Australia runner-up in Speedway World Cup
In a nail-biter, Poland has retained its mantle as the No. 1 speedway nation in the world, finished just ahead of the plucky Australian outfitHost Poland has completed an unprecedented hat-trick of Speedway World Cup titles, clawing its way back from a slow start to overhaul Australia in a classic final on Saturday, July 16.
Australian captain Jason Crump praised the efforts of his riders and was magnanimous in defeat.
“That is one of the best meetings I've ever been involved in. It was a great advert for our sport," he said. "Obviously it's disappointing to lose, but you have to take your hat off to the Polish boys. When you have an inspirational leader like Tomasz Gollob it makes things a little easier.”
Poland finished on 51pts, with Australia right on their hammer on 45, while Sweden (30) and Denmark (29) were well off the pace.
Chris Holder was the mainstay for the Australians, top-scoring with 15pts, further enhancing his growing reputation in 2011 as a genuine star of the sport.
Crump was brilliant as ever recording three heat wins on his way to 13pts, while Troy Batchelor showed why he is an automatic call-up to any Australian team, scoring two heat wins in his 10pt total.
It was a tough initiation for young gun Darcy Ward, with the two-time under 21 world champion scoring 4pts in his maiden SWC Final and Davey Watt also found the going tough with 3pts from his four rides.
Australia got the early advantage on the field, winning three of the first five heats to race to an 8pt lead after just eight heats, but was soon trailing as the star-studded Polish team began to hit its straps.
However, Australia regained the lead after heat 16 thanks to a Holder win, and putting some space between themselves and the Polish courtesy of a Crump victory in heat 17.
But that would be the last time Australia held the ascendancy as Poland strung together four straight heat wins en route to a third consecutive SWC crown in front of an adoring home crowd.
SWC FINAL SCORES:
POLAND 51: 1 Krzysztof Kasprzak 8, 2 Jaroslaw Hampel 11, 3 Tomasz Gollob 17, 4 Piotr Protasiewicz 8, 5 Janusz Kolodziej 7.
AUSTRALIA 45: 1 Jason Crump 13, 2 Darcy Ward 4, 3 Troy Batchelor 10, 4 Davey Watt 3, 5 Chris Holder 15.
SWEDEN 30: 1 Andreas Jonsson 1, 2 Freddie Lindgren 12, 3 Antonio Lindback 8, 4 Jonas Davidsson 2, 5 Thomas H Jonasson 7.
DENMARK 29: 1 Mads Korneliussen 3, 2 Bjarne Pedersen 3, 3 Niels-Kristian Iversen 8, 4 Nicki Pedersen 5, 5 Kenneth Bjerre 10.
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