Veteran Peterborough Panthers skipper to race on in 2020

The Danish ace is determined to bounce back from the toughest year of his long career.

He admits his love of the sport has returned in recent days and the focus is now on 2020.

“I’m riding next year,” stated Andersen (39) emphatically. “The decision is made – 100 per cent.

“It would have been easy to knock it on the head and finish this season early, but the reason I came back is to try and get the love of the sport back.

“It wouldn’t have been fair to sign contracts with clubs for next season only to turn up at the end of the March, not have the joy or desire to be a speedway rider anymore and then retire.

“It clicked again for me last week in a meeting in Denmark. My team got walloped, but I rode really well and suddenly enjoyed being back on the bike again.

“Apart from the crash and retiring when ahead in another race, it was still a pretty good night for me against Belle Vue last Thursday.

“Monday wasn’t so good, but the weather meant the track conditions were nothing like they normally are and I struggled to find a set-up that worked. At least I managed a whole meeting without crashing, though!

“Even though it has been a really tough year, I showed at times that I can still win races and score good points. Now the challenge is making sure that 2020 is so much better than 2019 on the track.”

And Andersen admits he is hugely disappointed for the Panthers supporters who have also had to endure a miserable return to the top-flight.

A season-ending success against Wolverhampton on Tuesday (September 17) – when they will attempt to snap a 12-match losing run – is the target for the skipper.

“I feel very sorry for the fans,” he added. “They have turned up in good numbers to support us well, but we haven’t given them a lot to cheer.

“No-one wants to finish bottom of the league – definitely not by a long way like we are – but we’ve had so many problems.

“I can’t ever remember a season where every rider in the team has been injured or missed meetings.

“I feel we can be proud of ourselves for the performances against Belle Vue and Swindon, and we can look forward to the last meeting against Wolverhampton when we can hopefully get a win to end on a high.”