The race is on for the 1998 Speedway World Crown.

Runaway leader Tony Rickardsson of Sweden suffered a series of setbacks in the British Grand Prix round at Coventry Stadium.

He blew two engines and damaged the forks and handlebars on one of his bikes after crashing in the last practice session, and finished out of the top three on the night.

The meeting was won by Jason Crump, who was crowned British Grand Prix champion, but the important statistic for Rickardsson was that his fellow Swede Jimmy Nilsen finished runner-up which whittled down the gap between them to ten points.

Third on the night was Ryan Sullivan, but the battle for the world crown looks set to be between the two Swedes Rickardsson and Nilsen.

After the meeting Rickardsson said:

"It was a very tough meeting. I didn't feel too good about things after virtually wrecking my bike in practice. But I am still ten points ahead with the two best tracks to come at Linkoping and Bydgoszcz."

Nilsen said:

"If someone had told me two weeks ago that I would be competing in the British Grand Prix, let alone finishing second, I would not have believed them."

GRAND FINAL

CONSOLATION FINAL

Top Grand Prix standings