Crump second, increases world championship lead
Australian Jason Crump has increased his lead in the 2004 Speedway World
Championship after a spirited second place finish at the Swedish-hosted
round six on August 21.
After a two-month break from world championship hostilities, Crump was
straight back into his intimidating stride at the 43,000-seat Ullevi
Stadium in Gothenburg, with his 20pt haul for finishing second behind
Dane Hans Andersen taking his 2004 tally to 114 - the only rider to have
hit the three-figure mark.
In the process, the reigning world number two increased his world
championship lead from 14 to 23pts over countryman Leigh Adams and
American Greg Hancock, who are deadlocked on 91. Sweden's Tony
Rickardsson is fourth on 87pts with just three rounds remaining in this
year's championship.
Rickardsson and Hancock were the other finalists in round six -- the
latter making his third successive appearance in the decider, and
Rickardsson his first since round three. Rickardsson was third in front
of his home crowd, with Hancock the last home.
Meanwhile, Andersen, riding in just his 13th GP, became the 14th separate
winner of the modern era with his superb victory, which saw him jump
eight championship spots into 11th.
While Andersen was celebrating his maiden GP win, 29-year-old
Crump's unnerving 2004 consistency continued, with Ullevi counting
for his fifth appearance in six finals, with Rickardsson the next
'best' on four.
Of those five pressure-packed finals, Crump has won two and finished
second in another couple -- which is a major reason why the 10-time
GP winner leads the world title by such an imposing margin.
Despite the positive end result, Crump's journey to snare a place
in the four-man Ullevi final had its share of tense moments, especially
after the Aussie was excluded from heat 19 after a crash at Turn One. He
then needed to play catch-up and finish in the top two of the
sudden-death heat 22, which he duly completed with a second behind Adams.
With the Aussie duo free to continue their campaigns, the semi-finals
were a speedway aficionado's delight -- seven of the
world's top eight riders were in action.
In the opening semi, Andersen and Crump finished 1-2, with Rickardsson
and Hancock scoring the quinella in the second. The four riders
eliminated from calculations at that stage were Scott Nicholls and Tomasz
Gollob (both semi one) and Nicki Pedersen and Adams (semi two).
In the final, Crump got a flyer from gate three and led briefly before
making a small mistake and running wide -- just the opening that
Andersen, who started from gate one, required to move into the lead,
which he held for the remainder of the four-lapper.
"I was right on Andersen's tail all the way, and a few times
I could of had a major go to get past," said Crump, chasing
Australia's first world speedway championship since 1952.
"However, Rickardsson was in turn just behind me, so in the end I
decided to play it a little cautious and settle for the 20pts --
Andersen's not a championship threat, so it wasn't such a bad
situation.
"It was a tough night and there was quite a bit of pressure, but I
felt pretty good. I started the night off 14pts in front and now
I'm leading by 23 -- that's the best part of it."
Round seven of the Speedway World Championship will be held in Slovenia
on September 4.
