Pedersen leads the way in World Championship

Nicki Pedersen is setting a sizzling Danish pace at the head of the World Championship standings after his second successive Grand Prix victory at Wroclaw.

But there was plenty to cheer about for British fans when Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris qualified for the main even and finish third in this his first full season of Speedway GP.

Harris was thrilled with his podium position in only his third Grand Prix – his second as a fully-fledged GP rider.

He said: “I had some hard rides from the back but I am chuffed to bits to have finished third. I enjoyed every minute of it.”

Pedersen followed his seven straight wins in Lonigo with six wins out of seven at the Olympic Stadium, beating fellow countryman Hans Andersen, fast-emerging Brit Chris Harris and reigning champion Jason Crump in the final to bank 23 points.

With Greg Hancock, the runner-up in Italy, failing to reach the final, Pedersen is now 14 points clear of the American and 22 up on defending champion Crump.

Pedersen said: “I am very happy with the shape I am in, I feel very motivated and my engines are working so well. But there is still a long, long way to go.”

Pedersen lost his only point in the qualifying to Matej Zagar, and finished level on 14 points with Hancock.

Hancock lost the lead to Hans Andersen in the second semi-final when the Dane baulked him after lifting out of a rut, and he was then thrillingly overhauled by Harris to miss out on the final.

Harris had started slowly with two third places, but he came into his own with three eye-catching victories that won him a new legion of Polish fans.

He overhauled Andreas Jonsson and Rune Holta to register his first GP win in heat nine, and then bettered that by bombing past Scott Nicholls, Bjarne Pedersen and Jaroslaw Hampel to win heat 13.

Harris finished on 11 points, the same as Crump, who pieced together four second places after winning his first ride but never looked dominant.

Leigh Adams (10), Zagar (7) and Bjarne Pedersen (7) also qualified for the semi-finals, with Andersen scraping in on countback as one of six riders to finish on six points.

He made the most of his chance to win the second semi-final and follow Nicki Pedersen home in the final.

Andersen said: “I had packed my bikes away ready to go home, but then they told me I had qualified for the semi-finals so I got them out again and went out to try and take advantage.”

Disappointingly for the large and partisan crowd, none of the Polish contingent rose to the occasion. Tomasz Gollob was the biggest let-down, mustering a measly three points.

The most serious of a series of spectacular crashes involved Jonsson in heat 15.

He got hooked up with Nicki Pedersen entering the third turn and cartwheeled off his machine, which bounced up and over the safety fence.

Jonsson was taken to hospital with a suspected broken wrist, but early reports suggest no bones were broken.

Results
FIM European Grand Prix:
Qualifying races: Nicki Pedersen (Denmark) 23, Greg Hancock (USA) 15, Chris Harris (Great Britain) 15, Jason Crump (Australia) 13, Hans Andersen (Denmark) 13, Leigh Adams (Australia) 10, Bjarne Pedersen (Denmark) 8, Matej Zagar (Slovenia) 7, Sebastian Ulamek (Poland) 6, Jaroslaw Hampel (Poland) 6, Rune Holta (Poland) 6, Wieslaw Jagus (Poland) 6, Scott Nicholls (Great Britain) 6, Andreas Jonsson (Sweden) 5, Tomasz Gollob (Poland) 3, Tomasz Gapinski (reserve – Poland) 1, Antonio Lindback (Sweden) 0.
Final: N.Pedersen, Andersen, Harris, Crump.

Overall Grand Prix championship standings: N.Pedersen 47, Hancock 34, Crump 25, Adams 22, Andersen 22, Harris 22, Jagus 20, Gollob 18, Hampel 14, B.Pedersen 13, Jonsson 12, Zagar 12, Nicholls 10, Holta 8, Ulamek 6, Lindback 3, Carpanese 2.