HANS Andersen will ride through the pain barrier at the Millennium Stadium this evening as he bids to gatecrash the top eight in the Grand Prix series.

The Swindon captain crashed during his Danish club Fjelsted’s meeting away at Holstebro on Wednesday night, but rode in the Robins’ victory over Poole the following day despite fearing he may have broken a bone in his elbow.

But scans have revealed it is only badly bruised, and the Dane will take his place for the showpiece event of the series in South Wales this evening.

Despite some inflammation Andersen believes the injury shouldn’t hamper him too much, and never even considered pulling out of the event in the aftermath of his accident.

“It is not ideal, and I probably shouldn’t have ridden for Swindon but it was an important meeting and I wanted to give my best for my team,” he said.

“But by the end it had swollen up even more, and I wasn’t able to ride as I normally do because it was painful.

“There were suspicions that I could have broken the tip of my elbow, but I am always keen to ride.

“After my crash I came out and rode in the following heat, but the adrenaline was still in my blood and I didn’t really realise how painful it was.

“It got worse the following day, but there was no way it was going to keep me out of Cardiff.”

Andersen can’t wait to experience the best atmosphere in world speedway once again, but while he always looks forward to the British GP, it is not the highlight of his season like it is for so many riders.

“To me it is the second biggest venue because of course my home Grand Prix is special, and Parken is like mini-Cardiff, so there are more of my home fans there,” he said.

“But Cardiff is a great venue and it is one I always look forward to, because there are plenty of British fans there who support me in the league, so they will always cheer you on which is nice.

“I have a record of doing fairly well there, and normally it is a tight technical track with a few lines, and when it is not cutting up and being rough it is a great place to be.

“I just need a few very good meetings to get back on track, and I would love to do that in Cardiff.”