Oxford Silver Machine skipper Greg Hancock returned to form to claim the runners-up spot in the Danish Grand Prix at the Parken Stadium, Copenhagen on Saturday.

But it is Swedish ace Tony Rickardsson who continues to rewrite speedway's record books, after becoming the first rider to win three consecutive rounds - and also the first to win four times in one season.

However, for Hancock, who has had a wretched GP season, including a horrendous crash in the British race in Cardiff, it was a brave comeback.

The American ace won four of his qualifying races after failing to score in his opening ride.

His second place finish saw him move up from tenth to sixth in the standings, but he still is way off challenging runaway leader Rickardsson.

Hancock said: "Second pace is the next best to winning and it's nice to be back among the top guys.

"We had to get everything together to get back in the race.

"The gamble we took in the first race didn't come off as the bike I used in practice that went so well didn't perform, so we turned to the old faithful and it worked a dream.

Oxford's Niels Kristian Iversen, a wild card entry, put in some terrific efforts and although being excluded after clipping the inside banking, gave a good display for his seven points.

He missed out on the semi-finals by just a point.

In the final, Hancock held off the challenge of Swede Antonio Lindback, who was third, to make the rostrum for the first time this year.

With four rounds to go, Rickardsson has a commanding 45-point lead over Jason Crump, who had won the two previous Danish GPs held at Parken.

Crump was joint top scorer with Hancock in the qualifying rounds, but could not make it through to the last four.

Both Rickardsson and Hancock have appeared in all 75 Grands Prix events since the inaugural round in Wroclaw, Poland, in 1995.

Danish Grand Prix result 1 Rickardsson 25pts, 2 Hancock 20, 3 Lindback 18, N Pedersen 16, Crump 12, Jonsson 8, Andersen 8, Hampel 8, Adams 7, Iversen 7, Richardson 6, Gollob 6, Sullivan 5, Nicholls 4, B Pedersen 3, Chrzanowski 2.

Overall standings: Rickardsson 120, Crump 75, N Pedersen 68, Adams 56, Lindback 53, Hancock 51, B Pedersen 46, Andersen 43, Hampel 38, Gollob 36, Nicholls 34, Jonsson 32, Sullivan 29, Richardson 22, Chrzanowski 19.