In-form Dane Nicki Pedersen is only one win away from equaling the all-time record of four world speedway grand prix victories in a row after another sublime exhibition in Poland on May 12.
The 30-year-old cut a swathe at the Olympic Stadium in Wroclaw, sweeping to victory in four of his five preliminary heats before outclassing his rivals in the semi-final and final.
In the evening's finale, Pedersen defeated countryman Hans Andersen - the third Danish quinella since 1995 - with Great Britain's fast-emerging Chris Harris and Australia's reigning world champion Jason Crump third and fourth respectively.
"I am very happy with the shape I am in, I feel very motivated and my engines are working so well. But there is still a long, long way to go," said Pedersen.
If Pedersen's irresistible form continues into the next round, he will equal Tony Rickardsson's record four-race winning streak from 2005.
Pedersen's 2007 world title dossier now stands at a phenomenal 13 wins from 14 races, with Slovenian Matej Zagar his only conqueror.
Crump's 46th appearance in a world speedway final came after a solid, if unspectacular, run through the preliminaries on the track he calls home in the Polish speedway league.
Crump, who recently set a new track record at Wroclaw, scored 11pts after a win and four seconds, and was then runner-up in the opening semi-final behind Pedersen, and in front of Bjarne Pedersen and Zagar.
But it was then another disappointing fourth in the final - a repeat of the opening round in Italy on April 28.
"I am totally focused on the job at hand, but I haven't been able to convert and get the results I desire," said Crump. I will be re-evaluating the strategy and taking a different approach because I don't like losing.
"Don't write me off just yet, because there are nine more GPs to go. Pedersen is on fire right now and kicking butt, but it won't change my determination one bit."
Meanwhile, despite not making it to the final in Wroclaw, American Greg Hancock was the second leading points scorer behind Nicki Pedersen.
Hancock, the 1997 world champion, sizzled with 14pts in the heats, but was then eliminated in the second semi-final after trailing home in third behind Andersen and the fast-finishing Harris. Australian Leigh Adams was fourth in that race.
Just as Hancock was 'rewarded' for his stellar form, despite missing the final, Andersen wasn't able to rocket through the field after only hitting peak form in his last two races.
That's a function of the new points scoring classification in 2007, which sees riders awarded 3-2-1-0 from their semi-finals, and then 6-4-2-0 in the Final. Those points are then added to the riders' totals from their five qualifying rides, replacing the old - and less equitable -- 25-20-18-16 points system for the final.
Andersen cobbled together 6pts in his heats, and only continued racing courtesy of a countback. His tally then morphed into 13pts after his win in the semi-final and second place in the final. In contrast, the same operation in 2006 would have seen him depart Poland with 20 world championship points.
Adams, competing in his 84th GP, reached the semi-finals for the second successive round despite crashing heavily in heat 15. Until that point, the nine-time Australian champion was in ominous form, and was looking to finish the heats on the tail of Nicki Pedersen and Hancock.
Understandably, the rigors of the evening eventually caught up with the plucky 36-year-old Aussie, but he still remains in the world championship hunt in equal fourth (22pts) after two of 11 rounds.
Nicki Pedersen already holds a comfortable lead on 47pts, ahead of Hancock (34pts) and Crump (25pts).
Meanwhile, none of the five-strong Polish posse rose to the occasion in round two, with veteran Tomasz Gollob only managing a paltry 3pts. Gollob won the first-ever world title GP at the Olympic Stadium in 1995.
At least Gollob fared better than former under 21 world champion Andreas Jonsson, who was carted to hospital with suspected fractures after tangling with Nicki Pedersen in the re-started heat 15 - minus Adams after his crash brought out the initial red flag.
Round three of the Speedway World Championship will be held in Eskilstuna, Sweden on May 26, where Crump and Hancock went one-two in 2006.
This year's world title will culminate in Germany on October 13, where the winner will walk away with $100,000 to commemorate the 100th GP since 1995.
Main Photo by: Mike Patrick
EUROPEAN GP RESULTS
1 Nicki Pedersen, Denmark - 23pts (1st in final)
2 Greg Hancock, America - 15
3 Chris Harris, Great Britain - 15 (3rd in final)
4 Jason Crump, Australia - 13 (4th in final)
5 Hans Andersen, Denmark - 13 (2nd in final)
6 Leigh Adams, Australia - 10
7 Bjarne Pedersen, Denmark - 8
8 Matej Zagar, Slovenia - 7
9 Jaroslaw Hampel, Poland - 6
10 Scott Nicholls, Great Britain - 6
2007 WORLD SPEEDWAY STANDINGS (after round two of 11):
1 Nicki Pedersen - 47pts
2 Hancock -34
3 Crump - 25
4= Adams - 22
4= Andersen - 22
4= Harris - 22
7 Wieslaw Jagus, Poland - 20
8 Tomasz Gollob, Poland - 18
9 Hampel - 14
10 Bjarne Pedersen - 13
