Panthers: Bjerre insists Crump has the title sewn up
PANTHERS man Kenneth Bjerre believes the race for the World Championship is virtually over – before it has even reached the halfway stage.
PANTHERS man Kenneth Bjerre believes the race for the World Championship is virtually over – before it has even reached the halfway stage.Bjerre is convinced that former Peterborough ace Jason Crump has already opened up an unassailable lead following his second successive British Grand Prix triumph in Cardiff on Saturday.
Huntingdon resident Bjerre left the Welsh capital a dejected man after bowing out in the qualifying heats during his debut Millennium Stadium appearance in front of 42,000 fans.
But he was also full of admiration for the performance of Crump who again climbed onto the top step of the podium.
The Australian star roared to a flawless seven-ride, 24-point maximum to stretch his lead at the top of the overall standings to 31 points after five of the 11 rounds that make up the World Championship calendar.
Bjerre admitted: "If Jason stays free of injury, there is no way anyone is going to stop him.
"Every rider seems to be dropping points this year apart from him. He is making great starts in his races and is on fire."
Bjerre launched proceedings in Cardiff with a magnificent first heat performance to power around the outside of outgoing world champion Nicki Pedersen.
But rather than signal the start of a charge to a first Grand Prix final appearance, it proved to be the highlight of a frustrating night for the 24 year-old.
Bjerre, who is renowned as one of the best starters in the business, was let down by unusually poor gating and suffered two costly last places during his five rides on a slick, temporary track.
"I really felt I had a good chance of getting to my first final," continued Bjerre. "And things started really well when I beat Nicki in the first heat.
"But then I had a chain problem and had to jump onto another bike and ran a last in my next ride.
"I went back to the original bike and then ended up using my third one later on and that actually felt really good in my last heat.
"The thing that really disappointed me was my starting. I only made two decent ones all night and it was so hard to overtake other riders when you got stuck at the back.
"If I had finished third twice instead of fourth I would have made the semi-finals, but those last places really hurt you in the GPs."
The sport's top riders now have a month-long break from World Championship competition until the series resumes in Latvia.
And Bjerre, who now shares eighth place in the overall standings with former Panthers skipper Hans Andersen, insists he will return in better form.
The top eight finishers in the overall standings automatically qualify for the 2010 series and that remains a target Bjerre is confident of reaching.
He added: "I have dropped far too many points so far. It happened again at Cardiff when I didn't win either of what looked like my two easiest races.
"But I definitely feel I can do enough to finish in the top eight. I need to get back to making more good starts and I think there I a lot more to come from me.
"The key thing is being more consistent."
Andersen finished third in his best GP display of the season with Fredrik Lindgren taking second behind Crump. Greg Hancock brought up the rear in the finale.
British champion Chris Harris was the top home rider but saw his hopes of a repeat of his 2007 triumph controversially ended in a semi-final exclusion for taking down Andersen.
Scott Nicholls missed out on the semi-finals but was involved in the major flashpoint of the meeting when brawling with Emil Sayfutdinov on the track following heat five.HEATS
1 - re-run - BJERRE, Pedersen, Sayfutdinov, Holta (exc).
2 - ANDERSEN, Hancock, Lindgren, Nicholls.
3 - ULAMEK, Jonsson, Kennett, Gollob.
4 - CRUMP, Harris, Adams, Walasek.
5 - ULAMEK, Harris, Nicholls, Sayfutdinov.
6 - LINDGREN, Pedersen, Walasek, Jonsson.
7 - CRUMP, Hancock, Gollob, Bjerre.
8 - ANDERSEN, Kennett, Holta, Adams.
9 - LINDGREN, Gollob, Sayfutdinov, Adams.
10 - CRUMP, Pedersen, Nicholls, Kennett.
11 - ANDERSEN, Bjerre, Ulamek, Walasek.
12 - HOLTA, Hancock, Jonsson, Harris.
13 - SAYFUTDINOV, Hancock, Kennett, Walasek.
14 - GOLLOB, Harris, Andersen, Pedersen.
15 - NICHOLLS, Jonsson, Adams, Bjerre.
16 - CRUMP, Lindgren, Ulamek, Holta (fell/exc).
17 - re-run - CRUMP, Sayfutdinov, Andersen, Jonsson (exc).
18 - HANCOCK, Pedersen, Adams, Ulamek.
19 - HARRIS, Bjerre, Lindgren, Kennett.
20 - HOLTA, Gollob, Nicholls, Walasek.
Semi-finals:
1 - CRUMP, Lindgren, Gollob, Ulamek.
2 - re-run x2 - HANCOCK, Andersen, Pedersen (exc), Harris (exc).
Final - CRUMP, Lindgren, Andersen, Hancock.
British GP results:
Jason Crump 24pts, Fredrik Lindgren 16, Hans Andersen 15, Greg Hancock 14, Tomasz Gollob 9, Chris Harris 9, Nicki Pedersen 8, Sebastian Ulamek 8, Kenneth Bjerre 7, Emil Sayfutdinov 7, Rune Holta 7, Scott Nicholls 6, Andreas Jonsson, Edward Kennethh 4, Leigh Adams 3, Grzegorz Walasek 1.
Overall World Championship standings:
Jason Crump 98pts, Emil Sayfutdinov 67, Greg Hancock 59, Tomasz Gollob 53, Nicki Pedersen 52, Andreas Jonsson 51, Fredrik Lindgren 49, Hans Andersen 38, Kenneth Bjerre 38, Sebastian Ulamek 35, Rune Holta 34, Leigh Adams 31, Chris Harris 30, Grzegorz Walasek 25, Scott Nicholls 17, Antonio Lindback (wildcard) 17, Niels Kristian Iversen (wildcard) 11, Jarek Hampel (wildcard) 9, Edward Kennett (wildcard) 4, Matej Kus (wildcard) 1.
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Monday 15 March 2010
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