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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126834
John Cook (le ft ) turned in the only non-point-scoring ride for the U.S. when he crashed here in race eight. Jan Andersson was second in the race. Tommy Knudsen leads Shawn Moran. who dropped only one point. Moran and Schwartz were the top riders for the U.S .. scoring 11 each. p io n Gu ndersen but co u ld h e defea t the world 's most consistent rider in 1985? The a nswer was a reso und in g yes as Schwartz ran away a nd h id . Nielsen had to duke it out wi th Do n cas ter for seco nd . Doncaster passed h im on lap two but Nielsen went inside as th ey came orr four and headed for th e las t-la p nag. T he score was knotted a t 20-20. Event 10 was a thriller. Gundersen was seco nd out of th e gate beh ind Moran but h e cut directl y in front of Moran in tum o ne a nd took the lead. Un fort u na tely for Gunderson he came in to o hard a nd drifted wide a llo wi ng Mo ran to blast by on th e ins ide as th ey came off two . Mo ran opened up a lead but Gundersen slo wly cho p ped it down and he m ade a las t-d itc h effort as they came o rr turn four and headed for th e ch eck ered , bu t came up one length short. The USA had a precari ous o ne -poi nt a dva ntage, 23-22. Cook was due up in event I I but he had only sco red one point from hi s first two effort s a nd he wa s replaced by Sam Erm ol en ko . Also in th e even t was Da n ish reserv e Eriksen. Eri ksen ga ted over En gl a nd 's Richa rd Knight a nd Ermolenko. Ermolen ko quickl y elevated h im self to second and hacked a way at Erikse n's adva ntage. He reall y gOI in gear on the fin al revo lution a nd o ut of the la st co rner he got a tremendous drive but it o n lv go t him to wi th in a co up le of lengths of Eriksen and the score was lied again wi a Ifive races to go . th I j .. • • ~ Knudsen took h is th ird co nsecuti ve win in event 12 o ver Lance King . T hey had a war into the Iirst co rner but Knudsen eme rg ed with a lead. H e opened it up on lap two but Kin g ca me c ha rgin g back a n d chased Knudsen to th e checkered but h is seco n d -p lace fin ish ga ve th e Dan es a one-point lead. Kin g came righ t back in event 13. H e got a poor gate a nd found himself a t th e back of th e pack with Nielsen a t th e front. King qu ickl y moved in to seco n d wh en h e zipped past Kn ight and Sweden 's Pierre Brannefors but th at is as far as h e got an d the Da n es now h ad a two- poi nt lead. It was tim e for the Danes to break ou t th e co ffin hammers and nai Is before event 14 as a win wo u ld put th e h eat on th e Amer icans. Gundersen ra n a way with it wh il e Ermo lenko an d T atum battl ed for seco nd a nd in th e en d Ta tum took the two points. Tha t gave Denmark a 34-30 lead a nd th ey co u ld sew it up in the next race. Schwartz a n d Knudsen were bot h in a very important even t 15. Schwa rtz gal th e ga te from o ne with Kn udsen hot o n h is tail. Sch wa rtz was cl earl y ra cin g h is heart o u t for hi s co u ntry a n d Knudsen was do gging him. Schwartz main tain ed a n arrow lead th roug h lap lW H e h eaded Kn ud O. sen into the firs t bend o n lap three but th e Da n e went to th e ins ide in tu rn two a nd raced bv for th e lead. Schwarrz kep t a