The talk before the GP series was whether Jason Crump could retain his world championship crown despite his injury, or would we see the old Nicki Pedersen re-emerge back to his dominant self.
Or would the man who made all the headlines in his sensational debut GP season, Emil Sayfutdinov, be able to consistently fight for the top spot.
After Crump stormed to victory in Poland in the opening round of the series, it appeared a repeat of 2009 could be on the cards, but two Poles (and a Dane!) have proved to be this year’s surprise contenders. However, should we be surprised, especially by the power of the Polish riders? Jarek Hampel and Tomasz Gollob are both world class riders. Everyone knows the natural talent of Gollob and how dearly his hardcore fans would love to see him become World Champion. Arguably the best rider over recent years, currently in the GP series, that has yet to take the title. Could 2010 be the year he finally makes it? One win to his name after four rounds of the series, along with two second places, has been a fairly consistent one for the Gorzow rider.
Jarek Hampel, has always looked to be the natural successor to his fellow countryman, but perhaps he can achieve the ultimate goal that Poland has been demanding for many years. Under looked at the start of the season, Hampel finally got his first victory under his belt, along with two finals. A gutsy ride in the Copenhagen final saw him keep the feisty Gollob behind and gave him the lead of the championship. In superb form for his Polish club Leszno, he’s always been lightning away from the gate. This year he has excellent backing from a new sponsor – Exide, who used to sponsor Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock, back in their all conquering era of the 90s.
Hampel and Gollob have two Polish rounds of the GP series ahead of them, where you wouldn’t bet against a strong result for them both. Gollob is almost unbeatable around Bydgoszcz and for that to be the finale of the series, Gollob must be a serious threat come October.
The money would be on the veteran to finally make his dream come true for 2010, but will the pressure be too much for him? All eyes and expectations are on the more experienced Gollob, whilst perhaps Hampel can relax more, knowing he has more years ahead of him, to try and achieve his goal compared to the elder statesmen. The duel was clean and fair in Demark, but will the Vastervik racer be able to watch the young Pole take the glory ahead of him? Or will it turn nasty? A nation’s hopes rest on the two speedway stars and after an emotional year in Poland, will they have something to celebrate in October? We will soon find out…
Article by and courtesy of Leandra Graves.
http://www.worldspeedway.com/artman/publish/article_12758.shtml
Showing posts with label Jarek Hampel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jarek Hampel. Show all posts
Monday, 14 June 2010
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
CRUMP WINS EUROPEAN GP!
Current World Champion, Jason Crump roared to victory in the opening round of the Speedway Grand Prix series in Leszno, Poland. The 34 year old secured 19 points overall to be leading the World Championship for 2010, an ominous sign to his fellow rivals. This was a fantastic performance by Crump considering he had been suffering with injuries sustained in October where he received severe burns and broken bones. Many had doubts whether he would be fit enough to race at the start of this season, including the Aussie himself.
“I didn’t expect to be here today, so it was a bit of a bonus really. At the end of last season, I thought I would be able to start defending the World Championship in about June if I was lucky. So it’s a big bonus to be here at the start of the season and an even bigger bonus to get into the final.”
He beat off fierce competition in the final from Leszno rider, Jarek Hampel, who had top scored through the meeting with 11 points and Russian Emil Sayfutdinov.
Crump explained: “I can run, but I can’t really lift anything heavy with my left arm. So I’m very fortunate and I’m really happy to be here. I’ve always put a little bit of pressure on myself to be the world champion, and I want to try and win again.”
Home town favourite Hampel was pleased with his performance in second place after a two year break from the series.
“That was a good place for the beginning of this season. I wanted to try and win the competition but Jason was very fast from gate one in the final. I tried to close him down, but he was in front of me and I couldn’t go any faster. I like racing in the Grand Prix and I hope I race even better next time.”
Three times World Champion, Nicki Pedersen didn’t set the night on fire with a disappointing night by his standards. He ended up finishing third in the semi-final behind Crump and Sayfutdinov with a tally of nine points.
The wild-card Janus Kolodziej who rides for Leszno, alongside Hampel, was 80/1 before the meeting. He stormed into the final hoping to cause an upset amongst the GP regulars and to the delight of the massive Polish crowd. However, he was adjudged to be at fault with an incident with Sayfutdinov and was excluded in the final, causing a re-run with just three riders.
The next GP is in Gothenburg, Sweden on May 8th.
