NARROW EXIT FOR SGP3 PAIR

TUESDAY’S first SGP3 semi-final at Pardubice was a story of what could have been for the British pair of Oli Bovingdon and Casper Kluczniak.

Bovingdon had a steady event, scoring in every heat and needing to win his final race to have a chance to make the top eight to qualify for Friday’s Final in Wroclaw.

He had a sensational ride passing Poland’s Oskar Winczewski to Heat 17 and then had to nervously wait for the outcome of the final three races to see if his score of eight points would be enough.

At the conclusion of Heat 20 there were three riders tied on eight points which meant a run-off for the final two qualifying places.

Bovingdon went up against Australian duo Cooper Antone and Nath Smith, but coming off the inside gate he unfortunately did not quite make a good enough jump and his two opponents got ahead.

Although he didn’t rest for the whole four laps, Bovingdon couldn’t quite find enough speed to pass second-placed Smith, and missed on reaching the Final by the smallest of margins.

For Kluczniak it was a tale of two halves, as after having a nightmare start to the evening with just one point after his first three heats, he then went on to win his final two races. That meant he missed out by just one point in the final classification for a chance to qualify.

Semi-final 1 was won by Slovakian Marek Ziman with a 15-point maximum, and GB’s third rider Archie Rolph competes in semi-final 2, also in Pardubice later today (Wednesday).