Crump One Win Away From Title

Jason Crump stands on the verge of securing his second World Speedway Championship in Prague this weekend. Victory for the Northampton based Australian will mean he will have wrapped up the title with two meetings to spare. Crump who has already finished on the podium in every one of the seasons seven Grand Prix’s will be in confident mood having won in Prague on two of his previous three visits. He currently has a 61 point advantage over Greg Hancock with Nicki Pederson the 2003 Champion a further 10 points adrift in third place.

Britains Scott Nicholls won’t be in the 16 man field having withdrawn before Friday’s practice session due to a broken collarbone. The Great Britain captain fell heavily during Monday’s Elite League clash between Coventry and Peterborough. That will leave Swindon’s Lee Richardson as the only British representative. After a poor season he will be hoping to pick up enough points in the final three meetings to ensure an automatic Grand prix spot for next season. Nicholl’s absence gives a chance for Australia’s Ryan Sullivan to force his way back into the reckoning while Adrian Rymel replaces Bo Brhel as the wild card.

With Crump’s dominance of the Marketa Stadium’s track its hard to back against him securing the points he needs. Both Hancock and Pederson have proved inconsistent at best so far, but cannot be ruled out. Other threats could come in the shape of the talented Pole Jaroslaw Hampel who has finished in the top three in the last two years, and the resurgent Andreas Jonsson winner last time out in Malilla.

Field in draw order: 1. Antonio Lindback 2. Nicki Pederson 3. Leigh Adams 4. Tomasz Gollob 5. Matej Zagar 6. Adrian Rymel 7. Hans Anderson 8. Bjarne Pederson 9. Piotr Protasiewicz 10. Niels Kristian Iverson 11. Jaroslaw Hampel 12. Ryan Sullivan 13. Andreas Jonsson 14. Jason Crump 15. Lee Richardson 16. Greg Hancock