Crump suffers Slovenian fuel nightmare.

Australian Jason Crump suffered a motorcycle racer's worst nightmare in round five of the Speedway World Championship at Krsko, Slovenia, last night - he ran out of fuel in the semi-final.

The world number two, chasing consecutive GP victories after dominating round four in Denmark on June 28, limped home fourth in his semi-final behind Scott Nicholls, Nicki Pedersen and Polish rider Tomasz Bajerski - but only after his factory Jawa appeared certain of making it through to the big one at the expense of Pedersen. Meanwhile, fellow Aussie Leigh Adams finished second in the opposing semi-final before going on to win his second GP in front of Pedersen, Nicholls and Tomasz Gollob.

Ironically, 27-year-old Crump's irrepressible form had showed no signs of abating earlier in the night when he defeated three of the four finals combatants - Pedersen, Gollob and Nicholls - in his first preliminary heat, before going on to finish second in his two remaining outings before the semi final.

Crump's 11pt effort on his factory Jawa at Krsko has lifted his world championship haul to 72, but he has now lost a place at the expense of world number four Adams (78), who jumped two spots after his win - the fifth rider to win in as many rounds. However, the below-par performance of defending world champion Tony Rickardsson at Krsko, who was eliminated in Adams' semi-final, means that the nine-round championship battle still remains a tight one.

The championship now takes a six-week break, although in the interim Crump and his contemporaries will be on a mission -- to win a third consecutive Speedway World Cup for Australia. The event will be staged in Denmark from August 3-9.