Ailing Crump ‘Hans' victory to Andersen
Crump now long odds to win a third world titleHans Andersen claimed his first speedway grand prix victory in over two years in Italy last weekend, but only after Australian Jason Crump was slowed by mechanical problems on the final lap.
The in-form Crump, a dual world champion, was heading for what appeared to be a clinical win – and a chance to put a serious dent in Nick Pedersen’s world championship lead with one round remaining – before his bike began losing power on the last lap.
As his brake-less machine lost all momentum, Anderson and Bjarne Pedersen both swept past the Australian, with Crump only finishing ahead of compatriot Leigh Adams.
Instead of leaving Italy 12pts behind Nicki Pedersen, who struggled in Italy, Crump is now 16 in arrears of the reigning world champion ahead of the finale in Germany on October 11.
Even if Crump scores maximum points (24) in Germany, Nicki only needs to amass a minimum of 9pts to win successive world titles – the first rider to do since Tony Rickardsson in 2001-2002.
A distraught Crump said: "I think we had an ignition problem in the final. Twelve points would have been do-able, but 16 isn't really. It should have been a lot less."
Italian Grand Prix results:
Hans Andersen (Den) 21, Bjarne Pedersen (Den) 17, Jason Crump (Aus) 18, Leigh Adams (Aus) 12, Rune Holta (Pol) 10, Greg Hancock (USA) 9, Tomasz Gollob (Pol) 9, Andreas Jonsson (Swe) 9, Scott Nicholls (GB) 8, Krzysztof Kasprzak (Pol) 8, Nicki Pedersen (Den) 6, Niels-Kristian Iversen (Den) 6, Fredrik Lindgren (Swe) 5, Lukas Dryml (Cze) 4, Mattia Carpanese (Ita) 2, Guglielmo Franchetti (Ita) 0, Alessandro Milanese (Ita, res) 0.
Overall standings after round 10 of 11:
Nicki Pedersen 161, Crump 145, Hancock 129, Gollob 127, Andersen 123, Adams 110, Jonsson 88, Holta 73, Nicholls 70, Bjarne Pedersen 66, Lindgren 64, Iversen 59, Chris Harris 54, Kasprzak 52, Dryml 39.
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