1998 Speedway Grand Prix Qualification
The 1998 Speedway Grand Prix Qualification or GP Challenge was a series of motorcycle speedway meetings used to determine the 16 riders that qualified for the 1998 Speedway Grand Prix[1] to join the other 8 riders that finished in the leading positions from the 1997 Speedway Grand Prix.[2]
| 1998 Speedway Grand Prix Qualification | |
|---|---|
There was a late change to the qualifying when the Grand Prix increased to 24 permanent riders. Therefore 4 riders would qualify straight from the Intercontinental and Continental finals and 9 riders would qualify through the GP Challenge (originally just 4).[3] The final 3 GP places would go to wildcards.
Piotr Protasiewicz won the GP Challenge.
Format
    
- First Round - 5 riders each from Sweden & Denmark, 3 riders each from Finland & Norway to Scandinavian Final
- First Round - 32 riders from Continental quarter finals to Continental semi-finals
- First Round - 8 riders from British final to Overseas Final
- First Round - 4 riders from Australian/New Zealand final to Overseas Final
- First Round - 4 riders from United States final to Overseas Final
- Second Round - 8 riders from Scandinavian final to Intercontinental Final
- Second Round - 8 riders from Overseas final to Intercontinental Final
- Second Round - 16 riders from Continental semi-finals to Continental Final
- Third Round - 7 riders from positions 9-15 from the 1997 Grand Prix to GP Challenge
- Third Round - 2 riders from the Continental Final to 1998 Grand Prix and 4 to GP Challenge
- Third Round - 2 riders from the Intercontinental Final to 1998 Grand Prix and 5 to GP Challenge
- Final Round - 9 riders from the GP Challenge to the 1998 Grand Prix
First round
    
    Continental quarter finals
    
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Second round
    
    Overseas Final
    
8 riders to Intercontinental Final
Scandinavian Final
    
8 riders to Intercontinental final
| (7 Jun 1997  Hyvinkää) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Points | |||
| 1 |  Peter Nahlin | 12 | |||
| 2 |  Jesper B Jensen | 12 | |||
| 3 |  Stefan Dannö | 11 | |||
| 4 |  Kai Laukkanen | 10 | |||
| 5 |  Ronni Pedersen | 10 | |||
| 6 |  John Jørgensen | 10 | |||
| 7 |  Frede Schött | 10 | |||
| 8 |  Stefan Andersson | 9 | |||
| 9 |  Rune Holta | 8 | |||
| 10 |  Niklas Klingberg | 8 | |||
| 11 |  Hans Clausen | 6 | |||
| 12 |  Lars Gunnestad | 5 | |||
| 13 |  Niklas Karlsson | 3 | |||
| 14 |  Marko Hyyryläinen | 2 | |||
| 15 |  Kenneth Borgenhaug | 2 | |||
| 16 |  Jonas Kylmäkorpi | 1 | |||
Continental semi finals
    
Continental semi-finals - 16 riders from to Continental final
| SF 
 
 | SF2 
 
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Third round
    
- 7 riders from positions 9-15 from the 1997 Speedway Grand Prix to GP Challenge
Intercontinental Final
    
2 riders direct to Grand Prix, 5 riders to GP Challenge
Continental Final
     
- 2 riders direct to Grand Prix, 4 riders to GP Challenge
- 26 July 1997  Lonigo Lonigo
| Pos. | Rider | Points | 
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Armando Castagna | 13 | 
| 2 |  Zoltán Adorján | 12 | 
| 3 |  Tomáš Topinka | 12 | 
| 4 |  Sebastian Ułamek | 10 | 
| 5 |  Piotr Świst | 9 | 
| 6 |  Jacek Krzyżaniak | 8 | 
| 7 |  Antonín Kasper Jr. | 8 | 
| 8 |  Roman Povazhny | 8 | 
| 9 |  Jacek Gollob | 8 | 
| 10 |  Rinat Mardanschin | 6 | 
| 11 |  Bohumil Brhel | 6 | 
| 12 |  Andrea Maida | 5 | 
| 13 |  Robbie Kessler | 5 | 
| 14 |  Robert Sawina | 5 | 
| 15 |  Andreas Bössner | 4 | 
| 16 |  Zdenek Schneiderwind | 1 | 
| 17 |  Sergej Darkin | 0 | 
Final Round
    
    GP Challenge
    
4 riders (changed to 9) to 1998 Grand Prix
- 5 October 1997  Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt
| Pos. | Rider | Points | 
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Piotr Protasiewicz | 14 | 
| 2 |  Stefan Dannö | 13 | 
| 3 | .svg.png.webp) Leigh Adams | 12 | 
| 4 | .svg.png.webp) Craig Boyce | 11 | 
| 5 |  Andy Smith | 9 | 
| 6 |  Chris Louis | 8 | 
| 7 |  Henrik Gustafsson | 7 | 
| 8 |  Peter Karlsson | 7 | 
| 9 |  Sebastian Ułamek | 7 | 
| 10 |  Sam Ermolenko | 7 | 
| 11 |  Jacek Krzyżaniak | 6 | 
| 12 |  Tomáš Topinka | 5 | 
| 13 |  Piotr Świst | 5 | 
| 14 |  Joe Screen | 4 | 
| 15 |  Kelvin Tatum | 2 | 
| 16 |  Sławomir Drabik | 1 | 
| 17 |  Ronni Pedersen | 1 | 
References
    
- "Individual Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- "HISTORICAL LIST OF RESULTS 1995-2013 Speedway Grand Prix - Qualifications". Speedway History. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- "Loram Alone". Cambridge Daily News. 6 October 1997. Retrieved 6 January 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.










