Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126974
American Sam Ermolenko moves around Englishmen Jeremy Doncaster. Andrew S ilver and S imon Cross at the Inte rco nt ine nta l Fina l. American Kelly Moran (left) fin ished third. Mitch Shirra of New Zealand won the final and England's Jeremy Doncater took second . John Cook (13. U.S:A .) le a ds S imon Cross (10, England ) and Dave Bargh (4 , New Zealand) during the World Individual Speedway Final. Americans John Cook, Mike Faria and Kelly Moran do battle with Kelvin Tatum of England. World Champ-.ionship-Individual Speedway Final a hard battle for points. Tragedy soon struck Morton when his mac hi ne seized and Regeli n g ploughed into the back of him, sending ma n and machine hurtling across the trac k. Since Morton was the cause of the incident he was excluded from further competition which ended his hopes of transferring to the final. Moran started in fine form, winning race four against three other Americans and England's fallen start Tatum. The heat proved to be Tatum's downfall. He only made it to the first turn before his machine failed with ignition problems. He slowly came to a .sto p, as did the 1987 title hopes for the Bri tish and Commonwealth champion. Moran won easily over Faria and Cook, but it was Moran's only win during th e meet. He went on to record three seconds and a third for a tally of 10 points, before claiming third place on the rostrum by beating Ermolenko in a run-off. Cook, the last of the three Americans to transfer, had a tougher battle to book his ticket to Vojens, which is one of his favori te tracks. Even though he didn' t manage a race win , he scored in all of his rides, ta king three seconds and two th irds for eight points, the lo west point marker for qualifying. Cook's second ride saw him take second p lace behind a j ubi lant Pfetzing, who was so enthused he took a victory la p after the race. H is celebration came a little too soon, however. Pfetzing's championship hopes faded when he scored two " ducks". in his final races, finishing with six points. Shirra wins, Americans advance in .England By John Hipkiss BRADFORD , ENGLAND, JULY 5 America's hopes are still riding high as three out of th e five Yan ks 'com p etin g in th e overseas final in England transfered to the Intercontinental fin al, a semi-final to be ' held in Vojens, Den mar k. Advancing were Sam Ermolenko, Kelly Moran and West Coast-based John Cook, while 38 Rob Pfetzing and Mike Faria will make the long trip back to Ca lifornia. Moran and Ermolenko, who ride in the British League for Sheffield and Wolverhamton, respectively, . were involved in a run-off for third I place at Bradford, home of the 1985 World Final, where Erm olenko was involved in a three -man ru n-off for the title. Today, ho wever, it was Moran who got the better of "Sudden Sam," making it onto the rostrum behind second place, jeremy Do ncaster of England and meet winner Mitch Shirra of New Zeala nd. Ermolenko's start proved to be quite "sudden" . He made a disastrous start by finishing last in his opening race, making no impression whatsoever, on the other riders. Ermolenko made adj ustmen ts, altered his gearing and came back to finish second to England's Marvyn Cox next time out, then rattled off two race wins in his next three races. His first victory came over fellow West Coast racer Pfetzing and Kelvin Tatum. Ermolenko would not be headed in this vital heat and led from the start with Pfetzing following him home and Tatum trai ling in a poor third. . Ermolenko was beaten in his fourth race, the 13th heat of the competition , by new Overseas Champion Shirra. H is final victory, in the 19th race , was over Cook, who was looking hard for points, England's Chris Morton, who was desperate for a couple of points and Australia's Steve Regeling, who had already advanced to the next event. Ermolenko led Iroru th e start, leaving Cook and Morton to fight Pfetzing wasn't dispirited by his performance. He packed his bags to head back to the West Coast, bu t not before announci ng that h e had obtained a work permit to go back. across the pond III August to race in the Bri tish League for his former club, Wolverhampton. Pfetzing could have qualified in his fina l race, heat 20, when he faced Moran, Doncaster and New Zealander Dave Bargh. He needed at. least a second place to stay in the competition, not an impossible task, at least not until he reached the first turn, with Moran leaning hard on him into the bend. Faria also went out with onlv five points. He started with a second place behind Moran but never really found his pace at the Bradford bowl. He often missed vital starts and went away wishing that he had changed from Carlisle tires to Dunlops. Faria previously rode in the 1983 Overseas Final when he spent a season with Swindon in the British League. Moran, Errnolenko and Coo k march on to keep America's flag flying as high as ever in the quest for the 1987 World Individ ual Speedway Championship. At the next round, the Intercontinental Final to be held in Vojens on july 25th, they wi ll tackle the might of the super Danes, including World Cham p ion H ans Nielsen, former champion Erik Gundersen and many more of the world's top speedway racers. • Results POINTS : 1. Milch Sh i rr a (12); 2. Jeremy Doncaster (11); 3. (TIEl Kolly Moran/Sam Er molenko (l Ot 5. (TIE) Slevo Rogeling / Sim on Cross (91;7. (TIE) Nei l Evins / Marvyn Cox/John Cook (8); 10. (TIE) Chris Monon/Kelvin Tat um (7); 12. Dave Bargh (61 13. (TIEl Raben Pletting/Mike Faria (5); ; 15. pour Thorp (31;16. Andrew Silver (2).