Wednesday 30th May 2012, 12:17

Grand Prix star Bjarne Pedersen confirmed he will race for Vargarna for the rest of the season, but admits he could “never fill Lee Richardson’s shoes.”

The Danish international has been signed by the Wolves to take over the spot tragically vacated by the Brit, who lost his life in a crash at Wroclaw on May 13.

Pedersen had to sit out Vargarna’s 58-31 drubbing at Piraterna last night as he had already agreed to race for Prague in the Czech league, where he bagged 15 paid 16 from six races.

But the Ryde-born man says he will be in the Wolves pack for the remainder of 2012, after initially opting to sit out the Elitserien this term.

Pedersen is keen to help SGP rival Nicki Pedersen lead Vargarna up the standings, but he wishes his deal had come about under better circumstances.

He said: “I’m in the team every week now. I’m pleased to be back in Sweden. Of course it was very sad to replace Lee, but that’s how it is. You’ll never fill Lee Richardson’s shoes – no rider could. I just hope I can help the club make 2012 a good year.”

Pedersen bagged just four points in the FIM Swedish SGP in Gothenburg on Saturday, falling some way short of the semi-finals.

The Birmingham man has struggled for form so far this term, but he is determined to remain upbeat.

He said: “As I said last week, when you don’t take a lot of confidence from the league meetings into the Grand Prix, you know it’s going to be hard. I think I need to look at the positives. I made some good starts out there and I felt confident on the bike.

“We just need to build from the bottom now. I’ve got a smile on my face and that’s most important.

“It’s important to start building some confidence in the league meetings. I’ve got quite a busy schedule for the next two weeks and that’s what I want. We still have some engines we need to test out. I feel some of the bad things have turned around and I am looking forward.”

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