THE Czech Grand Prix might have proved a happy hunting ground for Hans Andersen in the past, but the Swindon skipper was unable to replicate his former glory in Prague on Saturday.

The Robins man won the event back in 2006 and secured a runner-up berth in 2008, results that must have felt a long time ago as Andersen struggled from the off in the Czech capital.

He took on a ferociously tough line-up in his first outing with Tomasz Gollob, Jarek Hampel and Chris Holder providing the opposition, all arguably potential world championship winners.

And once again the Blunsdon charger’s gating issues in the GPs came back to haunt him as the other three riders got out first and Andersen was unable to make headway, with Gollob seeing off the tenacious challenge of Hampel out front.

Matters appeared to have improved in heat eight as Andersen got away from the tapes well against two riders who were eventually to make the semi-finals in Antonio Lindback and Josef Franc.

It was Lindback that got to the first bend first and went on to take the chequered flag, while Andersen was not threatened by Bjarne Pedersen in third, while Franc was fourth.

However, Andersen was unable to build on this result in heat 11 as he faced the might of Nicki Pedersen, who eventually won the meeting, and Jason Crump, who leads the Grand Prix standings after later coming second in the final.

After Crump jumped the start initially, the Aussie gated in the re-run and although Andersen was close behind him, triple world champion Nicki Pedersen was quickly past him on the back straight of the first lap.

The Robins captain was the beneficiary of a huge slice of luck in his penultimate outing, which gave him an outside chance of making the semi-finals.

After getting out last, Andersen zipped past Freddie Lindgren on the back straight of lap one and when Andreas Jonsson and Peter Ljung came together out front after the latter packed up, Andersen was able to shoot into the lead.

Ultimately though, the semis proved a step too far for the 31-year-old as heat 17 proved his downfall.

Reigning world champion Greg Hancock powered into the lead from the gate with Russian youngster Emil Sayfutdinov in tow, and Andersen was quickly overhauled by Britain’s Chris Harris on the back straight of lap one, with Harris eventually finishing second.

That left Andersen on six points, a couple of points behind Gollob and Lindback, who were the lowest-scoring riders to make it into the semis.

The Abbey Stadium favourite now sits 11th in the Grand Prix standings, eight points away from a top-eight berth which would guarantee him automatic qualification into next year’s series.

Andersen was frustrated was how events had gone in Prague, tweeting: “WTF is going on.... How can it be that difficult to have a good one”.

Nicki Pedersen gated to win the final ahead of Crump, with Gollob in third and Hancock fourth.