After one of the most amazing finishes in FIM Speedway World Cup (SWC) history, Australia has finished a gallant second
in the second qualifying meeting at Eskilstuna (Sweden) on August 2, and will now have to compete in a Race-off to make
this Friday's final.
Australia ‰ÛÒ Jason Crump, Leigh Adams, Ryan Sullivan, Adam Shields and debutante Davey Watt ‰ÛÒ finished on 50pts after
the 25 heats, just one behind defending SWC champion Sweden, which enjoyed a few nervous moments en route to victory ‰ÛÒ
especially at the death knell. Poland was third on 49pts, ahead of speedway minnow, Germany (five).
In an event with a number of twists, the final result hinged on the last heat, which saw Adams face-off against
Tomasz Gollob (Poland), Martin Smolinski (Germany) and Sweden's Peter Karlsson.
At that juncture, Poland, which had led for most of the evening, now found itself in third position, 6pts behind Sweden
and two in arrears of Australia. SWC rules allow a team that is six or more points in arrears to substitute a rider with
a "tactical joker" who will then be awarded double points for any top three finish.
Understandably, Poland played its joker, with a best-case scenario that a victory for the veteran Gollob (6pts) and a fourth
place for Karlsson (0), would see the two teams tied on points ‰ÛÒ and a sudden-death play-off.
However, Adams, a veteran of many SWC campaigns, did not see it all Poland's way, and proceeded to score a sensational
half-a-wheel win over Gollob ‰ÛÒ his fourth win in a superb performance by the wily 34-year-old. Meanwhile, Karlsson trailed
behind Smolinski in fourth position ‰ÛÒ Sweden's only scoreless heat of the event.
Despite the poor finish by Karlsson, it was still enough for Sweden to hold on by the barest of margins, and an assured spot
in the August 5 final alongside a courageous Great Britain, which defeated Denmark by 5pts in last Sunday's opening qualifier.
"I told PK (Peter Karlsson) to go out and enjoy himself in the final race, and perhaps that was a mistake," Swedish captain
Rickardsson was quoted as saying on www.speedwaywayworld.tv. "It was great advert for speedway and we are so happy to go
straight through to the final. We all owe Leigh Adams a beer - he is going to have a good night!"
Meanwhile, for the second year running, Australia will now enter Race-off territory against Denmark, the Czech Republic and
Poland, with the top two to advance to the final.
As expected, Adams (13pts) and Crump (14) put together the bulk of the Australian scoring at Eskilstuna, although the latter's
final tally was ‰Û÷inflated' after he scored a win as a "joker" in heat 11. The reigning world champion's victory saw Australia
move to within 3pts of the lead, which was reduced to one after Shields, in just his second SWC appearance, prevailed in the
next heat.
That was as close as Australia then got to the lead before Adams' nerveless performance in the final hitout.
Shields finished with a solid 9pts, ahead of Sullivan (eight) and Watt (six), who became the ninth Aussie to gain a SWC
start since 2001.
For Sweden, the remarkable Tony Rickardsson (13pts) led the way from Andreas Jonsson (12), while Gollob (14) and
Jaroslaw Hampel (12) held together the Polish cause.
RESULTS
1 Sweden 51pts
(Antonio Lindback 9,
Andrea Jonsson 12,
Tony Rickardsson 13,
Peter Karlsson 8,
Fredrik Lindgren 9)
2 Australia 50
(Leigh Adams 13,
Ryan Sullivan 8,
Jason Crump 14,
Adam Shields 9,
Davey Watt 6)
3 Poland 49
(Krzysztof Kasprzak 7,
Piotr Protasiewicz 8,
Rune Holta 8,
Jaroslaw Hampel 12,
Tomasz Gollob 14)
4 Germany 5
(Christian Hefenbrock 0,
Rene Schaefer 0,
Martin Smolinski 2,
Thomas Stange 1,
Mathias Schultz 2)
