Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Semi-Final Americans Billy Hamill (left) and Greg Hancock (rightl 'flank Dane H a~s Nie lsen after quali fyin g for the World Final. Hamill, Hancock headedto WorldFinal By John Hip kiss LONICO, ITALY,JULY 24 ith Ame rican hopes for a World Ind ividu al Speedway Cha mpionshi p resting on th e ir sho ulders, Californ ia ns Billy H amill an d Greg Hancock overcame troublesom e injuries at the Wodd Sem i-F in a l to clinch two of th e 16 ava ilabl e star ting posi tions in the World Champ ion ship Final to be he ld at Pocking, Germany, on August 29. Hancock h ad to h a ve a specia l brace fitted to p rotect d am aged ligaments in his left knee and Hamill was n u r s in g a cra c ke d b one in hi s left wrist. But th e tw o riders who repres e n t C radle y Hea t h in t h e Bri tish Speed wa y Leag ue rode th ro ugh the pain to not only qua lify for the World Final, bu t to w in places on the vic tory rostrum in Ita ly. Alth ou gh t h e y h ad to ta ke the m in or p lacings to the eventual winner, th ree-time World Champ ion Hans Nielsen of Denmark, there could well be a differen t endi ng in the final now that the youn g Americans have su ch confide nce boosting p erformances behind them . Through o u t th e meet ing Hamill remained ev en on poin ts with Nielsen after each ride r had completed his five rid es. Bot h rid ers had scored 13, but Nielsen out-gated Hamill in the runoff to take the gold medal spot. Hancock finished thi rd, one point down. The two America ns and Nielsen all mad e th e p e r fec t start by winning the ir ope ni ng races, but Nie lsen and H amill m et in the s eco nd round . Although Ham ill led br iefly, N ielsen took th e chec kered flag firs t, puttin g Hamill one po in t do wn. Hancoc k a lso dropped a p o int, tak ing sec ond to Au stralian Leig h Adam s , b ut he d efeated N ie ls e n in round .th r ee to pull eve n with the Dane. The race was \ W Hamill (13) leads Denmark's Brian Karger and Hungary's Zollan Ha jdu in race fou r. Han cock (inside) beat Niel sen (cen ter) in round four to stay on par for the even t, 36 neck and neck on the fi rst la p , b u t coming ou t of the fourth t u rn H ancock had the edge and he steadily pulled away to wi n the hea t. An other w in for Ha mill over Ita lian favorite Arm and o Castag na in he at 12 ' p u t the three p a ce-sette r s on e ve n , terms, but wh il e Ha ncock als o bea t Castagna in his fourth rou nd hea t and Nielsen won his race, Ha mill took seco n d to En g la n d 's Mar tin D u g ar d , lea vin g H ancock and Nielsen as the co-leaders . The picture changed dramaticall y whe n the Americans met in heat 19. Hamill fou ght from behind to post the win ahead of German Gerd Riss while Hancock was pu sh ed back to thi rd . Th e resu lts of the hea t d idn't ma tt er as both riders we re cert a in of quali fyin g for th e Wo rld Fina l, celebrating w it h a series of wheelies as the y rode toge the r back to the pits. , A w in for Nielsen in his fina l heat did li ttle to d ampen th e Am e rican s' sp irits . It wa s immat eri al that Hamill los t out to N ie lsen in th e runoff . Th e important thing wa s that he had qua lified for th e World Fina l alt hough he was a lat e s ta rte r in Britain this year because h e co u l d not ag ree to t he lower pay rates. "I ha ve no regrets at a ll'about an ythin g," said Hamill. "I 'm just looking forward to Pocking. Wh~n I rod e th ere two ye a rs a g o I r eall y e njoye d myself ." Ha ncock will be a p pea ri ng in h is firs t W orld Fi nal , but Ha ncoc k's ch ampi on ship history is a n u nhap py o ne. He q ua lified at the Ame rican Fin al in 1990 on ly to break his arm w hen he fell in the placings ru noff. The n t he following ye a r after first being told that his British average was to o low for him to compete in the Ame rican round he was r epri e ved , bu t was no t fully recov ered fro m his injury wh en the meet in g was broug h t forward . Las t ye ar he was not e ve n give n a chance. After being seeded by th e AMA to th e overseas stage they cha nged their m inds and he was ruled o u t. H a ncock was charged for this year's series, but a knee injury while ri d in g for Cra dley Heath agai nst Bradford fo ur weeks before the SemiFinal almos t wrecked his hopes of riding the track w here he helped the U.S. to ta ke the Worl d Pa irs Ch ampion ship a ye ar ago . ' A merican ride r Bob by Schwa r tz came to Ha ncock's rescue , a rra ngi ng for a kn ee brace to be mad e for him in the Sta tes. "C.T.!. built the kn ee bra ce a nd I owe a lo t to them and to Bobby (Schwa rtz)," said Hancock. "The brace was perfect. I was a bit wary the firs t time I used it, I was afraid to ben d my knee. I had no p roblem at all, just a pain in my ba cksid e where I slid off in practice." Hancock is also looking forwa rd to Po ckin g . "Ma k in g m y fir st World Final is really so me thi ng. I have wail ed a Io ngH rne for th is - t he ' knee injury made me think everythi ng was goin g wron g ag a in, " sa id Hancock. "Bu t a fter all tha t has happen ed over the las t three yea rs this is almost a ble ssing." With Hamill and H ancock ove r the last hurdle, a tten tion will now turn to t heir fellow A m erica ns Sam Ermolenko and Ron nie Co rrey, who wi ll be looking to q ua lify for t he Wo rl d Final frornfhe second SemiFinal in Sweden. I:N Results 1. Han' Ni el sen (De nmar k) 13; 2. Billy Hamill (USA) 13; 3. Greg Han cock (USA) 12; 4. Leigh Adams (Aus l ralia)11; S. Gary Hav el o ck (Eng la nd) 9; 6. Armando Castagna (ltaly) 9; 7. Gert Riss (Germany) 9; 8. Andy Smith (Eng lan d ). \

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