren | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 25 | (17) Daniel Klíma | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| " | (18) Petr Chlupáč | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| " | (17) Tobiasz Musielak | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| " | (18) Bartłomiej Kowalski | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| " | (17) Wiktor Lampart | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| " | (18) Mateusz Świdnicki | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| " | (17) Kim Nilsson | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| " | (18) Joel Andersson | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| " | (17) Renat Gafurov | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – |
| " | (18) Evgeny Saidullin | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – |
| " | (17) Mads Hansen | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – |
| " | (18) Frederik Jakobsen | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – |
| " | (17) Krzysztof Lewandowski | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| " | (18) Karol Żupiński | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | CZE | CZE | POL | PL2 | PL3 | PL4 | SWE | RUS | DEN | PL5 | PL6 |