SPEEDWAY: SWEDISH GRAND PRIX PRESS RELEASE

CRUMP BACK TO WINNING WAYS

JASON Crump snatched a dramatic victory from arch-rival Tony Rickardsson in
the FIM Grand Prix of Sweden in Eskilstuna on Saturday.
The defending World Champion was facing a second successive Grand Prix
defeat to Rickardsson when the Final was stopped after a crash between the
Danish pair of Nicki Pedersen and Bjarne Pedersen.
Rickardsson had taken the lead but in the re-run Crump made a brave dash
round the outside of the Swede and stormed to a win which closed the gap at
the top of the table to just two points.
The final was typical of a night of high drama with three riders – Bjarne
Pedersen, Leigh Adams and Nicki Pedersen – all finishing with 13 points in
the qualifying heats.
Bjarne Pedersen, by virtue of his defeat of Adams when they met in the
heats, was placed first after the opening 20 heats but the Australian failed
to take advantage of having first choice of gate positions in his semi,
losing out to Nicki Pedersen and Crump.
Rickardsson, winner of all his seven races in the opening Grand Prix of the
2005 series, quickly tasted defeat in Eskilstuna, trailing home last in his
opening ride.
He later admitted that he had been unhappy with his equipment all night but
quickly bounced back to ensure his semi-final spot.
Crump, too, had a last, but as in Wroclaw rapidly righted the ship and never
looked in danger of missing out on the top eight.
Young Swede Antonio Lindback, who finished fourth in Poland, made the semis
again along with Denmark’s Kenneth Bjerre, who came into the meeting as a
late replacement for the injured Jaroslaw Hampel.
The Pole has had an operation on a injured thumb, the result of a crash in a
Swedish league match on Tuesday, but hopes to return for the Grand Prix of
Slovenia later in the month.
Crump was understandable delighted with his win, saying: “Like Tony I wasn’t
happy with my bikes early on and made some changes. The gates changed quite
a lot as the meeting went on and having three in the Final wasn’t the best.
“But I was determined to give it everything, I had nothing to lose, and
things went well for me in the re-run.”
Rickardsson was frustrated with the first running of the final being stopped
but he quickly recovered his composure and felt satisfied with his night’s
work.
For Bjarne Pedersen it was a welcome return to the rostrum. A Grand Prix
winner in Poland last year, he has never managed to hit those heights since
but at one stage he led the Final and says he will take comfort in that.
The British pair of Scott Nicholls and Lee Richardson had another bitterly
disappointing night.
Nicholls got off to the worst possible start, being excluded from his first
race for touching the tapes … a costly mistake as he finished with seven
points, one more and he would have made the semis.
Richardson continues to look off the pace and knows he has a lot of work to
do before the Slovenian GP in Krsko on May 28.
America’s Greg Hancock was never in contention but nothing could spoil his
weekend … he became a father for the first time of Thursday, with a son
Wilbur.

Swedish Grand Prix points: J.Crump (Australia) 25, T.Rickardsson (Sweden)
20, B.Pedersen (Denmark) 18, N.Pedersen (Denmark) 16, L.Adams (Australia)
13, A.Lindback (Sweden) 8, H.Andersen (Denmark) 8, S.Nicholls (GB) 7,
T.Gollob (Poland) 6, G.Hancock (USA) 6, R.Holta (Norway) 6, T.Chrzanowski
(Poland) 4, R.Sullivan (Australia) 3, L.Richardson (GB) 3, A.Jonsson
(Sweden) 1.

Overall standings: T.Rickardsson 45, J.Crump 43, L.Adams 33, N.Pedersen 26,
A.Lindback 24, B.Pedersen 22, G.Hancock 17, S.Nicholls 13, T.Gollob 12,
J.Hampel 10, H.Andersen 10, R.Sullivan 10, A.Jonsson 9, L.Richardson 8,
T.Chrzanowski 8, K.Bjerre 8.