Canny Crump claims victory

Crump: Claimed victory

Also see

• LIVE Speedway only on Sky Sports
• Bet on 2008 Speedway season
• Check out the 2008 GP calendar
• British Speedway standings

Australian Jason Crump rode a fantastic final race to claim victory in the Latvian GP on Saturday evening.

But he had to see off the challenge of World Champ Nicki Pedersen and top riders Tomasz Gollob and Greg Hancock to claim the spoils.

Pedersen and Gollob, riding from Gates 1 and 2 respectively, battled to get in-front on the first bend.

But canny Crump, who had started in Gate 4, made a superb move up the inside to take the lead and then never looked back, winning easily.

Pedersen was pushed hard by Gollob but held off the Pole to claim second, with American Hancock back in fourth.

Second victory

It was Crump's second GP win this season - and his 18th in total - after his victory in the British GP in June.

He scored 19 points to enable him to claw a point back on Pedersen at the top of the series standings with three races to go.

Crump is now on 118 points - 16 points behind Pedersen's 134 - while Hancock's haul of 13 points means he now has 102 back in third.

Gollob scored a handy 16 points to take him up to fourth in the standings with 98 points, leapfrogging Hans Andersen in fifth.

British riders

British rider Chris 'Bomber' Harris claimed a fantastic final heat victory to get into the semis.

He then came third in his semi behind Gollob and Hancock to finish with a respectable nine points from the evening.

The other British competitor - Scott Nicholls - also won a heat and was seemingly heading for the semis with five points after his first two rides.

But he did not earn any points from his next two heats and then could only manage a second place in his last race to mean he just missed out.

Nicholls is now in tenth in the overall standings with 52 points, with Harris in 12th with 49 points as the pair chase a top eight finish to gain automatic inclusion in next year's series.