SWEDISH GRAND PRIX

 

SCOTT BRIDGES (ABERAVON GEMS) put his patchy GP form behind him to win this round and was definitely the big winner of the day as his 17 points moves him to 7th place overall, with a 9 point cushion as he looks to seal automatic qualification for next season's series.  2nd place on the day went to DENIS GOMOZOV (ABERAVON GEMS), to make it a great day for the Welsh side!  The Russian didn't have the best of rounds but a late heat win and then 4 more points in the Semi and Grand Final all but seals a rostrum place, barring a disaster in the final GP round.  The rostrum here was completed by HENRIK HANSEN (TUNSTALL TERRIORS) who nearly doubled his GP total from the previous 6 rounds; it's been a tough debut season for the young Danish rider but he showed he is capable on his day and this will give him great confidence ahead of the GP Challenge to come.  Outgoing World Champion NICK AMBROSE (TWEESIDE TIGERS) was the other finalist, his points total of 13 cementing his place firmly in the top 8 of the overall standings, after he recovered from a poor start to the round with 4 straight wins.
 
LIAM REAY (WORKINGTON LOGHEADS) came into the round 10 points behind the series leader and made a flying start with a hat-trick of heat wins but he faded and missed out on the Grand Final, although has narrowed the gap at the top to 8 points with one round remaining.  Despite Reay's efforts HANS E BERGESTOL (TEESSIDE TRANSPORTERS) still has his destiny in his own hands as we head to Poland for the final round of the season, 11 points for the Norwegian here seeing him pass the 100 point mark overall and know a good display in the next round should see him crowned as the new World Champion.  The other Semi Finalists were CHRIS ADAMS (WOLSTON WARRIORS) and MACIEJ TERCJAK (STOCKPORT SHALEBLASTERS).  Adams picked up 11 points but with a gap of 11 to the top 8 places he looks likely to be heading for the GP Challenge unless he can produce a miracle in the last round.  10 points for Tercjak however keeps him up in 5th place and it's certainly been a fine season for the PL star who will look to push on and challenge for a top 3 spot at the very least next time round.
 
BRAXTON MCCHESNEY (WHITBY VAMPIRES) was left cursing a 3rd race engine failure which meant he just failed to reach the Semi Finals but it was another solid performance and he'll hope to finish the series strongly and give himself a boost ahead of what looks like a GP Challenge spot for the American.  JONUS SANDIN (WANTAGE KINGS) also scored 7 but he now sees Bridges jump ahead of him into the all important top 8 places overall and he will be desperate for a good finish in Poland to battle back into an automatic qualification spot for next season.  MARTIN SHAW (KING'S LYNN LIGHTNING) scored 6 and whilst any chance of a top 3 place overall looks to have gone now he remains in 4th and has consistently proved he is still very much a world class performer.  OLEG YELESNEV (WOLSTON WARRIORS) also scored 6 and although he has had some highlights in the series he's not performed consistently enough to be higher than 11th with one round to go.  Evolution League Wildcard VLADISLAV AKUMBAEV (TILBURY DOCKERS) found the going tough at times but scored 5 points and certainly was not out of his depth today, taking the scalps of 'top 8' riders Shaw and Wood.  RYAN IRWIN (WOLSTON WARRIORS) has had a nightmare series, still behind a wildcards Dvoynev and Juttke overall, and it will be interesting to see how much appetite he has to come back when he rides in the GP Challenge, he managed just 2 points today.  The nightmare performance of the day came from HAYDEN WOOD (LANARKSHIRE LIONS) who scored just 2 points and whilst he hangs on to a top 8 place the gap between him and Sandin is just a single point so he will need a much improved display in Poland.  ERIK DAVIDSSON (ROME RAVENS) started the day hoping for some big points to push for a top 8 spot but ended it nursing a knock to his ankle, with just 2 points on the board and set for the GP Challenge.  The only other rider to take to the track today was reserve MARK BLACK (WORKINGTON LOGHEADS) who took a single replacement ride in heat 19 but looked cold and couldn't score.
 
