Monday 13th August 2012, 17:00

Dejected Danish star Kenneth Bjerre was left to rue his Grand Prix mechanical gremlins again as he missed out on the FIM Fogo Italian SGP semi-final in Terenzano on Saturday.

The Esbjerg-born racer’s SGP season has been blighted by retirements and his problems returned when his engine ceased up immediately after he won heat four.

It didn’t seem to hurt Bjerre too much as he finished second behind Nicki Pedersen on his second bike in heat seven and looked well on course for the semis. But he didn’t even get off the line in race 10 due to carburettor problems and managed just a point from his last two outings.

Bjerre is now 15^th in the World Championship on 41 points and even series reserve Martin Vaculik, who has appeared in just three of the eight events, leads him by a point.

There’s no doubt the Peterborough No.1, who leads Panthers into action against Swindon in front of the Sky Sports cameras this evening, has what it takes to win SGP events at his best. So the Huntington-based man is exasperated with his rotten run of mechanical misfortune.

The Czestchowa and Indianerna rider said: “It’s just problems all the time in the Grand Prix. In Gorican, I was happy and there were no problems. I was making riding mistakes – that’s my problem. I can take that. But when it’s like this, it’s so hard.

“I want to win GPs and I know I can do it. It has just been an awful season for me in the Grand Prix. I’m scoring points in the league and I’m enjoying that, but the Grand Prix sucks.

“I went in feeling great. I know what I can do and I know how I can do it if things are going my way. They’re just not going my way in the Grand Prix.”

Bjerre also ceased a different engine in one of his rides for Peterborough at Poole on August 8. The rider is unsure if the breakdowns are connected.

He said: “Two bolts snapped in the engine at Poole and the mechanics wouldn’t have known that was going to happen. If that’s the problem again, we need to see why it happened twice. I’ll have a look and see what the problem is.”

Bjerre is desperate to be an SGP rider for the fifth season in succession in 2013, but accepts he will probably need a wild card from BSI Speedway and the FIM to rescue his top level career.

He said: “It’s really frustrating because I want this so much and I want to be in the Grand Prix next year. But the way it looks, I’m not going to make the top eight.

“I’ll have to try and win the next four, show them what I’m capable of and hopefully get the wild card then. That’s the only thing I can wish for now.

“I’m going to Cardiff next. I like that place. Hopefully I’ll go there and my machinery will work for five, six, seven races. I know I can do it – I just need a bit of luck.”

Tweet

Speedway Grand Prix Speedway Grand Prix