HEAT SCORES:
Jaroslaw Hampel (3-1-2-2-3) 11
Jason Crump (3-3-3-1-0) 10
Emil Sayfutdinov (3-1-1-3-2) 10
Janusz Kolodziej (1-3-3-2-1) 10
Kenneth Bjerre (1-2-2-2-3) 10
Rune Holta (2-3-1-1-2) 9
Chris Harris (2-3-0-0-3) 8
Nicki Pedersen (3-2-0-0-3) 8
Freddie Lindgren (1-1-3-3-0) 8
Hans Andersen (0-2-2-3-1) 8
Chris Holder (2-2-0-2-2) 8
Tomasz Gollob (2-0-2-1-1) 6
Andreas Jonsson (R-1-1-1-2) 5
Greg Hancock (0-0-3-0-1) 4
Magnus Zetterstrom (1-0-0-3-0) 4
Tai Woffinden (0-0-1-0-0) 1
Semi-Final 1: Hampel, Kolodziej, Holta, Harris.
Semi-Final 2: Crump, Sayfutdinov, Pedersen, Bjerre.
Final: Crump, Hampel, Sayfutdinov, Kolodziej (exc, foul riding).
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Jason Crump (19), 2 Jaroslaw Hampel (18), 3 Emil Sayfutdinov (14), 4 Janusz Kolodziej (12), 5 Rune Holta (10), 6 Kenneth Bjerre (10), 7 Nicki Pedersen (9), 8 Freddie Lindgren (8), 9 Hans Andersen (8), 10 Chris Holder (8), 11 Chris Harris (8), 12 Tomasz Gollob (6), 13 Andreas Jonsson (5), 14 Greg Hancock (4), 15 Magnus Zetterstrom (4), 16 Tai Woffinden (1).
“I didn’t expect to be here today, so it was a bit of a bonus really. At the end of last season, I thought I would be able to start defending the World Championship in about June if I was lucky. So it’s a big bonus to be here at the start of the season and an even bigger bonus to get into the final.”
He beat off fierce competition in the final from Leszno rider, Jarek Hampel, who had top scored through the meeting with 11 points and Russian Emil Sayfutdinov.
Crump explained: “I can run, but I can’t really lift anything heavy with my left arm. So I’m very fortunate and I’m really happy to be here. I’ve always put a little bit of pressure on myself to be the world champion, and I want to try and win again.”
Home town favourite Hampel was pleased with his performance in second place after a two year break from the series.
“That was a good place for the beginning of this season. I wanted to try and win the competition but Jason was very fast from gate one in the final. I tried to close him down, but he was in front of me and I couldn’t go any faster. I like racing in the Grand Prix and I hope I race even better next time.”
Three times World Champion, Nicki Pedersen didn’t set the night on fire with a disappointing night by his standards. He ended up finishing third in the semi-final behind Crump and Sayfutdinov with a tally of nine points.
The wild-card Janus Kolodziej who rides for Leszno, alongside Hampel, was 80/1 before the meeting. He stormed into the final hoping to cause an upset amongst the GP regulars and to the delight of the massive Polish crowd. However, he was adjudged to be at fault with an incident with Sayfutdinov and was excluded in the final, causing a re-run with just three riders.
The next GP is in Gothenburg, Sweden on May 8th.
HEAT SCORES:
Jaroslaw Hampel (3-1-2-2-3) 11
Jason Crump (3-3-3-1-0) 10
Emil Sayfutdinov (3-1-1-3-2) 10
Janusz Kolodziej (1-3-3-2-1) 10
Kenneth Bjerre (1-2-2-2-3) 10
Rune Holta (2-3-1-1-2) 9
Chris Harris (2-3-0-0-3) 8
Nicki Pedersen (3-2-0-0-3) 8
Freddie Lindgren (1-1-3-3-0) 8
Hans Andersen (0-2-2-3-1) 8
Chris Holder (2-2-0-2-2) 8
Tomasz Gollob (2-0-2-1-1) 6
Andreas Jonsson (R-1-1-1-2) 5
Greg Hancock (0-0-3-0-1) 4
Magnus Zetterstrom (1-0-0-3-0) 4
Tai Woffinden (0-0-1-0-0) 1
Semi-Final 1: Hampel, Kolodziej, Holta, Harris.
Semi-Final 2: Crump, Sayfutdinov, Pedersen, Bjerre.
Final: Crump, Hampel, Sayfutdinov, Kolodziej (exc, foul riding).
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Jason Crump (19), 2 Jaroslaw Hampel (18), 3 Emil Sayfutdinov (14), 4 Janusz Kolodziej (12), 5 Rune Holta (10), 6 Kenneth Bjerre (10), 7 Nicki Pedersen (9), 8 Freddie Lindgren (8), 9 Hans Andersen (8), 10 Chris Holder (8), 11 Chris Harris (8), 12 Tomasz Gollob (6), 13 Andreas Jonsson (5), 14 Greg Hancock (4), 15 Magnus Zetterstrom (4), 16 Tai Woffinden (1).
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