Greg Hancock wins in Vojens to close on FIM World Championship No.2‏

FULL GAS TO THE FINISH

American star Greg Hancock laid one hand on the World Championship trophy in Vojens on Saturday night, and pledged to continue putting his rivals to the sword.The Californian won the FIM Dansk Metal Nordic Speedway Grand Prix to move on to 139 points and extend his advantage at the top of the standings to a mammoth 31.If he leaves the FIM Nice Croatian SGP in Gorican with a lead of 25 or more, he will lift the World Championship trophy for the second time at the final round in Gorzow on October 8.Hancock produced some astonishing speed out of the first corners and quickly left runner-up Jason Crump for dead in the final. Swedish star Fredrik Lindgren won a superb scrap with Australian champion Chris Holder for third place.But the night belonged to the SGP series' eldest statesman. The 41-year-old celebrated one of the most vital victories of his career on the circuit where he was first crowned world champion in 1997.And even though second-placed Hampel has a mountain to climb on 108 points, Hancock refuses to let up as he gets nearer and nearer to ending his 14-year search for a second crown.He said: "Of course it's close, but there are still two big rounds left to go. I want to win it convincingly and I'm not here to drop points. I'm here to take points."It's a good thing that I've got those points, but I'm keeping the same focus. I'm not thinking about what's going on behind me; I'm just thinking about chasing the world title. You've got to score points to win it, so I'm going to keep scoring points."If Hancock can seal top spot in Croatia, it would save him having to fend off Hampel in the hostile atmosphere of Gorzow, where Herbie is far from Mr Popular as he rides for the club's deadliest rivals Zielona Gora.But the Swedish-based racer is ready to fight for as long as it takes. He said: "It doesn't matter for me. I want to win the World Championship, so when it comes, it comes."Of course I would love to go to Gorican and win that round as well. I'm not getting greedy, but I really love my speedway and I love what's going on. My bikes are running fantastically. I feel good too."Hancock produced one of the moves of the night in heat 15, when he bulldozed Crump aside on turn four.The ruthless attack underlined the desire which has burned inside the Piraterna man this year. But the Cradley Heath legend was quick to thank the Aussie for letting him make the move safely.He said: "I tried to make the best of the situation. I saw an open door and I had to go for it. I had the speed. Jason is a great racer and I knew that he would run me hard, but there is a big level of trust we have between each other. I'm grateful to race against him."The World Championship leader embraced his pit crew on the fourth turn as he took his victory lap and it's clear there is a tremendous buzz within Team Hancock."It's unbelievable," Herbie admitted. "People don't understand how hard these guys work."Obviously I work hard too, but these guys work way more hours than I do, trying to make sure that everything is 100 percent. They're the ones responsible for keeping me on track. I've still got to go out and do the job, but it takes a team to make it work."I'm stoked right now and I thank my mechanics so much and my sponsors as well."WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER NINE ROUNDS): 1 Greg Hancock 139, 2 Jaroslaw Hampel 108, 3 Andreas Jonsson 100, 4 Jason Crump 96, 5 Tomasz Gollob 93, 6 Chris Holder 88, 7 Emil Sayfutdinov 88, 8 Kenneth Bjerre 85, 9 Nicki Pedersen 75, 10 Fredrik Lindgren 73, 11 Antonio Lindback 66, 12 Chris Harris 48, 13 Rune Holta 44, 14 Janusz Kolodziej 41, 15 Artem Laguta 21, 16 Magnus Zetterstrom 19, 17 Thomas H Jonasson 17, 18 Darcy Ward 15, 19 Matej Zagar 9, 20 Scott Nicholls 5, 21 Damian Balinski 4, 22 Matej Kus 3, 23 Bjarne Pedersen 3, 24 Mikkel B Jensen 2, 25 Tai Woffinden 2, 26 Simon Gustafsson 1.NORDIC SGP SCORES: 1 Greg Hancock 22, 2 Jason Crump 17, 3 Freddie Lindgren 13, 4 Chris Holder 11, 5 Kenneth Bjerre 13, 6 Nicki Pedersen 10, 7 Emil Sayfutdinov 9, 8 Artem Laguta 9, 9 Jaroslaw Hampel 8, 10 Andreas Jonsson 8, 11 Antonio Lindback 6, 12 Chris Harris 5, 13 Tomasz Gollob 5, 14 Bjarne Pedersen 3, 15 Rune Holta 3, 16 Janusz Kolodziej 2, 17 Michael Jepsen Jensen DNR, 18 Mikkel Michelsen DNR.


Related Motorsport Articles

84,520 articles