Tuesday 19th June 2012, 18:16

Danish star Kenneth Bjerre is determined to retain his SGP status without the aid of a wild card, vowing “I want to do it on my own.”

The Esbjerg-born rider is 14^th in the World Championship on 25 points, leaving him 21 short of Jaroslaw Hampel, who occupies the eighth and final automatic qualification berth for 2013.

Bjerre’s rotten run of form continued as he managed just five points in the FIM Dansk Metal Danish SGP on June 9 and he will be hoping for a vast improvement at the FIM Gorzow SGP of Poland on Saturday.

Since winning the 2008 GP Challenge at Zielona Gora to earn a spot in the 2009 SGP series, Bjerre has always gained automatic qualification. He finished eighth in that debut season and followed it up by coming seventh in 2010 and 2011.

The rider knows his proud record of always booking his World Championship spot without outside assistance is at risk, and he is determined to do all he can to keep it going.

He said: “I want to get back and I want to score the points. I want to get into the top eight. I don’t really want to be talking about wild cards – I want to do it on my own.

“I just have to get back up there and then start afresh next season.  I think I’m quite a long way off the top eight, but it’s not over yet. I’m still going to fight and I still want this to work.”

Bjerre opted out of the SGP qualification rounds for this year, meaning he cannot save his World Championship career with a top-three finish in the GP Challenge at Gorican on September 29.

But the Peterborough man has no regrets about turning his spot down. He said: “I think that’s the wrong focus. I shouldn’t focus on doing the qualifiers. I’m good enough to be in the Grand Prix and if I was going to do the qualifiers, I wouldn’t believe myself to be good enough.

“I’ve been in there three years without needing it and I need to put my focus into the Grand Prix. The way it is going now, maybe I should have done it. It’s easy to say. But it’s still a long season.”

Bjerre was gutted to leave the Danish capital with just five points as his SGP campaign continues to stutter. “I don’t have any words for it,” he said.

“I try to come in with a fresh head every time and confidence. I have some good meetings up to the day and then it comes to the Grand Prix and nothing happens.

“I’ve got no speed and my starts aren’t working as they should. It’s just frustrating and hard.

“We’re at Gorzow this weekend. I used to have the track record there and I like the place, so I can only go there with a fresh head again, have some confidence and do what I can do.”

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