BJARNE Pedersen admitted he ran out of steam after he'd finished fifth in the Elite League Riders' Championship at King's Lynn.

The Pirates star was fourth in the qualifying heats in front of a bumper 4,000 crowd at the Norfolk Arena.

But despite having second choice of gate in the semi-final, he made his worst trap of the night and trailed in third behind winner Davey Watt and Chris Harris to miss out on a place in the final.

Harris went on to finish second behind Nicki Pedersen in the final, with Leigh Adams third and Watt fourth.

Bjarne, who had scored 1-3-1-3-2 to ease into the semis, said: "To be fair, I probably wasn't 100 per cent ready for tonight.

"Now I'm looking forward to getting home to Denmark for a couple of days rest.

"I have done 25 meetings this month and was starting to run out of energy.

"That's why I'm looking forward to having two days off in my home country."

Bjarne, who had carried off the Elite League Pairs' Championship alongside Jason Crump for Poole Castle Cover at King's Lynn earlier this season, added: "I gave it a go, but I could feel the last five to 10 per cent was not there tonight.

"I have been busy. I felt okay about tonight and was racing okay out there, particularly as King's Lynn is not my favourite track in England.

"But Nicki was fantastic and well done to him. He was the right winner because he dominated the meeting.

"There were some other fast guys out there, particularly Davey Watt and Leigh, so to finish fifth was not disappointing."

Bjarne, who got out in front in his opening four races in front of a 4,000 crowd and Sky's live cameras, continued: "I was gating very well, but just didn't get the speed out of the corners, probably because we didn't have the right set up on the bike.

"That meant we were put under pressure in a couple of races.

"I asked some of the boys what set ups they were using after the meeting and I was probably a bit low on the sprocket.

"That happens when you only go to a track once or twice a year."

Bjarne has a meeting for Hostlebro in the Danish League on Saturday, but the track is only 10 minutes drive from his home.

"It means I don't have to do so much travelling this weekend so it will be nice not to have to worry about that," Pirates' captain said.

"I will get back to England on Sunday and then set myself up for Poole's meeting at Peterborough on Monday when I shall be ready and refreshed to do battle again."