Speedway's man of the moment, Nicki Pedersen, roars into Arlington Stadium tomorrow night.

Pedersen, the newly-crowned British Grand Prix champion, rides for Oxford against Eastbourne Eagles in a match which could ultimately prove crucial to the Elite League ambitions of both clubs.

Eagles, who have won only one of their last eight matches, are now involved in a three-way dog fight with Oxford and Wolverhampton for the last remaining play-off place.

Given the importance of the situation, it is hardly the best time for the Sussex squad to be taking on Pedersen, who is currently red hot after his triumph in front of a 36,676 crowd at Cardiff.

The Dane survived two high-speed crashes, including a spectacular smash involving England's leading hope, Scott Nicholls, in the semi-final, to lift the crown in a dramatic finale against Jason Crump, Tony Rickardsson and Greg Hancock.

Pedersen's victory has moved him up to second spot in the world title race, just three points behind reigning champion Rickardsson ahead of next weekend's Grand Prix on his home soil in Copenhagen.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Pedersen's win was that he kept his cool after having his feathers ruffled in the cauldron of the Millennium Stadium which left him with only one of his three bikes in one piece going into the final.

Pedersen said: I only had my No. 3 bike left. But we managed to get it to work and I went out and made a great start."

In the past, Pedersen, who has been involved in a series of well publicised on-track punch-ups, including one with Nicholls, would probably have blown his top.

Eastbourne boss Jon Cook, who has good reason to fear Pedersen's influence on tomorrow night's clash, says speedway's main Dane is a more difficult opponent now than ever.

"He has gone a long way to sharpening up his act. He has gone from being a good rider who put it around a lot to a world-class rider who still puts it around a bit but not so much.

"He spends more time now concentrating on going forwards instead of looking backwards."

Cook says Pedersen is never likely to be the most popular rider in the sport, but he believes speedway needs more stars of his calibre.

"There are too many characterless riders around these days. You couldn't accuse Pedersen of being that. He is an entertainer and he rides with the same sort of passion which the fans who follow speedway have.

"He may not be that popular with the supporters of other teams, he is one of those riders fans love to hate, but the sport needs men like him.

"We had the same sort of experience with Martin Dugard. Everywhere we went, he was booed."

The last time Oxford were in town, Eagles squeezed out a 47-43 win in a match which went down to the wire.

Ironically, it was Pedersen who turned out to be the fall guy in the last heat, allowing Dean Barker and Joe Screen to roar past him when the visitors looked set to score a 5-1 via Todd Wiltshire and Pedersen to level the scores.

Eagles will not be able to rely on another act of uncharacteristic generosity from the 26-year-old Pedersen, who has gone up ten spots in the world rankings since the start of the season.

And if he remembers that incident at all, then you can bet Pedersen will on be something of a pay-back mission tomorrow night.

Wiltshire will also be a significant threat as Eagles attempt to land only their second win since May 3.

The Aussie has performed beyond the call of duty several times recently on behalf of the Sussex outfit as a guest for Mark Loram.

Now he is on the opposite side of the fence and knows his way around Arlington.