Tuesday 10th January 2012, 11:36

World No.2 Andreas Jonsson is determined to keep his feet firmly on the ground, despite the pundits tipping him as a genuine World Championship contender in 2012.

The 31-year-old claimed his first ever SGP series medal last term after a rip-roaring end to the season, which saw him win three of the last six Grand Prix rounds in Terenzano, Torun and Gorican.

Although he finished 40 points adrift of world champion Greg Hancock, AJ’s form suggests he is ready to sustain a strong challenge this year.

But the Stockholm-born star has no intention of believing his own hype as he bids to become Sweden’s first SGP series winner since Tony Rickardsson dominated the competition in 2005.

He said: “You never know what will happen at the start of the season.

"You could get an injury which could cause a lot of problems – you never know. I just want to try to do as well as I can and see how good I can be.

“My dream is to be the world champion one day. That’s what keeps me going all the time. I don’t want to have any expectations on me or have any pressures that I must win this, or people saying I’m the favourite.

“I don’t listen to that because everyone has the same opportunity when the season starts. You need to be well prepared and you also need to have a bit of luck to succeed and have a great season.

“It’s so, so hard and you’re riding against the best riders in the world. If you lose the focus for a minute or two, then you’re last.

“I’m trying to be as professional as I can and help myself as much as possible. I’m trying to focus and stay focused all the time. I don’t want to let my head get up in the clouds.

“It has been going well for six months now and I’m really happy it has changed for me. I can win races and Grand Prix meetings.

“But you have to be really focused in sport. The season could start next year and it could be a tough one for me. Maybe I won’t be able to win a Grand Prix race and everything could change.

“Just because I had a great second half to the season, it doesn’t mean I will stay there forever. It’s going to be hard work to keep this position and just stay up in the same place.”

Having been a Grand Prix regular since 2002, Jonsson could have been forgiven for throwing the mother of all parties after landing silver.

But the Dackarna and Zielona Gora man has no intention of stopping to celebrate and he is ready to continue his quest for gold, which gets underway at the FIM New Zealand SGP on March 31.

He said: “It’s just another step forward. I thought I was going to be happier than I am. I just have that feeling that I’m getting closer to something I’ve been dreaming of for many years.

“That’s obviously first place. I know that’s really, really tough and I wasn’t even close to it this year. But hopefully in the future I will be.”

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