So now we go to Poland for the big showdown in 3 weeks.  Can Bergestol keep his head, defend his 8 point lead and get over the line to become Norway's first World Champion or will Liam Reay produce the performance of his life to chase him down?  Denis Gomozov looks set to complete what has been a stunning year with a rostrum place but could he produce one last surprise and move up from his current 3rd place position?  Shaw, Tercjak, Ambrose and Bridges will surely do enough to claim a place in next year's series but who will join them from Hayden Wood or Jonus Sandin.  Outside the top 9 it looks too big an ask for anyone to jump into an automatic qualification place but everyone will want a strong finish to lay down a marker ahead of the GP Challenge where only the top 5 riders will be assured of a place back in the GPs.  With rising Polish star Gabrys Irzyk thrown into the mix as a Wildcard pick it promises to be a thrilling climax to another season of world class speedway.
 
  1. Scott Bridges............. 3  3  1  3  1  3  3  17
  2. Denis Gomozov............. 1  2  1  0  3  2  2  11
  3. Henrik Hansen............. 3  1  3  2  3  2  1  15
  4. Nick Ambrose.............. 1  0  3  3  3  3  0  13
  5. Liam Reay................. 3  3  3  2  1  1  -  13
  6. Hans E Bergestol.......... 0  3  2  3  2  1  -  11
  7. Chris Adams............... 0  3  2  3  3  0  -  11
  8. Maciej Tercjak............ 2  2  3  2  1  0  -  10
  9. Braxton McChesney......... 3  1  R  1  2  -  -   7
 10. Jonus Sandin.............. 2  2  0  1  2  -  -   7
 11. Martin Shaw............... 2  0  2  2  0  -  -   6
 12. Oleg Yelesnev............. 2  1  2  1  0  -  -   6
 13. Vladislav Akumbaev........ 0  2  1  0  2  -  -   5
 14. Ryan Irwin................ 0  1  0  1  0  -  -   2
 15. Hayden Wood............... 1  0  0  0  1  -  -   2
 16. Erik Davidsson............ 1  0  1  F  -  -  -   2 (I)
 17. Mark Black................ 0  -  -  -  -  -  -   0
 18. Jesper Risager............ Did not ride
 
 No. Results
  1: Henrik Hansen, Martin Shaw, Denis Gomozov, Hans E Bergestol 
  2: Scott Bridges, Maciej Tercjak, Erik Davidsson, Chris Adams 
  3: Braxton McChesney, Oleg Yelesnev, Hayden Wood, Ryan Irwin 
  4: Liam Reay, Jonus Sandin, Nick Ambrose, Vladislav Akumbaev 
  5: Scott Bridges, Vladislav Akumbaev, Oleg Yelesnev, Martin Shaw 
  6: Hans E Bergestol, Jonus Sandin, Braxton McChesney, Erik Davidsson 
  7: Chris Adams, Denis Gomozov, Ryan Irwin, Nick Ambrose 
  8: Liam Reay, Maciej Tercjak, Henrik Hansen, Hayden Wood 
  9: Liam Reay, Martin Shaw, Erik Davidsson, Ryan Irwin 
 10: Nick Ambrose, Hans E Bergestol, Scott Bridges, Hayden Wood 
 11: Maciej Tercjak, Oleg Yelesnev, Denis Gomozov, Jonus Sandin 
 12: Henrik Hansen, Chris Adams, Vladislav Akumbaev, Braxton McChesney (R) 
 13: Chris Adams, Martin Shaw, Jonus Sandin, Hayden Wood 
 14: Hans E Bergestol, Maciej Tercjak, Ryan Irwin, Vladislav Akumbaev 
 15: Scott Bridges, Liam Reay, Braxton McChesney, Denis Gomozov 
 16: Nick Ambrose, Henrik Hansen, Oleg Yelesnev, Erik Davidsson (F) 
 17: Nick Ambrose, Braxton McChesney, Maciej Tercjak, Martin Shaw 
 18: Chris Adams, Hans E Bergestol, Liam Reay, Oleg Yelesnev 
 19: Denis Gomozov, Vladislav Akumbaev, Hayden Wood, Mark Black 
 20: Henrik Hansen, Jonus Sandin, Scott Bridges, Ryan Irwin 
 
 SEMI FINAL 1: Scott Bridges, Henrik Hansen, Hans E Bergestol, Maciej Tercjak 
 SEMI FINAL 2: Nick Ambrose, Denis Gomozov, Liam Reay, Chris Adams 
 
 GRAND FINAL: Scott Bridges, Denis Gomozov, Henrik Hansen, Nick Ambrose 
 
Injury News - Erik Davidsson withdrew with an ankle injury but will be fit for his next meeting.