FIM MITAS BRITISH GRAND PRIX

DARCY WARD's British GP debut yielded 14 points, a bronze medal and a move to third place in the standings behind the series top two performers Greg Hancock (winner) and Tai Woffinden (second).

The Poole skipper might well have been even closer to Hancock's championship 87 points had he not found the one piece of track that was tough to negotiate in his second ride. Ward, who had stormed to victory to open the action in front of an ear-drum busting Cardiff crowd was setting himself up for a
back-to-back victory when he caught a small rut as he prepared to leave turn 2, reared and was jettisoned off the back of his machine.

Held off by Hampel in his third ride but heading home the previously unbeaten world champion Tai Woffinden, Ward was soon back in the mix for semi-final
qualification particularly as his fourth ride pitched him against three riders who had experienced 8 last places from 9 rides between them.

Dane Kenneth Bjerre made Ward work hard for the win in that heat 16 which made him one of four riders on 8 points which onlu Chris Holder's stand-in Michael Jepsen Jensen (9) could better along with home hero Woffinden (10).

Ward was grateful for that inconsistent piece of track in his final ride as it caught out big-point seeking Nicki Pedersen and allowed Ward a much easier
chance to go by the 2003 Cardiff champion to leave him level on 11 points with world number 3 Iversen, just two behind top man Woffinden.

The reigning world champion cruised into the final joined by the ever-ripe Hancock before Ward replicated Woffinden's gate 3 starting technique to progress from his semi-final. Jesper Jensen might well have joined Ward but a mistake on turn 2 left the Dane floored but to his absolute credit there were no theatrics and he quickly cleared the circuit allowing the race to continue. The fall though allowing Kasprzak to make it three consecutive Cardiff finals.

With Woffinden unsurprisingly opting for gate 3 in the final Ward went for the inside, which had become somewhat bereft of race wins and Hancock went for gate 4.

The championship's top two both trapped well, Hancock just edging it but the 44 year old had two lads in their twenties nipping at his heels and used all his
experience and cunning to hold position throughout. Ward was just unable to repeat his heat 12 feat when he had beated Woffinden but the bronze medal was a welcome prize for a composed Ward who admitted “it was an awesome experience. I’ve been here as a spectator but to be a part of it was an unreal feeling. I will take third place any day but these guys (Woffinden and Hancock) are making my life real difficult by keeping on scoring big points.”.

1. D.Ward,MJ.Jensen,A.Jonsson ,M.Zagar
2. N.Pedersen,C.Cook,F.Lindgren ,J.Hampel
3. N.Iversen,K.Kasprzak,C.Harris ,T.Batchelor
4. T.Woffinden,M.Smolinski,G.Hancock ,K.Bjerre
5. T.Woffinden,MJ.Jensen,N.Pedersen ,T.Batchelor
6. A.Jonsson,N.Iversen,G.Hancock ,C.Cook
7. C.Harris,J.Hampel,M.Zagar ,K.Bjerre
8. F.Lindgren,M.Smolinski,K.Kasprzak ,D.Ward (fell)
9. MJ.Jensen,C.Harris,M.Smolinski ,C.Cook
10. K.Kasprzak,A.Jonsson,N.Pedersen ,K.Bjerre
11. G.Hancock,F.Lindgren,M.Zagar ,T.Batchelor
12. J.Hampel,D.Ward,T.Woffinden ,N.Iversen
13. G.Hancock,MJ.Jensen,K.Kasprzak ,J.Hampel
14. T.Woffinden,F.Lindgren,A.Jonsson ,C.Harris
15. N.Iversen,M.Zagar,N.Pedersen ,M.Smolinski
16. D.Ward,K.Bjerre,T.Batchelor ,C.Cook
17. N.Iversen,K.Bjerre,F.Lindgren ,MJ.Jensen
18. M.Smolinski,T.Batchelor,A.Jonsson ,J.Hampel
19. T.Woffinden,M.Zagar,K.Kasprzak ,C.Cook
20. D.Ward,N.Pedersen,G.Hancock ,C.Harris (rtd)
SF1 T.Woffinden,G.Hancock,F.Lindgren ,M.Smolinski
SF2 D.Ward,K.Kasprzak,N.Iversen ,MJ.Jensen (fell)
Final G.Hancock,T.Woffinden,D.Ward ,K.Kasprzak

G.Hancock 14 (1,1,3,3,1,2,3); T.Woffinden 18 (3,3,1,3,3,3,2); D.Ward 15 (3,0,2,3,3,3,1); K.Kasprzak 10 (2,1,3,1,1,2,0); N.Iversen 12 (3,2,0,3,3,1);
F.Lindgren 10 (1,3,2,2,1,1); MJ.Jensen 9 (2,2,3,2,0,0); M.Smolinski 8 (2,2,1,0,3,0); N.Pedersen 8 (3,1,1,1,2); A.Jonsson 8 (1,3,2,1,1); C.Harris 6 (1,3,2,0,0)
M.Zagar 6 (0,1,1,2,2); J.Hampel 5 (0,2,3,0,0); K.Bjerre 4 (0,0,0,2,2); T.Batchelor 3 (0,0,0,1,2); C.Cook 2 (2,0,0,0,0)

Championship Standings: T.Woffinden 90, G.Hancock 87, D.Ward 75, N.Iversen 74 N.Pedersen 68, M.Zagar 66, K.Kasprzak 59, J.Hampel 59, F.Lindgren 57, C.Holder 55, M.Smolinski 53, T.Batchelor 49, A.Jonsson 49, K.Bjerre 39, C.Harris 26, MJ.Jensen 17, P.Kildemand 15, P.Ljung 7, J.Kylmakorpi 5, A.Miedzinski 5, K.Nieminen 4, C.Cook 2,