IPSWICH Evening Star Witches speedway rider Jarek Hampel went close to becoming the fourth rider to win a Grand Prix as a wild card at Leszno, Poland on Saturday.

IPSWICH Evening Star Witches speedway rider Jarek Hampel went close to becoming the fourth rider to win a Grand Prix as a wild card at Leszno, Poland on Saturday.

Controversially left out of this season's competition, Hampel took advantage of riding on his Polish track to get his message across.

He was the only Polish rider in the final of this European GP and had first choice of gate positions.

He chose the inside but never figured in the contest as another Leszno rider, Leigh Adams, used all his knowledge of the track to hold off every effort from a rejuvenated Greg Hancock.

In front of a full house of 24,000 fans, Adams won ahead of another 37-year-old, Hancock, and defending world champion Nicki Pedersen.

Tomasz Gollob, like Hancock, had started with three race wins and looked unbeatable but as the night wore on the Polish superstar waned and lost a golden opportunity to add a second victory after his triumph in Slovenia.

Pedersen has a two-point lead going into the third round in Gothenburg, Sweden, in two weeks. Former Witch Gollob is still in the mix at the top and no one rider has so far broken away, which augurs well for the rest of the season.

Scorers at Leszno

L Adams (Australia) 20, G Hancock (USA) 20, N Pedersen (Denmark) 16, J Hampel (Poland) 16, T Gollob (Poland) 12, N Kristian-Iversen (Denmark) 10, A Jonsson (Sweden) 9, J Crump (Australia) 8, F Lindgren (Sweden) 7, H Andersen (Denmark) 6, C Harris (Great Britain) 6, R Holta (Poland) 4, L Tomicek (Czech Republic) 3, K Kasprzak (Poland) 3, L Dryml (Czech Republic) 2, S Nicholls (Great Britain) 2.

2008 World Championship: N Pedersen 33, T Gollob 31, G Hancock 28, L Adams 25, A Jonsson 21, H Andersen 20, J Crump 18, N Kristian Iversen 18, J Hampel 16, F Lindgren 14, C Harris 12, L Dryml 11, R Holta 9, S Nicholls 9, K Kaspzrak 9. M Zagar 7, B Pedersen 4, L Tomicek 3.