Pintsized Danish star Kenneth Bjerre took a giant step towards establishing himself as a World Championship heavyweight after winning the FIM Dig Deep Streetwear Swedish SGP in Gothenburg on Saturday.
The Esbjerg-born racer picked up his first ever SGP victory after fending off a ferocious assault from Polish legend Tomasz Gollob in the final.
Bjerre drifted wide as he went into the second lap and his chance of winning the gold looked to be gone when Gollob surged up the inside.
But the ice-cool Dane showed superb composure to rocket back around the outside and seal the biggest victory of his career ahead of Gollob, home hero Andreas Jonsson and American racer Greg Hancock.
The 25-year-old leads the World Championship standings with 30 points and is four clear of reigning world No.1 Jason Crump. Now Bjerre is determined to turn his Swedish SGP success into a sustained challenge for the title.
He said: “Last year I said if I made it to the final, I would have been happy, but I’ve come on since then.
“This year my ambition is to be world champion. That’s why I’m racing. At the minute I can’t really believe it. But I’m here where I want to be.
“I’m top of the standings, but it doesn’t mean much if I don’t finish there when the season is over. That’s the important thing and there is still a long way to go.”
Bjerre admits he would have been furious with himself had wily veteran Gollob made his move in the final stick.
He said: “I could hear somebody was there, and I just didn’t know what line to race. I was racing a bit too wide through the first and second bends and then I nearly had to ride at the fence to take it back. I worked hard after that and then I pulled away.
“When he passed me, I was thinking it’s my own fault if I lose it now. I went too wide, but I believed I could do it and that’s why I’m here.”
Constant drizzle throughout much of the afternoon and the first half of the meeting meant fast gating was vital.
Bjerre was one of the most consistent performers in his heats with 11 points – second only to Hancock, who bagged 12.
The Dane added: “It’s so important in speedway to make good starts. I missed one start in my first one. But after that, I felt I was making some good ones.”
The Ullevi Stadium crowd were given plenty of reason to cheer by Swedish racers Jonsson and Magnus Zetterstrom.
Jonsson scraped into the semis with eight points, but held his nerve to finish second behind Bjerre and clinch a final spot ahead of Chris Holder and Nicki Pedersen.
Zetterstrom produced one of the performances of his career to bag eight points from his five races. But he was unable to achieve his final dream, after being pipped by Gollob and Hancock in his semi.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (after two rounds): 1 Kenneth Bjerre 30, 2 Jason Crump 26, 3 Jaroslaw Hampel 24, 4 Tomasz Gollob 22, 5 Emil Sayfutdinov 22, 6 Chris Holder 19, 7 Greg Hancock 18, 8 Andreas Jonsson 17, 9 Nicki Pedersen 17, 10 Rune Holta 16, 11 Hans Andersen 15, 12 Chris Harris 14, 13 Magnus Zetterstrom 13, 14 Freddie Lindgren 12, 15 Janusz Kolodziej 12, 16 Antonio Lindback 6, 17 Tai Woffinden 5.
INDIVIDUAL HEAT SCORES:Greg Hancock (3-1-2-3-3) 12Kenneth Bjerre (1-3-3-2-2) 11Chris Holder (3-2-1-2-2) 10Tomasz Gollob (1-2-3-1-2) 9Andreas Jonsson (3-0-0-3-2) 8Magnus Zetterstrom (2-3-3-0-0) 8Emil Sayfutdinov (0-3-2-0-3) 8Nicki Pedersen (0-2-3-2-1) 8Hans Andersen (3-1-0-3-X) 7Jason Crump (1-0-0-3-3) 7Rune Holta (2-3-0-1-0) 6Antonio Lindback (1-1-1-0-3) 6Jaroslaw Hampel (0-2-2-2-0) 6Chris Harris (2-R-2-1-1) 6Freddie Lindgren (2-0-1-0-1) 4Tai Woffinden (0-1-1-1-1) 4Simon Gustafsson (-) 0Dennis Andersson (-) 0
Semi-Final 1: Gollob, Hancock, Zetterstrom, Sayfutdinov.Semi-Final 2: Bjerre, Jonsson, Holder, Pedersen.Final: Bjerre, Gollob, Jonsson, Hancock.
