Friday 23rd September 2011, 15:21

Australian star Jason Crump admits he would be “really proud” if he could secure a record-breaking 11th straight season in the World Championship’s top three.

The 36-year-old goes into Saturday’s FIM Nice Croatian SGP fourth in the overall standings on 96 points – just four adrift of Andreas Jonsson, who occupies the bronze medal position.

Crump finished third in Gorican last season and another final appearance this year would greatly increase his chances of overhauling AJ and second-placed Jaroslaw Hampel, who is 12 ahead on 108.

But the Bristol-born man has the added incentive of a place in the history books. He has finished in the SGP series’ top three every season for the last 10 years.

Five-time world champion Ove Fundin achieved a similar feat between 1956 and 1965, but Crump could become the first man ever to win 11 medals in a row this term.

“I’d be really proud to do it,” he said. “I couldn’t lie about that. But there is a long way to go. We’ve got some difficult Grand Prix rounds to come now and we’ll see what happens.”

Asked whether a possible place in the record books has put extra pressure on his shoulders going into the last two rounds of the season, Crump replied: “Maybe a bit, I don’t know. The only thing you can do is go out, get your points and the result is there.”

He added: “The Grand Prix rounds have been like a mirror this year – I’ve had a bad one, then a good one. It’s about putting a few results together now at the end of the year and trying to make a medal.

“It’s within reach and if I do get it together in the last two, I know I can get one. It’s down to me.”

With eighth-placed Kenneth Bjerre just 11 points behind him in the World Championship, and Tomasz Gollob, Chris Holder and Emil Sayfutdinov even closer, Crump knows Jonsson and Hampel are not the only riders he will have to battle hard in Gorican and Gorzow.

He said: “Jarek has been pretty solid all year. Andreas didn’t start off too well, but in the last four or five he has been very solid. It’s tight. But it isn’t that far from second, third and fourth down to eighth or ninth.

“Everybody is in a position where, first of all, they want to secure a top-eight spot. Then, if it’s possible, they can go for a medal. It’s pretty tight and there is still plenty to go for.”

Crump’s Polish club Rzeszow is out of the Ekstraliga title race and his Swedish team Vetlanda saw their Elitserien hopes come crashing down at Piraterna on Tuesday.

This means the Aussie World Cup star faces a quiet end to 2011. “It’s just the two Grand Prix meetings at the moment,” he said. “That’s all that’s left.

“I have a bit of time to think about them and hopefully that will work in my favour. I’m that busy with other things at the moment that the next Grand Prix in Gorzow will be here just like that.”

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