Danish starlet Michael Jepsen Jensen says he is ready for the FIM Speedway Grand Prix big time after a sensational victory in the FIM Dansk Metal Nordic SGP at Vojens on Saturday.
The meeting wild card learned his trade at the legendary Vojens Speedway Center. So it was fitting that he passed Denmarks triple world champion Nicki Pedersen to win the last SGP round to be staged at the spiritual home of Danish speedway.
It wasnt all bad news for Pedersen, though. He moved on to 143 points and is just two behind World Championship leader Chris Holder, who exited in the semi-final on 11 points and now has 145, going into the season-closing FIM Torun SGP of Poland on October 6. Current world title holder Greg Hancock is third on 135 after tallying nine on the night.
But the night belonged to Jepsen Jensen, who will never forget winning his first Grand Prix at the track where it all started for him.
The down-to-earth youngster was mobbed by the friends, family and fans who have followed his entire career at Vojens, and he knows it would take something special to top his victory there.
He said: I think this was the biggest meeting I could win. Only the final round of the GPs to become world champion could be bigger.
Vojens was the track I started at on 500cc. When they started up the league team here, the first rider they called was me. That was before I even started on a 500cc. I suppose this was the biggest thing I could do. Im 20 years old and it was my first GP at VojensI won it.
MJJ has had a magical season. He helped his country lift the FIM Monster Energy Speedway World Cup at Malilla in July and currently leads the FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship.
He has also played a pivotal role in taking Gorzow into the Polish Ekstraliga play-off final and Dackarna into the Swedish Elitserien semis.
The Peterborough and Grindsted rider, who made his SGP debut at the FIM Dansk Metal Danish SGP in Copenhagen on June 9, admits he was unsure he was ready to go full-time in the World Championship prior to his trip to PARKEN stadium.
Jepsen Jensen rides in the GP Challenge at Croatian track Gorican next Saturday, where the top three riders qualify for the 2013 SGP series. And the 20-year-old is determined to cap a stunning summer by earning his spot in the big time.
He said: Before PARKEN, I wasnt 100 percent sure I wanted to do the GPs. But after the summer and the World Cup, I feel that I am ready for it now. Ive got some awesome mechanics doing a perfect job. Ive got good people behind me. Now I just need the sponsors to help me out and then I can be ready for next year.
As pleased as Jepsen Jensen was, he admits his Vojens victory was still sinking in after starting his night with two third places and only scraping into the semi-finals on countback with seven points.
He said: I felt so bad from the beginning and I dont really get it. I understand that I won it, but I feel a little bit flat. It did happen, but I dont feel like it happened because I had my best meeting ever.
I missed the gates completely, but I made some good moves. I think when I turn around I will be happy. Ill watch it back tomorrow, see my mistakes and see if this result just came from above or it was me doing a good job.
Jepsen Jensen crowned a night to remember by overhauling Pedersen in an epic final duel. The World Championship-chasing star made a stellar start, but MJJ worked the track with skill well beyond his years. He then scorched under Pedersen on lap four, bend two to deny his compatriot his first ever victory on Danish shale.
Reflecting on a race hell never forget, MJJ said: I felt really fast. I felt I was too fast on the first lap and I couldnt really pass him because he was out in the dirt and then he went in.
On the middle of the straight I came up his backside. I had to come off the throttle if I wanted to go around him, but then I would have lost the speed and I wouldnt have passed him.
I needed to go backwards to get the speed to pass him on the outside, but when I felt I could do that, Nicki went wider off the corner. I just had to turn the bike and go up the inside. I passed him and its unbelievable, but it has happened.
Pedersen may still be waiting for SGP gold in Denmark, but he was delighted to move nine points closer to Holder going into the Torun decider.
He said: I obviously enjoyed myself tonight. I felt positive even before the meeting. I felt up for it and wanted to close the gap on Chris.
I knew I had to do extremely well to come up and get close to Chris. He needed to slip up in the semi and I needed to make the final.
Things like that fell into place today, but I was also very focused on my own starts and my own equipment. We got it spot on. Weve been testing a bit over the last week and I definitely brought my gating gloves.
Russian racer Emil Sayfutdinov earned third place and the 22-year-old admitted a few pearls of wisdom from his hero, six-time world champion Tony Rickardsson, earlier this month made all the difference.
He said: It was very good. Im happy with my second final this year. I want to say a big thanks to Tony Rickardsson. He really helped me with starts, finding setups and my mind. Im getting more experience and it will be better and better.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Chris Holder 145, 2 Nicki Pedersen 143, 3 Greg Hancock 135, 4 Emil Sayfutdinov 122, 5 Jason Crump 121, 6 Tomasz Gollob 121, 7 Fredrik Lindgren 111, 8 Antonio Lindback 103, 9 Andreas Jonsson 84, 10 Hans Andersen 64, 11 Chris Harris 59, 12 Bjarne Pedersen 56, 13 Jaroslaw Hampel 55, 14 Peter Ljung 55, 15 Martin Vaculik 55, 16 Kenneth Bjerre 41, 17 Michael Jepsen Jensen 22, 18 Krzysztof Kasprzak 17, 19 Tomas H Jonasson 16, 20 Bartosz Zmarzlik 13, 21 Jurica Pavlic 12, 22 Josef Franc 9, 23 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 7, 24 Scott Nicholls 7, 25 Mikkel B Jensen 4, 26 Nicolas Covatti 3, 27 Peter Kildemand 2, 28 Jason Bunyan 1.
FIM DANSK METAL NORDIC SGP SCORES: 1 Michael Jepsen Jensen 15, 2 Nicki Pedersen 20, 3 Emil Sayfutdinov 15, 4 Jason Crump 10, 5 Antonio Lindback 11, 6 Chris Holder 11, 7 Fredrik Lindgren 11, 8 Greg Hancock 9, 9 Tomasz Gollob 7, 10 Andreas Jonsson 7, 11 Bjarne Pedersen 7, 12 Peter Ljung 6, 13 Hans Andersen 6, 14 Krzysztof Kasprzak 4, 15 Jaroslaw Hampel 3, 16 Chris Harris 2, 17 Mikkel B Jensen DNR, 18 Nicklas Porsing DNR.
