Australia into World Cup race-off
Finished third in its semi-final, which means it will have to contest a last chance event to make it through to the speedway finalAustralia will attempt to make it through to the 2011 FIM Speedway World Cup Final via Thursday’s race-off after finishing third behind Denmark and Sweden in its semi-final at Vojens, Denmark on Saturday, July 9.
In a nail-biting three-way battle, Germany advanced to the July 16 final after scoring 50pts to finish two ahead of Sweden, with Australia a further point back in third.
Germany could not match the lofty heights of its opponents, finishing a distant last with just 9pts.
The result means Sweden and Australia will travel to Poland for Thursday to take on the second and third placed team from the July 12 second semi-final.
Chris Holder and Darcy Ward were the standouts for the Aussies, with Holder the best performed scoring two heat wins on his way to 14pts, while Ward scored 13 in a coming of age performance from the two-time world under 21 champion.
Captain Jason Crump recovered from a slow start to record two heart wins to add 11pts to the total, while it was a night to forget for Rory Schlein and Troy Batchelor.
Batchelor had been in red-hot league form, but could not repeat his efforts in Denmark, contributing just 4pts from his five heats.
It wasn’t much better for Rory Schlein who could not break through for a heat win, scoring five of the team’s 47pts.
Heading into the final five heats, Australia trailed Denmark by 4pts and Sweden by two and needed a minor miracle to claim victory.
Three heat wins ensured the Aussies would not die wondering, but equally as impressive efforts from the European teams ensured the status quo and Denmark’s advancement to the Speedway World Cup Final.
For Australia the focus now turns to the race-off, where it will be eager to iron out their inconsistencies and continue its assault.
SWC EVENT ONE SCORES:
Denmark 50: 1 Nicki Pedersen 10, 2 Bjarne Pedersen 12, 3 Kenneth Bjerre 11, 4 Niels-Kristian Iversen 5, 5 Mads Korneliussen 12.
Sweden 48: 1 Andreas Jonsson 11, 2 Freddie Lindgren 10, 3 Antonio Lindback 12, 4 Jonas Davidsson 8, 5 Thomas H Jonasson 7.
Australia 47: 1 Jason Crump 11, 2 Darcy Ward 13, 3 Troy Batchelor 4, 4 Rory Schlein 5, 5 Chris Holder 14.
Germany 9: 1 Kevin Wolbert 2, 2 Max Dilger 4, 3 Tobias Busch 1, 4 Mathias Schultz 2, 5 Tobias Kroner 0.
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