Crump struggles with injury in Italy
World Championship leader Jason Crump, still not fully recovered from major surgery and skin grafts less than two weeks ago, bravely struggled in Italy to add four points to his tally.
Crump managed only two laps in the Friday practice before retiring still in pain and without full strength in his left arm and knowing the task ahead of him would be difficult.
The meeting was won by Poland’s Tomasz Gollob who is now just 17 points behind Crump and odds on favorite for the final round at his home track in Bydgoszcz in three weeks time where he has won eight of the 13 Grands Prix held there.
So it is all down to the final round to determine the 2009 World Champion with three riders who can take the title; Crump, Gollob and Sayfutdinov, but Crump will not be giving up his lead easily.
“The doctors cleared me to ride but the pain was so intense and the lack of strength made it almost impossible.” said Crump. “But those four points could end up being the difference at the end. I just hope that a little luck falls my way and riders like Hancock, Pedersen, Andersen and co have outstanding performances in Bydgoszcz which will make my job a bit easier.”
“I will be receiving daily treatment at the hospital in Northampton and working out in the gym each day so I hope that I am fully fit in time. I am so close but yet so far away and winning a third World Championship is my ultimate goal right now.”
The final round (Rd 11) of the 2009 Speedway Grand Prix World Championship takes place at Bydgoszcz in Poland on Saturday 17 October.
FIM Italian SGP scores:
Tomasz Gollob (Poland) 23, Hans Andersen (Denmark) 18, Nicki Pedersen (Denmark) 12, Grzegorz Walasek (Poland) 13, Andreas Jonsson (Sweden) 12, Emil Sayfutdinov (Russia) 11, Chris Harris (Great Britain) 11, Rune Holta (Poland) 8, Greg Hancock (USA) 7, Scott Nicholls (Great Britain) 6, Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden) 6, Kenneth Bjerre (Denmark) 5, Jason Crump (Australia) 4, Leigh Adams (Australia) 3, Sebastian Ulamek (Poland) 3, Guglielmo Franchetti (Italy) 2.
World Championship standings:
Crump 150, Gollob 133, Sayfutdinov 131, Hancock 113, Jonsson 104, Pedersen 92, Bjerre 90, Andersen 88, Lindgren 88, Holta 85, Adams 66, Walasek 63, Harris 59, Ulamek 59, Nicholls 41, *Antonio Lindback (Sweden) 27, *Niels-Kristian Iversen (Denmark) 20, *Jarek Hampel (Poland) 9, *Matej Zagar (Slovenia) 7, Grigory Laguta (Russia) 6, *Edward Kennett (Great Britain) 4, *Guglielmo Franchetti (Italy) 2, *Matej Kus (Czech Republic) 1