Copenhagen preview with Nigel Pearson

I don’t see why not, his home track in England is Wolverhampton, which is a tight technical track; the track in Copenhagen will be very similar. I don’t see any reason why Tai can’t use his experience and knowledge of the smaller circuits to his advantage. Everything is going so well for him at the moment and he will go into this round thinking he can beat anybody. The opening two rounds, he quite clearly didn’t have the right set-up in terms of the speed that was under him, some work has definitely been done to improve that. You don’t just become a bad rider over night when you’re world champion, there were suspicions that everything was catching up with him but he has proved once again that he is capable. You have to remember that three rounds ago in Finland, he was leading the final before a little slip let Matej Zagar through and Tai finished second, so he could have won three on the trot. So a second, followed by two victories, there is no reason he can’t continue that form going into Copenhagen.

Possibly, I think it’s a vital phase in the season for Darcy, because he is 12 points adrift of the top and he needs to close that gap. These next two Grand Prix’s before the World Cup are absolutely vital for Darcy; he won in Copenhagen last year, so he knows a good set-up for the Parken track and I would like to think he can be up there in the mix for the title come the end of the season.

There is pressure on the Danish riders here, I’ve been told that ticket sales have gone well and the fans haven’t seen a Danish winner in Parken since Hans Anderson won here back in 2006. There is a big contingent of Dane’s in this meeting; you’ve got Kenneth Bjerre, Nicki Pedersen, Niels Kristian Iversen, wildcard Peter Kildeman and Michael Jepsen Jepsen as a replacement for Chris Holder. That means out of the 16 riders competing, five of them will be Danish, which will contribute towards an incredible atmosphere in the stadium. There is no reason why Nicki can’t be up there, Bjerre has been starting very well and Niels Kristian Iversen is always dangerous, so there is no reason why there can’t be a Danish winner here on Saturday.

He is adored by the Danish, absolutely adored by them. He gets a lot of press coverage, a large part of his sponsorship is from Denmark and he’s a national treasure over there. Whilst there’s a lot of talk about Nicki and about what happened in Malilla with Zagar, he’s still a world class rider, he’s an athlete, he’s a business man, he’s the complete package and will be willing to do whatever it takes to become world champion for the fourth time. I personally feel that Nicki Pedersen is still box office, great to watch, good for the series and I’m sure we’re in for a cracking night on Saturday.

I was delighted for him with that heat win. He has got a lot of Grand Prix experience and he has done pretty well here at Parken in the past. I would be thrilled to see him come to the table again with some points, he’s a very good rider there is no doubt about that but his form this season has underlined how unforgiving the Grand Prix is, if you’re on a bad run it’s very difficult to dig yourself out of it. He’s not a world championship contender, but as I said, he is a very good rider and on his day he can take points off anybody. Fingers crossed for Chris, I hope he has a good one this weekend.

I’m not saying one particular rider will break away, but on current form, Woffinden is looking so consistent. However, Greg Hancock is the old master, he’s the fastest starter in the sport in my opinion, he’s a complete rider and at the age of 44, I think it’s remarkable what he is achieving. I’d like the think Greg can stay on the pace for the rest of the season, Nicki as well, I’m sure he will remain consistent. Whilst you say there is 12 points separating the top-six at the moment, I do expect that by the time we go into the World Cup break after two more GP’s, there will probably be three riders that are in genuine contention for the world title, whilst the rest are playing catch-up.