Crump not on the job

Three-time world champion Jason Crump has offered no excuses for his below-par start to the 2011 Speedway World Championship in Poland on April 30.

The Australian legend managed just 5pts in his heat races and was last in his final three rides as he fell far short of the semi-final cut.

Crump’s compatriot Chris Holder also missed the semis, in what was an underwhelming title opener for the duo, who went into the event on the back of some brilliant domestic league form.

But nothing comes easily at the pinnacle of speedway racing, and the Aussies soon found that out as the likes of world champion Tomasz Gollob, Danish great Nicki Pedersen, American Greg Hancock, Russian Emil Sayfutdinov and world No. 2 Jaroslaw Hampel dominated the event.

The final (see video below) was eventually won by Pedersen ahead of Gollob, Sayfutdinov and Hampel – although Gollob leads the world championship after accruing 18pts ahead of Pedersen on 17.

Crump was searching for his third consecutive win at the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium and was one of the pre-meeting favourites to triumph.

But it just wasn’t to be and Crump said of his performance: “I forgot to race. It was just something wrong with Jason. I just hope I can race better, like I normally do, in Gothenburg. I couldn’t get it to work properly in Leszno and I am very disappointed.

“Not every day is a good one and I had a bad day on Saturday. Five points is better than nothing, but it’s not what I came here to get.

“Everything was fine with the track. It’s the same for every rider. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t race well. If you don’t race well in the GP, you don’t score points. This is what I take away from the meeting.”

Crump tried three different bikes in five rides and admits he made the wrong choices in the pits as he searched for the right setup.

He added: “I just got confused. After a couple of races if you’re not happy, it’s easy to change bikes and change everything. I probably should have just left it the way it was after the first race.

“I can give you excuses if you want, but the bottom line is I didn’t race well. I also make the choices, I’m the boss and the team do what I tell them to. What I said to do was wrong and I raced badly.”

Round two – of 11 – is in Sweden on May 14.

LESZNO POINTS AND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER ONE ROUND OF 11): 1 Tomasz Gollob 18, 2 Nicki Pedersen 17, 3 Greg Hancock 14, 4 Emil Sayfutdinov 14, 5 Jaroslaw Hampel 12, 6 Freddie Lindgren 11, 7 Kenneth Bjerre 10, 8 Rune Holta 9, 9 Chris Holder 9, 10 Janusz Kolodziej 8, 11 Chris Harris 7, 12 Jason Crump 5, 13 Andreas Jonsson 5, 14 Damian Balinski 4, 15 Antonio Lindback 1, 16 Artem Laguta 0, 17 Patryk Dudek 0, 18 Maciej Janowski 0.

Semi-Final 1: Hampel, Sayfutdinov, Hancock, Holta.

Semi-Final 2: Gollob, Pedersen, Bjerre, Lindgren (f.exc).

Final: Pedersen, Gollob, Sayfutdinov, Hampel.