Russian riders filled the top-five placings to dominate the 2020 championship and right at the top for the second year in a row – and the fourth time in his career – was Daniil Ivanov.
• All the 2020 FIM World champions
The thirty-four-year-old won three out of a possible six finals to come out on top of a three-way fight for the title with Dmitry Khomitsevich and Dinar Valeev, although it was no walk in the park and Ivanov was not assured of the crown until the chequered flag was unfurled for the final race of the season.
A former youth motocross rider who made his ice speedway debut in 2002 as a fresh-faced seventeen-year-old, Ivanov’s biggest breakthrough did not come until 2013 when he won his first title, and he backed this up the following year to make it back-to-back championships.
From 2015 to 2018 he was always in contention with two runner-up finishes and a third earning him another three FIM medals, however he had to wait until 2019 to strike gold again, a feat he repeated this season after getting his campaign under way with a double win at the opening round at Almaty in Kazakhstan.
Back on home turf for round two at Togliatti, Ivanov won Final Three but slipped to his first defeat of the championship when he placed second behind Valeev in Final Four.
The series remained in Russia for the last round at Shadrinsk and after narrowly failing to make Final Five he bounced back with fourth in Final Six which was good enough to give him the title by just four points from Khomitsevich.
PALMARES
FIM Ice Speedway World Champion: 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020