York-born speedster Andy Smith has again qualified for the ultimate competition in speedway - and has again justifed his Houdini tag.

Smith, 35, who rides for Manchester giants Belle Vue Aces in the Elite League, gained his nickname because of his great escapes in the Grand Prix Challenge each year.

He is one of the few riders to have qualified for the GP Series - the most prestigious competition in the sport - every year since it started in 1995, and has again scraped through the qualifiers to land a place in the 2002 championship.

However, fellow York speedway king Sean Wilson's dream of reaching the 2002 GP Series is over.

The 31-year-old had fought his way through a tough qualifying programme at Newport, Coventry, Poole and Vastervik, the latter being his 'home' track in Sweden where he also races, before the meet in Slovenia. But he fell at the last hurdle at the final qualifying meeting in Krsko, Solvenia.

With many GP Series spots already taken, only six places remained available to the 24 riders in action at Krsko, many of whom were champions and current GP riders.

But while Smith took that sixth place, Wilson, who hails from Bishopthorpe Road and captains the Sheffield Tigers Premier League outfit, came third in heat one, which put him into the first elimination heat in which he finished last to bow out of the meeting.

Updated: 12:26 Tuesday, October 16, 2001