SETTLED IN SWEDEN

SETTLED IN SWEDEN

Saturday 8th September 2012, 09:53

Australian racer Jason Crump says his family is enjoying life living in Sweden as they make the short trip from Vetlanda to Malilla for the FIM Scandinavian SGP tonight.

Last year the 37-year-old moved his European base from the UK to Vetlanda, where he rides his Elitserien home meetings.

With Crump no longer racing in the Elite League, the switch has dramatically cut the Bristol-born man’s travelling time as he competes in the SGP series, Elitserien and Polish Ekstraliga.

Moves overseas can be a big test for any family unit, but the triple world champion says swapping Northamptonshire for the Swedish countryside has brought him even closer to wife Mel, daughter Mia and son Seth.

"We’ve learnt something from this move and that’s the fact that as long as we’re together, we can pretty much be anywhere or do anything, as long as it’s the four of us."

- Jason Crump

He said: “We’ve learnt something from this move and that’s the fact that as long as we’re together, we can pretty much be anywhere or do anything, as long as it’s the four of us. We’ve enjoyed the experience and it has been a good stage of our lives. It’s a good, enjoyable part of my career.”

He added: “We just felt that during course of the season, I race a lot of meetings in Sweden and the club atmosphere and club environment in Vetlanda is a pretty tight community.

"We just felt we could give a bit more to the whole environment if I were a bit closer.

“It made a lot of sense to be based around this area for the speedway season and it works out pretty well.

“I don’t have to travel as much because, being based here in Sweden, I’m at our base more often than not. We go away for Grand Prix meetings and the Polish league, but we get to spend a lot more time at our home base and it’s a lot less travelling for us during the course of the season.”

Crump followed SGP title rival Greg Hancock in relocating to Sweden. But the man from Down Under admits he isn’t quite as good at speaking the local language as Herbie.

“Everybody practises their English on me,” Crump smiled. “I’m the English helper in the whole town.

“Greg is in a completely different situation. His wife Jennie is Swedish and his sons (Wilbur and Bill) are bilingual. He wanted to understand the language and had a lot more focus and drive, I guess, to become a Swedish speaker. He’s very impressive at it, so well done to him for that.”

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