BUT for an untimely ignition problem for present day Grand Prix rider Hans Andersen, Poole would have had three of their assets on the Vojens rostrum on Saturday (August 14).

Antonio Lindback and Tomasz Chrzanowski finished first and second, respectively, in a cut-throat final to officially add their names to the 2005 Grand Prix starting list.

For Andersen, though, it seems as if it will be necessary for him to win favour with the selectors as one of the permanent wild-cards if he is going to extend his GP career beyond this season.

Currently languishing in 19th place in this year's World Championship GP series and some 28 points outside of the top eight cut-off zone, this qualifying round looked set to be a safety net for the Dane as he romped to four impressive heat wins in the qualifying heats.

Andersen was headed home just once and that was by Lindback in a re-started heat eight after Polish rider Wielsaw Jagus fell on the first turn as Andersen took up the pace.

The Dane, who courted so much controversy in the World Cup Final, received a slice of good luck in the semi-final as Damien Balinski, scorer of 10 points in the heats, just one of four riders to claim a double figure return, suffered an engine failure as he and Chrzanowski led for most of the opening lap.

Things certainly looked to be going the way of the Danes, for in the second semi-final Russian sensation Roman Povazhny drove hard up the inside of Kenneth Bjerre on the last lap to move into second place behind runaway leader Lindback.

The speed of Povazhny appeared to alarm Bjerre and he fell. The race appeared to continue, although the flag marshalls did display the red flags to alert the finishers to the fact that Bjerre was still on the track.

And then on came Povazhny's exclusion light with World Cup referee Mick Bates awarding second place to Bjerre.

That left the final sporting two Danes (Andersen and Bjerre), one Pole (Chrzanowski) and a Swede (Lindback) with just two GP places on offer.

Lindback, who like Andersen had not finished outside the top two in any of his rides, a recipe for GP success under its present format, made a super start in that final.

And Chrzanowski found himself on the better line leaving the second turn.

Andersen stalked him for half a lap before driving inside, seemingly making slight contact as he passed.

Chrzanowski recovered well but had lost valuable ground although less than half a lap later a tiring Andersen's machine allowed the Pole to make up the deficit.

As Andersen's machine got slower Chrzanowski moved into second place and the Dane pulled up onto the inner field visibly frustrated with the consequences.

The two non-home nation riders pulled further clear of Bjerre and secured the prize of a GP contract for 2005.

Although no-one can deny the fact that Andersen was cruelly unlucky in that final, perhaps the unluckiest riders on the night were Bo Brhel and Povazhny.

Czech rider Brhel three times felt the discomfort of the Vojens circuit, a faller in heat three when Australian Craig Watson squeezed him out, then the innocent victim in two near-identical crashes in heat 14 when a power failure had left the track in half-darkness.

First of all GB rider David Norris picked up unwanted drive and brought Brhel down.

Then in the re-run, which did not feature the excluded Norris, Russian Povazhny made a similar mistake.

Brhel went on to win the 'match race' over Balinski, but he still missed out on a semi-final placing by virtue of Bjerre's two race wins.

Povazhny had begun the meeting with two impressive race wins, his first at Lindback's expense.

Heat Details

World Championship Grand Prix Qualifying Final at Vojens, Denmark. Qualifying heats: Hans Andersen 14, Antonio Lindback 12, Roman Povazhny 10, Damian Balinski 10, Peter Karlsson 9, Tomas Chrzanowski 9, Stefan Andersson 8, Kenneth Bjerre 7, David Norris 7, Marcin Rempala 7, Bo Brhel 7, Niels-Kristian Iversen 6, Niklas Klingberg 6, Ronni Pedersen 5, Wieslaw Jagus 4, Craig Watson 0. Ht 1: Andersen, Norris, Pedersen, Andersson, 59.1. Ht 2: P Karlsson, Balinski, Chrzanowski, Rempala, 60.2. Ht 3: Bjerre, Jagus, Brhel, Watson, 60.4. Ht 4: Povazhny, Lindback, Iversen, Klingberg, 60.1. Ht 5: Povazhny, Chrzanowski, Pedersen, Watson, 59.9. Ht 6: Rempala, Klingberg, Norris, Bjerre, 61.1. Ht 7: Iversen, Andersson, Brhel, Karlsson (fell), 61.5. Ht 8: Lindback, Andersen, Balinksi, Jagus (fell excluded), 59.2. Ht 9: Lindback, Brhel, Rempala, Pedersen, 59.4. Ht 10: Norris, Jagus, Chrzanowski, Iversen, 59.9. Ht 11: Balinski, Andersson, Klingberg, Watson (retired), 61.3. Ht 12: Andersen, Povazhny, Bjerre, Karlsson, 60.7. Ht 13: Karlsson, Klingberg, Pedersen, Jagus, 60.1. Ht 14: Brhel, Balinski, Povazhny (fell excluded), Norris (fell excluded), 61.1. Ht 15: Chrzanowksi, Lindback, Andersson, Bjerre, 59.8. Ht 16: Andersen, Rempala, Iversen, Watson (non-starter), 60.8. Ht 17: Bjerre, Balinski, Iversen, Pedersen, 61.6. Ht 18: P Karlsson, Lindback, Norris, Watson (non-starter), 60.6. Ht 19: Andersson, Povazhny, Rempala, Jagus (retired), 61.6. Ht 20: Andersen, Chrzanowski, Klingberg, Brhel, 61.4. Semi-final 1: Chrzanowksi, Andersen, Andersson, Balinski (retired), 61.0. Semi-final 2: Lindback, Bjerre, Karlsson, Povazhny (excluded unfair riding), 60.8. Final: Lindback, Chrzanowski, Bjerre, Andersen (retired), 59.9. Lindback and Chrzanowski qualify automatically for next year's Grand Prix series.