Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

lead after the qualifying heats. Shawn was doing his part, riding consistently and picking up fOUT points' from each of his rides, but those slips of mine were costly. It was very disappointing." Despite Ermolenko's mistakes, the USA went into th e semi-finals ahead o f Denmark and only three points down on the England pairings of Kelvin Tatum and Simon Cross. While England falt ered in th e semis, America stayed on cou rse. Moran beat Hungarian Antal Kocso with Errnolenko in third pl ace and England 's lead wa s' cut to two points, setting th e scene for a thriller final. Den mark's team of' World Champion Hans Nielsen and former title holder Erik Gundersen had struggled in the early heats. Gundersen picked up only eight points out of a possible 20. But th ey had pulled themselves together, taking first and second in their semi, and were there on the same points as the USA, lining up in the final. England's two -po int advantage m eant not hing when it was announced the y were drawn in the outside lanes while Den mark had the 'advantage of the inside positions. The title was virtually decided at the first bend with Nielsen hugging the lineand Gundersen driving through . the middle, taking out Errnolenko and Tatum . Gundersen swept around the. tum to join his partner and make sure of th e title for the third year running, the first time any partnership has done the hat trick since the competition was introduced in 1970. T he rest were left to sort out the minor placings and America 's chance of finishing as runners-up' ended on the home straight when Cross charged through to grab three vital points for Eng land while Moran wa s looking for h is partner. "Tha t did not bother me," said Ermolen ko. '; 1 don't see any advantage in finishing second. We wanted to win and I'm sure we could have made it if I had no t dropped those early points." The six-man starts on the tigh t Bradford track caused p roblem s for the riders. Especially those unlucky enough to have the outside lanes. " When you get six world-class riders charging wheel to wheel into the first turn as we did in the final , the riders on the outside just have nowhere to go, " Errnolenko said. " You can't even race, it 's simply a matter of who can ch eat best at the starting gate." . While Errnolenko mourned his luck, the Danes were delighted with their success , the fourth win in four years for Den mark. G u ndersen , who struggled in opening rounds, finished with two wins when they counted most. He discounted claims from the England team that as leaders they should have han th e choic e o f starting positions, although he agreed that six-man races on a track as narrow as Bradford meant the first bend was too much of a gamble. " It was hard luck on England being drawn -o n the outside, but that's how things go in these championships," G und ersen said, "Alt hough we lost points in the early heats, we were al ways in wi th a chance of p ulling them back and things worked out right for us in the • end." Results . t . Denm ark 45 (Hans Nielsen 27 . Erik Gundersen 18); 2. England 41 (Kelvin Tatum 21 . Simon Cross 20); 3, USA 39 (Shaw n Moran 2 3. Sam Ermolenko 26); 4 , New Zealand 32 (Mitch Shirr a 24. Alan Riven 8); 5. Swed en 29 (Ji mmy Nilsen 17, Per Jonsson 12); 6. Hungary 2 5 (Anta l Kocso 15. Zoltan Adorjan 10); 7 , Italy 2 1 (Armando Castagna 17. Valentino Fu rlanetto 4); 8 . West Germany 21 (G erd Riss 17. Tommy Dunker 41; 9. Poland 17 (Piotr Swist 9 . Roman .Jankewski 8) . r . CONGRATULATIONS TO T5U~AKI TSUBAKI CHAIN .W INNERS eo..., , • AIIIA Pro 1IN1111... ..... 7 IfJoI 0Ili0,OR • 1st 58 BUIU SIlOIERT/Te... H...... I . 1st PTW/II pm JOHII501l/FIIF I• 2ad PTW/II CIIAIC SIlAIIBAUGHIFBf ·Speci ll to BUBU SHOBERT new 5lIpenili. Poills lallier i. AIIIA fiOIJ _ / CiuJpioosIJip ~OII AM 6 /:. • 1st CHRIS CARR/II-O eo.lrIbdatI_ ; . 2ad STEVE AS£l T1NE/IID • WflIA r _/GS_ '. I• f:O"'~.ru1w. RACE TEAll 1st SJIM W1WA11S IlACIIlG • 1st ...... CitI'It .....J!I '" . • 1st FB TOlIIIY BOL.ON • 1st Pro StTOMIIY BOlTON er."" JrJIy J 6 w.,.". co JrJIy JO AM/:. 6 • 3nI UPA IWlK ~... • 1st 250A ED LOJAIl,IIIusqY1rn8 ROYAlEuallC Itlt • 1st 58 BU88A SIlOIERT/T_ IIolIda • 1st Pro TW Pm IOIIIISON/FIF • WflIA r _/GS 6/fr. H St. l.aIoia ""., 11_117. 11 • 1st O/A HUIWlRACE 'fUM '., • 2ad O/AHARD CORE MalIC • 3nl O/A TEAll SUZUIU ENDUIWlCE U.5.T 00 00 O"l • Dnr.iJ

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