TAI WOFFINDEN has been handed a shock return to the Speedway Grand Prix series.
The three-times World Champion was announced as one of the three wild card picks for the SGP in 2026 alongside Australians Jason Doyle and Max Fricke on Monday.
It comes just six months after Woffinden’s horror crash in Krosno where he sustained 15 broken bones and was left in a coma fighting for his life.
But now remarkably he will return to the top table of world speedway after getting the wild card pick from the FIM and new SGP rights holders Mayfield Sports.
Woffinden, who won golds in 2013, 2015 and 2018, said: “I’m honoured to be given the opportunity to be back in the World Championship.
“The only reason I haven’t been there is because I’ve been injured every year.
“They obviously see where my level is at and what I’ve achieved. They and myself believe I can do it again. It’s nice to have that support from whoever makes these decisions.
“I’m just looking forward to getting out there.
“My last World Championship win was in 2018. Every single year since then I’ve been injured.
“I know that if I get an injury-free season I’ll be there or thereabouts.”
Former Speedway GP world champion Doyle extends his Speedway GP career into a 12th straight season – just two days after he won his second FIM Speedway of Nations world title with the Australian team.
Like Woffinden, Doyle has also been hampered by injuries, having seen his 2024 campaign ended by a torn rotator cuff. A hip injury kept him out of this year’s FIM Speedway GP of Czech Republic – Prague and impacted on his performance at the FIM Speedway GP of Great Britain – Manchester double-header in a year when he finished 10th in the Speedway GP standings.
Joining Woffinden and Doyle in the 2026 Speedway GP line-up is 2022 FIM Speedway of Nations and 2016 FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship gold medallist Fricke.
The three-time Australian champion finished eighth in this season’s Speedway GP series – falling just three points short of the top-seven automatic qualification places in a year when he reached seven of the 10 last-chance qualifiers and matched his career-best finish in the standings.
Words by Holeshot Media.
Images by Taylor Lanning.