Webmaster posted on May 24, 2010 12:41
A difficult night of racing at the third round of the FIM World Speedway Grand Prix Series at Marketa Stadium in Prague has seen defending Champion Jason Crump finish eighth and drop to fourth in the World Championship standings.
The Australian struggled with his bike throughout the first heat and opted to switch to his spare for the next race.
The second heat yielded a third placing but he lost control of the bike in his third heat while sitting second, sliding into the air fence and out of the points.
Ironically, Crump changed to the bike he felt least comfortable on during practice and won his final two heats in emphatic style, leading from start to finish.
The two wins put him through to the semi-final race but he was unable to capitalise and progress to the final.
“I am struggling at the moment,” Crump admitted. “I am not riding great and to be honest I feel I am out of form.
“It was really disappointing tonight, I went from the bike I thought would work best at this track to my favourite engine then to the one I was least comfortable on during practice and everything ran opposite.
“I am just genuinely having a rough run, it happens to everyone at some point and the only way out of it is too keep riding,” Crump continued.
The FIM Czech Republic Speedway Grand Prix was won by Tomasz Gollob ahead of Nicky Pedersen and Jaroslaw Hampel.
Severe flooding throughout Europe saw Crump’s Polish league race scheduled for Sunday postponed. There are three league races scheduled between now and the Danish Grand Prix on Saturday June 5.