Swede Antonio Lindback has taken his first ever Speedway Grand Prix win at Terenzano in Italy after making his debut in the World Championship some eight years ago.
The enigmatic Brazilian born Swede has had many ups and downs in his time in the sport, including a well-publicised short-lived retirement, however none of that mattered after taking his first win tonight.
“I’ve listened a little bit too much to everybody; people say ‘you must score, you must do well.’ I didn’t listen to people. I just went out there, had a good time, I was relaxed, I listened to music and I was myself. It worked and I’m going to keep doing that.
“Finally I have taken that gold. I proved to myself that I am one of the guys who should be in the Grand Prix and I can win. That means absolutely everything. I’m just so happy.”
He was given a second crack at taking the victory when Emil Sayfutdinov and Martin Vaculik had a coming together, with Vaculik coming from his bike and copping an exclusion as being deemed the cause of the stoppage.
Sayfutdinov went on to finish second, the Russian star making just his first final of the 2012 season.
World Championship leader, Greg Hancock continued extending his lead at the head of the points table by coming home third.
For the Aussies, it was a tough but rewarding night at the office. Jason Crump and Chris Holder both kept their World Championship hopes alive by scoring a solid 10 points each. Crump is 14 points adrift of the American Hancock, whilst Holder is a further three back.
Hancock holds a 10 point advantage over Dane, Nicki Pedersen with four events left to run. Pedersen joined Holder and Crump with a 10 point haul.
The next event on the Speedway Grand Prix calendar is the flagship of the sport – the British Grand Prix at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on August 25.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (TOP 10):
1 Greg Hancock 111
2 Nicki Pedersen 101
3 Jason Crump 97
4 Chris Holder 94
5 Emil Sayfutdinov 84
6 Tomasz Gollob 83
7 Fredrik Lindgren 77
8 Andreas Jonsson 70
9 Antonio Lindback 62
10 Jaroslaw Hampel 46.
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX SCORES:
1 Antonio Lindback 16
2 Emil Sayfutdinov 19
3 Greg Hancock 14
4 Martin Vaculik 14
5 Jason Crump 10
6 Chris Holder 10
7 Nicki Pedersen 10
8 Andreas Jonsson 8
9 Peter Ljung 8
10 Chris Harris 8
11 Kenneth Bjerre 6
12 Tomasz Gollob 6
13 Fredrik Lindgren 5
14 Hans Andersen 4
15 Nicolas Covatti 3
16 Bjarne Pedersen 3