fter it b'Ul had 10 sell le for seco nd , The win gave th e Danes l a ~ ~ l h.er Ij rwel ip , I c;ir crown . T he Current World Speedway Champion Erik Gundersen returned from a long track crash to score ~ 0 points for Denmark. tying for second on their team. enti re tea m raced to th e front ch ute, swe p t Kn udsen in the a ir a n d gave th e tradi tio na l bumps while th e Danish fans went wild. The Am eri can fans ga ve the Danes a ni ce roun d o f ap p la us unti l Eriksen tr ied to h and a Danish n ag to a girl wh o wa s riding in th e back of a truck with a ca rd si gnifying which ' ra ce was u pcomin g . T he g irl hadan Am erican flag in her ha nd a nd wh en she refused to ta ke th e Dan ish flag Eri kse n began to hit her Am eri can flag with hi s n ag . That prompted the fans in th e a rea to • boo loudl y as well as sa lu ti ng h im with several obscen e ges tures. T he raang en ded as it began with an Am er ican win n ing a n d Den m ark ge lli ng last whe n Mo ran won h eat 16. But it d id n ' t m a tter as th e power ful learn fro m Denma rk h ad a two poi nt win . After th e event the Danes first cele brat ed wi th th eir troph y a nd th ey th en went to th e sta nds so th ei r fans co u ld be part o f th e victory. G u n der sen , who was a doubtfu l sta rter a few weeks ago a fter a long track spi ll in West Germa ny sai d, "Th is feels so gr ea t. Abso lutely grea t." Schwartz walked onto the tra ck to congratu lat e th em and he was me t by a chorus of Happy Birthday from a bevy of American fans. Sch wa n z ac knowledged rh e fan s a nd with just a few words he put th e en tireeven in g in perspective. "Th e best team won tonight," he said soleml y bu t he quickl y shot back with a sm ile, " Bu t just wait until • next year." Results HEAT 1: I . King; 2. Nilsson; 3 . Col lins; 4 . Pel ersen. HEAT 2 : 1. Kn udsen; 2. Doncaster; 3. Cook; 4 . Jonsson. HEAT 3: 1. Moran: 2 . N ielsen; 3. Nilsen; 4 . Tatum. HEAT 4 : 1. Sch wanz; 2. Gundersen; 3. A nders · son ; 4 . Kn ight. HEAT 5 : I . Knudsen; 2. Moren; 3. N ilsson; 4 . Davis. HEAT 6: 1. SChwenz; 2 . Er ikse n; 3 . Tetum: 4 . Jonsson. HEAT 7 : I . Gu nde r sen; 2. King; 3 . Donce s,er; 4 . Nilsen. HEAT 8 : 1. Nielsen; 2. Andersson ; 3 . Collins; 4 . Cook. HEAT 9 : 1. Sc hw enz; 2. Niel sen ; 3. Donceste r; 4 . Nil sson . HEAT 10: 1. Moran ; 2. Gunde rsen; 3 . Collins; 4 . Brannefora. . HEAT 11 : 1. Er ikse n; 2. Ermolenko; 3 . Kn ight; 4 . Nilsen . - HEA T 12 : 1. Knudsen; 2. King; 3 . Anderson; 4 . Tatum . • HEAT 13 : 1. Niel sen; 2 . King ; 3 . Knig ht: 4 . BraMefors . HEAT 14: 1. Gu ndersen; 2. Tatum; 3 . Ermolenko: 4 . Nilsso n . HEAT 15 : 1. Knudsen; 2. Schwartz; 3 . Nil sen; 4 . Davis. HEAT 16: 1. Moran ; 2. Don cast er; 3 . Andersson; 4. Erikse n. SCORES . : DENMARK (371 1. Tommy Knudsen 112); 2. ITIEI Er ik Gu nd ersen / Hans Niels en (10); 3. Preben Erik · sen (51 5. Bo Peter sen (01. ; U5A(35): 1.(TIEl Shawn M oren/Bobby Sch wertz 111); 3 . Lance King (9); 4 . Sam my Ermolenko (31 5 . ; John Cook (1). ; : ENGLAND (13) : 1. J erem y Donca ster (6 1 2. KeVIn Tatum (31; 3 . (TIE) Phi l Coli in slRichard Knight (2); 5 . John Davis (0 ). SWE DEN (101: 1. Jan Andersson (5 1 2 . Tommy ; Nilsson (3 1 3 . J im N ilse n (2); 4 . (TIEl Per Jonssonl : • Pierre Branne fors (0) ... .. • 7