Latvia Speedway GP

Last updated : 25 August 2007 By Covsupport/SB
Tonight in Latvia the latest round of the 2007 speedway GP series took place with series leader Nicki Pedersen looking to extend his advantage.

On a track that was at times very dusty and slick there soon became 2 distinct racing lines, the slick inside and the grip right next to the fence for the riders to attack.

Coventry pair Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris had indifferent nights with Scott scoring 11 points including 2 wins from his 5 qualifying rides.
Bomber on the other hand had scored 4 points from his first 3 rides and led his 4th until Dane Hans Andersen crashed leaving the referee no option but to stop the race.
Whilst Andersen was excluded the usual speedway hoodoo hit Bomber, for in the restart he was 3rd and last, and in chasing hard to pass into 2nd place his footrest caught the air fence resulting in Bomber being parted from his machine. With the kill switch cutting the engine there was no way that he could finish the race and the 0 points scored effectively finished his evening.
However Bomber won his 5th and final ride ahead of none other than Nicki Pedersen and in doing so scored 7 points, keeping up his record of hitting at least 5 points per GP.

So Scott 2was safely into the semi's and in his he was off the Blue helmet gate 2.
A great start saw Scott pull out some distance ahead of 3rd placed Pole Jagus but as the pressure intensified from Jagus Scott's racing lines started to vary as he tried to cut off the attack.
This resulted in an amazingly close finish on the line between both Nicolls and Jagus, with Scott finishing ahead by about half a wheel.

So into the final and Scott was up against previous GP winner Leigh Adams, GP leader Nicki Pedersen and Pole Tomasz Gollob, with Scott electing to take gate 3 in the white helmet.
Scott's start wasn't the best and he came out of the first corner in last place, and try as hard as he did he couldn't find a way past Gollob to take 3rd.

The final was won again by Leigh Adams with Nicki Pedersen 2nd, this result cutting Pedersen's lead down by 3 points to 21 with 3 GP's remaining.

Scott's nights score of 13 points moved him into the top 8, which would guarantee a GP berth for 2008.

The current standings are:

1. Nicki Pedersen 145 points
2. Leigh Adams 124 points
3. Hans Andersen 92 points
4. Jason Crump 89 points
5. Greg Hancock 81 points
6. Chris Harris 74 points
7. Tomasz Gollob 70 points
8. Scott Nicholls 63 points