SHEFFIELD signing Nicki Pedersen emerged from the opening round of the European Championship in Torun as joint series leader with British ace Robert Lambert.

Although he finished third in the final, he scored 14 points which was two more than the winner of the final, fellow Dane Leon Madsen.

The series takes place over five rounds and moved to Bydgoszcz, less than an hour away from Torun, on Wednesday and will again be live on Eurosport.

Pedersen, who signed for Sheffield in the winter and is still keen to travel here should the season start next month, said: “I did my best to score as many points as possible and I’m happy.

“I was happy with my set-up, I didn’t really need to change things much throughout the meeting and I felt fairly comfortable.

“To get third in the final wasn’t too bad, I knew Leon wanted it badly in the final and fair play to him, but it’s a good start for me and we’ll see how we get on going into the next round.”

The winner of the series will automatically qualify for next year’s Grand Prix series.

Fans can purchase a 52 page European Championship guide including race cards to fill in when watching on TV. Order from the club programme publishers at curtis-sport.com – it includes an in-depth Nicki Pedersen interview.