Thursday 3rd May 2012, 16:53

Danish international Hans Andersen believes he can reach SGP finals again, but admits he needs more meetings to sharpen him up for the FIM Mitas Czech SGP in Prague on May 12.

The Dane left the FIM Fogo European SGP in Leszno on Saturday with five points – leaving him 12^th in the World Championship with 11 points from two rounds.

Andersen may have returned to the SGP series for 2012 as a late wild card when Darcy Ward turned his invite down, but the Odense-born man knows what it takes to win Grand Prix events.

He has raced in 21 SGP finals, winning four of them and he is determined to push for top spot in Prague’s Marketa Stadium, where he triumphed in 2006.

He said: “I need to go beyond the semis. I need to be in the final to score the points. That’s where they count double. I definitely believe I can be in the final. I’ve shown I’ve got the speed when I get it right.

“I just need to get more races under my belt and I’ll be okay. There is still a long way to go and I’ve got speed. I’ve won in Prague and it’s not a bad place. I’ve got to go there with an open mind.”

The 31-year-old was relieved to kick off his Swedish Elitserien meetings with Indianerna on Tuesday, before racing his maiden Danish league fixture on Wednesday for Fjelsted.

He scored eight for the Indians and 12 for Fjelsted as they lost out away to Nicki Pedersen’s Holsted.

But after Swindon’s clashes with Lakeside tonight and Peterborough on Friday were both postponed due to rain, Andersen has been left twiddling his thumbs again until his Polish First Division club Grudziadz’s trip to Gniezno on Sunday.

He then races at Poole on Monday, Vetlanda on Tuesday, Slangerup on Wednesday and Swindon on Thursday before flying to the Czech capital on Friday for practice.

Andersen is keeping his fingers crossed for some good weather and is keen to keep busy before the Prague showcase.

“I’m riding every day before Prague from Sunday,” he said. “It’ll be good. I look forward to just riding on a regular basis. I’m a racer; I like being on the bike as much as possible. I’m not the sort of bloke who likes sitting at home and doing nothing.”

Andersen finished second in heats five and 20 in Leszno, but a third and two lasts cost him dearly.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “I thought I had plenty of speed in the last two rides. I just changed bikes far too late.

“It’s never easy. I had a duff opening ride – I was up against some tough competitors (Jaroslaw Hampel, Nicki Pedersen and Tomasz Gollob) in that one. I came out and nearly won my second one, so I wasn’t in the position where I wanted to change bikes.

“Leszno hasn’t been my best of places in the past. I felt I had plenty of speed in the last race and it just wasn’t meant to be.

“I’ve got to get the gating gloves back on because I think I left them behind on Saturday.”

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