Harris left needing wildcard as Andersen chases unlikely result
Cornishman Chris Harris rounds off a disappointing world championship campaign tomorrow evening at the Torun Grand Prix of Poland.
Only the top eight riders from this year's series gain automatic entry for 2013, and the Coventry Bees captain has endured a torrid year, lying 11th in the standings, 44 points off the all-important cut-off mark.
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Chris Harris
Harris also failed to make it through to the GP Challenge, the qualification series for riders hoping to earn a berth next year, leaving him dependent on a wildcard spot.
Other riders also hoping to be given one of the four wildcards are Darcy Ward, Tai Woffinden, Jaroslaw Hampel, Michael Jepsen Jensen and Martin Vaculik.
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Harris heads into this evening's meeting on the back of scoring nine points from five rides in the Remembering #RICO meeting at Lakeside last Friday and registering six points from five rides in the President's Cup meeting at Czestochowa, Poland on Sunday.
Danish racer Hans Andersen is refusing to give up on his world championship dream and hopes an heroic night in Torun will save him.
The Swindon Robins captain missed out on qualification at the GP Challenge in Gorican last Saturday after scoring eight points – leaving him two short of second and third-placed qualifiers Matej Zagar, formerly of Trelawney Tigers, and Niels-Kristian Iversen.
Andersen, who is tenth in this season's standings, could still overhaul Swedish star Andreas Jonsson for ninth spot, which may be enough to seal qualification for 2013.
However, the Odense-born rider has 64 points and Jonsson is a colossal 20 in front of him on 84 as they head to the Marian Rose Motoarena, where the Swede topped the rostrum last season. Outscoring the world number two by at least 20 points is a very tall order for Andersen, but he is refusing to throw in the top-nine towel.
He told Speedwaygp.com: "I'm slowly coming back to where I was and I'll just finish off with a win in Torun. It's not over. Jonsson just needs to have a shocker there and I can just go through the card. Easy! Well, it's not easy but it is possible."
Andersen left Gorican dejected that he couldn't secure a return to the Grand Prix series for next year. His chances were not helped by a last place in his third ride and an engine failure in his fourth.
"I'm deeply disappointed," he said. "I think I rode really well, to be fair. It was probably some of the best riding I've done all season.
"I messed up my third ride off gate one. You could have afforded one slip-up in this Challenge, but then I had an engine failure. I had a bit of a coming together with Batch [Troy Batchelor] in that race. The bike was completely bent and the chain came off.
"I'm very disappointed with what happened in Gorican because I want to be in the Grand Prix."
If Andersen doesn't book his place in the 2013 field, he is already eyeing a return for 2014. He said: "I'll definitely be competing in the Challenges to get back in – that's for sure."
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