Sunday 29th July 2012, 17:25

Jurica Pavlic was dejected to leave the FIM Fogo Croatian SGP in Gorican without a medal on Saturday night, but was pleased to get another insight into the “aggressive” world of Grand Prix racing.

The Leszno and Vastervik man made it into the last four on the Speedway Stadium Milenium circuit built and run by his family.

Pavlic’s local knowledge was there for all to see as he reached the semis on nine points, before beating eventual winner Nicki Pedersen, two-time Gorican silver medallist Chris Harris and the excluded Freddie Lindgren to win his semi-final.

Pedersen pipped him to the first turn in the medal race and, despite the Croat tucking in for second place, Andreas Jonsson and Tomasz Gollob stormed past for the silver and bronze medals respectively.

While the locals will have been slightly disappointed not to see their man spraying the champagne, Pavlic admits his third appearance in the World Championship reminded him just how tough it can be at the top.

He said: “Of course I wanted a medal, but I just didn’t make a start in the final. I didn’t keep the second place I had, but the GP is something different. Everybody is so aggressive. They play fairly, but aggressively and you have to do everything just to go up one place.

“I had stuff in my mind for the final and I did nothing. But still, I think getting into the final is a good result. It was one of my first GPs and I got fourth place.

"I’ve seen how the GP looks from the inside again and I can tell you it’s definitely something different.”

Pavlic lines up in his home village again on September 29 for the GP Challenge, which sees the top three riders earn places in the SGP series for 2013.

Having mixed it with the sport’s top names in the Polish and Swedish leagues for many years now, Pavlic is keen to make himself a more permanent fixture on the world stage.

He said: “I’ll give my best to get into the GP next year or in the next few years to try and get in there for a whole year.”

Pavlic was somewhat overwhelmed by the level of support he received from his local community ahead of his big night. He was delighted with his reception on the Gorican parade.

“I didn’t hear them when I was racing,” Pavlic admitted. “But before the racing when I was on parade, there were a lot of people cheering. It was more motivation for me. I hope I showed them something and I hope they’re happy.”

The rider was quick to dedicate his maiden SGP final to his family, who have worked tirelessly to transform the site behind their family business into a world-class speedway venue, which staged its third Grand Prix event on Saturday.

“My family have worked hard on the stadium and it was a good prize for them that I got into the final,” he said. “I would have been happier with a medal, but I’m pleased with fourth place.”

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