MASTER OF HIS OWN DESTINY

MASTER OF HIS OWN DESTINY

Saturday 29th September 2012, 13:04

Danish racer Niels-Kristian Iversen is determined to take his World Championship fate in his own hands by securing a top-three finish at the GP Challenge in Gorican tonight.

The King’s Lynn, Gorzow, Indianerna and Esbjerg star has been in the form of his life this year and arguably starts the qualifier in Croatia as the favourite to triumph.

The FIM Monster Energy Speedway World Cup winner was overlooked for the Copenhagen and Vojens wild cards as FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship leader Michael Jepsen Jensen got the nod.

But Iversen is determined not to let that get him down and is keen to prove his SGP class in Gorican, rather than sit back and hope for a permanent wild card for 2013.

"It has really been an awesome year. I have a lot of confidence. I know what it takes to win a meeting like this, though, and sometimes confidence is not enough."

- Niels-Kristian Iversen

He said: “It’s in my hands. I haven’t had a wild card this year and I don’t expect a wild card for the series either. If I want to do it, I’ll have to do it myself. I’m fine with that and that’s what I’m here to do.”

Despite being widely tipped to do well at the Speedway Stadium Milenium tonight, Iversen isn’t placing too much emphasis on what the pundits say.

He said: “It’s only what I think that matters – I don’t really care what anyone else thinks. You don’t get more points whether you’re the favourite or not.

“It’s going to be tough and you need a bit of luck to qualify – everything has to click together on the day. If everything works, anyone can qualify from this line-up. I think it’s going to be a close one.

“It has really been an awesome year. I have a lot of confidence. I know what it takes to win a meeting like this, though, and sometimes confidence is not enough.

“You need everything to fall into place; a bit of luck – it takes everything to qualify from a meeting like this. I think it’s going to be as tough as I expect it to be.”

Iversen would love the chance to take his white-hot form into 2013. He knows maintaining it will be tough, but believes his experience will make him a better rider than when he last served as an SGP regular back in 2008.

He said: “Everyone knows how quickly speedway can change. It’s a funny game. One minute you can be flying; the next minute you don’t know what’s going on. I’ve been in the game and I’ve had my ups and downs before. But I’ve got experience now and been in the Grand Prix twice before. I know what it’s about and I know myself well enough to know what I have to do.”

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