Norwegian Grand Prix: Crump clinches world title.

Australia's Jason Crump clinched the Individual Speedway Grand Prix World Championship at the Viking Ship Stadium, Hamar, last night.

Tony Rickardsson, Sweden's five time world champion, and Crump's only rival for the world title going into the final round, was the winner of the FIM PAVA Norwegian Speedway Grand Prix and finished second to Crump in the final standings. America's Greg Hancock - and 1997 world champion - finished second in the GP and will ride with the number three race jacket in the 2005 Series. Poland's Tomasz Gollob took the third podium place in the meeting.

But the night belonged to Crump. Leading the championship by 17 points going into tonight's meeting he knew he only had to make the semi-finals to win the title. With two riders (Holta and Sullivan) excluded in Heat 19, the world crown he had dreamed of winning since he was a boy was finally realised. An elated Crump said:

"It's fantastic. The first time I have felt well in the last fortnight was after heat 19! If you want something in life you have to go for it, I have dreamed of winning the world championship since I was a child and it's great to finally do it."

"It was an emotional moment for my team and family and it all got a bit much for everyone. I am really pleased it's finally happened and feel very fortunate to be in this position."

The 29 year old has been second on the rostrum for the last three years, and admitted that wearing that number two race jacket was becoming a monkey on his back: "It's crazy, for the first couple of years I was delighted to be second, but last year was one too many! Tonight has made up for it."

Event winner Tony Rickardsson has now finished in the top three for the seventh consecutive season, a remarkable achievement by one of the sports greatest ambassadors. Looking back on the season the 34 year old said: "I obviously wanted to win the world title, my season has been strong apart from a bad patch in the middle of the year, but sometimes you need a few bits to fall in the right places to be world champion, it just didn't happen for me. But Jason was stronger and a better rider over the year and he really deserves it. I hope to come back and give him a really good run for his money next year!"

Greg Hancock battled for second place on the Grand Prix rostrum securing his third place in the World Championship. Going into the last race of the evening there was a distinct possibility of a race off between Hancock and Australia's Leigh Adams, but the American grabbed the vital points, relegating Adams to fourth place for the event and overall in the Championship table.

A beaming Hancock said: "My team has worked extremely hard all year and I'm pleased to settle for third place. I missed out on finishing higher at the last GP in Bydgoszccz (Poland) two weeks ago, so third is fine for me. Congratulations to Jason, he's earned it."

Commenting on the new 16 rider format for the 2005 Series, Hancock said: "I'm looking forward to the new format. It gives everyone a fair shot, being able to get different gates and less strenuous on the riders as we won't have to contend with the knockout system early on."

With only 16 riders in next year's FIM Speedway Grand Prix Series just eight riders from the 2004 Series automatically qualify for 2005. The eight riders are:

1 - Jason Crump (Aus)
2 - Tony Rikardsson (Swe)
3 - Greg Hancock (USA)
4 - Leigh Adams (Aus)
5 - Nicki Pedersen (Den)
6 - Tomasz Gollob (Pol)
7 - Andreas Jonsson (Swe)
8 - Jaroslaw Hampel (Pol)

Denmark's Hans Andersen just missed out by one point finishing ninth and fellow country man Bjarne Pedersen tenth. It was the same for the Brits, with Lee Richardson and Scott Nicholls finishing 11th and 12th. All will be hoping that they can gain entry to the 2005 season via a permanent wild card place.

Norwegian Grand Prix, Hamare:

Result
Tony Rickardsson
Greg Hancock
Tomasz Gollob
Leigh Adams

Scorers from Hamar
Tony Rickardsson 25
Greg Hancock 20
Tomasz Gollob 18
Leigh Adams 6
Nicki Pedersen 13
Andreas Jonsson 13
Jason Crump 11
Rune Holta 11
Ryan Sullivan 8
Mickael Max 8
Piotr Protasiewicz 7
Jaroslaw Hampel 7
Scott Nicholls 6
Hans Andersen 6
Lee Richardson 5
Jesper B Jensen 5
Kaj Laukkanen 4
Arnt Forland 4
Bjarne Pedersen 3
Ales Dryml 3
Mark Loram 2
Rune Sola 2
Bohumil Brhel 1
Joonas Kylmarkorpi 1

Final 2004 GP series standing
Jason Crump 158
Tony Rickardsson 155
Greg Hancock 137
Leigh Adams 131
Nicki Pedersen 113
Tomasz Gollob 113
Andreas Jonsson 97
Jarolsawl Hampel 81
Hans Andersen 80
Bjarne Pedersen 78
Lee Richardson 76
Scott Nicholls 66
Ryan Sullivan 65
Rune Holta 60
Piotr Protasiewicz 55
Mikael Max 49
Mark Loram 38
Jesper B Jensen 37
Bohumil Brhel 32
Kaj Laukkanen 25
Lukas Dryml 22
Ales Dryml 22
Grzegorz Walasek 13
Niels Kristian Iversen 13
Kenneth Bjerre 13
David Norris 8
Matej Zagar 8
Peter Karlsson 7
Rafal Dobrucki 5
Fredrik Lindgren 4
Chris Louis 4
Arnt Forland 4
Wielslaw Jagus 4
Krzysztof Kasprzak 3
Peter Lung 2
Thomas Chrzanowski 2
Rune Sola 2
Robert Barth 2
Antonin Svab 2
Antonio Lindback 2
Joonas Kylmakorpi 1
Simon Stead 1
Izak Santej 1