Saturday 23rd June 2012, 13:00

Russian racer Emil Sayfutdinov hopes he can overcome his run of semi-final strife and reach the FIM Gorzow SGP of Poland final tonight.

The 22-year-old has reached four out of this season’s five Grand Prix semis, but failed to convert any of them into a place in the medal race.

He was excluded from the FIM Dansk Metal Danish SGP semis last time out when he fell under pressure from Bjarne Pedersen – a decision the Salavat-born man felt aggrieved with.

Sayfutdinov is still seventh in the World Championship on 48 points. But he hopes to be able to capitalise on his consistency in the heat races and reach his first final of 2012 at the Edward Jancarz Stadium this evening.

He said: “I want to get some good points and I want my scores to go up and up. In a Grand Prix, you need to get to the final.

“I haven’t had the luck this year and I’ve always had problems in the semis. This is a worry. I need more points and I need to get to the final. You have a lot more points on offer and your score can go up big time if you win.

“I don’t think Copenhagen was too bad – I just didn’t have the luck in the semi-final. The exclusion was a shame. But I think this will be a good Grand Prix and hopefully I won’t have bad luck again.

“We’re finding good setups and we have good bikes and good engines. We’ll see what happens. Maybe it will be better this time.”

Sayfutdinov admits keeping on top of his setup will be vital as the track changes in Gorzow.

He said: “Speedway is very hard. Everyone has the same engine and bike and it’s all about setups.

“The track changes very quickly in the Grand Prix. I must think more about the setups and it will be better. Today will be my day.”

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