Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ C'( 00 Ci) ...... ~ C(") ..c u .... ~ ~ (A bove) The winning U.S. squad of (clockwise from bottom right) Dennis Sigalos. David Sims. Gene Woods and Dubb Ferrell. (Right. top to bottom) Sims leads Hans Nielson. Gene Woods slides outside Jim McMillan. Sigalos heads up Henny Kroeze and N\elson. . American speedway team tops indoorHolland meet-By John Hipkiss ROTTERDAM, H OLLAN D, FE B. 5 - 7 T he Am erica n Eagles q uartet of Dave Sims, Dubb Ferrell (both making th eir European . . d G d debu ts), Dennis Siga los a n ene Woo S emerged as win n ers of a speedway team event at the Ahoy indoor stadi u m in Holland against strong tea ms representing Den ma rk , .I 4~ . ~.Ilg!,!l}~ World. so me re marka ble skills in keep in g a speedway mach in e co nstantly sideways . Ferrell qui ckl y rou nd th at o u t in p racti ce, ta ki ng a very na sty £alI, but sti ll came back to top score £or the Eagles wi th n in e p oi nt s £ollowed by Sigalos (7) a nd Wood s (4). T he Am erica n s certainly p u t o n a good show agains t ma ny internationa l riders with more ex perience o£ rid ing o n the concrete surface. T hey took the lead fro m England in hea t 10 0£ th e 16-race m eet , wh en Ferre ll took the checkered £lag a nd th e Englis h rider John Louis fi nis hed last. T he Ame ricans held o nto a three point lead and cli nc hed th e event a nd put th em in an u n beata ble posi tio n. Fina l sco re: I. Am eri can Eagles (27); 2. Denmark Vik in s (25); 3. Briti sh L ions (23); 4. Rest o £ th e Wor ld ( 16). In an Internat iona l open meet h eld on th e sa me track th e Am ericans agai n p erformed w it hcred it , taking th e 20-h ea t £ormula wi th eac h rider having rive rides. Ferrell , Sigalos a n d Sims finis hed third with n in e points an~ Woods p laced 12th with five Th e three-day event rook place on a concrete track abou t two-thirds the points, afi(Lt..!l~!g _~LtJ1.t:. . _ .~i!t;. .oJ.~?~~ ~\ftsa, and p..!.!.c,.t!..!gr:.- •• _:r~e meeti llg.~~1.1~~~!>r.i~~~ . expe rt H ans Nie lsen (Den mark) with 13 points. . T he rest o£ the three day event £ea tured mo tocr oss, sidecar cross, trials an d even a dragster. Most o£ the sports were run o n a n de monstra tion basis with Wor ld Side car Mo tocross champions Ton van H eu g ten a nd Fr itz Kiggen " win n in g" their race. Belgian ace Eddie Lejeu ne showed orr skills over the us ua l trial s obsta c1es a n d drag race r Rob Jansse n p erformed a spectacu la r bu rnou t inside thearena. but h e cras hed as he tried to ai m his mach in e thro ugh a 16-£00t doorw ay into the car park - and m issed. Mixed in with stu nts, m o roball a nd cyclocross, the main serious sports were mot ocro ss a nd speed way. World 125cc MX Cha m p io n Harry Everts wa s q uite a t h ome o n the motocross indoor circ u it. The Belgia n steered hi s Suzu ki to vic tory a head o£ Ameri ca n Dann y LaPort e (Ya m) in th e 20·minu te plus two la p final o n the Sa turday m eet, bu t the next day 's meet was won by Swede Lief Ni chlasson on a Husqvarna . ahead of Belgian Eri c Geboers .(S.U}~!

• Cover