FORMER Swindon rider Jason Crump tighened his stranglehold on the World Championship with victory in the British Grand Prix at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

Australian Crump, who rides for Robins' Elite League rivals Belle Vue Aces, completed his third GP win in a row to open up a commanding 34-point lead at the top of the standings.

But while he celebrated, it was another disappointing night for the Swindon pair of Leigh Adams and Lee Richardson, both of whom failed to reach the semis.

World No 3 Adams, in particular, could count himself unfortunate but his dreams of a first world crown look over.

The Blunsdon skipper, second in Wales in 2004, twice hit huge ruts in the temporary surface, which deteriorated rapidly as the night wore on.

Firstly, he ploughed into the first-corner safety fence in heat 15 and was excluded.

Then, while leading heat 20 he needed to win to reach the later stages, another bump flipped his bike into the air and sent him from first to last in a matter of metres.

It left him with a meagre six points, one better than his Robins teammate Richardson, who had an up-and-down night.

In contention in heat three, the Brit's back wheel caused a collision between Antonio Lindback and Matej Zagar and he could only manage third in the re-run.

Richardson, third in the 2004 event, then held off Crump for a second spot behind reigning champion Tony Rickardsson in seven.

But despite gating, he twice went wide in nine and 14 and ended up third before trailing in last in 20.

Richardson, who has been out-of-sorts recently and scored a blank in the previous Swedish GP, said: "I haven't been as aggressive or motivated as much in previous Grand Prix this year but I want to win races, ride hard and get to finals.

"When you are on a downer and in a rut, it's hard to pick yourself up, but I want to be aggressive and win.'' While the Swindon pair licked their wounds though, there was no stopping Crump, who suffered a nightmare Cardiff meeting last year.

He took full advantage of a grand final re-run, after American Greg Hancock fell and was excluded, to beat Andreas Jonsson and Jaroslaw Hampel and take the applause of the 50,000 crowd.

"I think all the bad luck I had from Cardiff last year came back to me as good luck this year," said Crump.

"You don't win anything without luck and I'm so glad I won out there it was amazing.

"I made a little change on the bike after the first race and it worked a treat in the re-run."

Crump's previous nearest rival, Dane Nicki Pedersen, also suffered a horror show, carding just four points, allowing Hancock to take over in second spot.

Top Brit, Coventry's Scott Nichols, reached the semis, but was unable to go further, while wild card Simon Stead picked up three points.