BELLE Vue skipper Brady Kurtz fired up his World title bid with second place in Saturday’s Czech Republic Grand Prix at Prague.
Kurtz was less than three-hundredths of a second away from taking victory in the Marketa Stadium as his late charge to get on terms with winner Leon Madsen saw him fall just short of the Dane.
But it was still a positive night’s work which saw him gain ground on defending champion Bartosz Zmarzlik, who completed the podium finishers in third place, edging out Michael Jepsen Jensen.
Kurtz had to come through the hard way after a mechanical breakdown when leading Heat 5 wrecked his hopes of automatically reaching the Final.
And with six points from his first four rides, the pressure was on in Heat 20 to make sure of a place in the Last Chance Qualifier, with Kurtz winning that race ahead of fellow contenders Max Fricke and Jason Doyle.
With Zmarzlik leading the meeting on 13 points and Madsen also in the Final based on his faster race time after tying with Jack Holder on 11, it left three Australians in Last Chance Qualifier 1, where Kurtz took the lead only for Fricke to crash heavily on the third bend when battling with Holder.
The re-run saw a repeat performance as Kurtz defeated Holder to take the one available place in the Final, which saw him finish runner-up to Madsen as Zmarzlik failed to take full advantage of first gate choice.
Having added 18 GP points, it moves Kurtz up to third in the standings, just six points behind Zmarzlik, who is one clear of Kacper Woryna, as the series heads for Manchester and an epic double GP weekend on June 5/6.
Kurtz said: “I really needed to have a good one and get back up there in the standings to put myself in with a chance of doing something for the rest of the year.
“I am super happy with it. It was a battle. It definitely didn’t go all my own way. Gate four was tough in the final. I am not sure how I found myself in second place, but I got there and did everything I could to try and get Leon. But credit to him; he did a fabulous job and definitely deserved the win.
“I made some really good starts, which is always important for me. It was nice to get back up there. I am super happy with second. It has been a good night for me and my team. It was nice to get back on track.”
Kurtz will be back to lead the ATPI Aces in their Bank Holiday Monday clashes with Sheffield, starting at the National Speedway Stadium at midday. Tickets and hospitality options are available from https://www.bellevue-speedway.com/tickets, and team news will follow on Sunday.