Saturday 11th August 2012, 15:30

Triple world champion Jason Crump admits the 2012 World Championship race could go all the way to Torun as he prepares for tonight’s FIM Fogo Italian SGP.

The Australian legend is third in the standings on 87 points and trails series leader Greg Hancock, who has 97, by 10 with five rounds to race. Nicki Pedersen is second on 91, while Chris Holder is still in the hunt in fourth spot and has 84 to his name.

Pedersen is the only man to win two SGP rounds this term, having triumphed in Prague and Gorican, while Hancock won in Auckland, Crump topped the rostrum in Copenhagen and Holder was victorious in Leszno. But none of the fab four has really taken charge of the title race and Crump admits the gold medal scramble may go all the way to the season-closing FIM Torun SGP of Poland on October 6.

Asked whether he felt someone could get a grip on the World Championship, he replied: “It’s possible that nobody will. It could come down to the last Grand Prix. The competition is quite even – there’s not a lot between the best rider and the worst rider. That’s showing in the points.

“You just have to score more points than the three or four guys you’re competing with and any one of us can do that. I think everybody is on good form, but I don’t think anyone has hit their peak.”

Crump faces a real baptism of fire in Terenzano as he meets Hancock, Pedersen and Emil Sayfutdinov in heat two.

The draw may have thrown up a huge challenge to start his night, but the Bristol-born man isn’t disappointed with his gate. “I don’t mind gate one for that race!” said the rider in red.

Crump played down the significance of the top-three tussle, he said: “Every race is a hard one in the Grand Prix – you have to race Greg, you have to race Nicki, you have to race Chris, you have to race everybody. Whether it’s your first or last race, it doesn’t matter.”

The 37-year-old worked hard along with his rivals on Friday to find a winning setup for a Terenzano track he rides just once a year.

“It’s very slick, but that’s normal for here,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest tracks we go to and, without doubt, the slickest. It’s more about finding a bike that goes forward than a lot of horsepower. We certainly tried to do that in practice.”

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