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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127591
eSPEEDWAY Sem i-Final ! Ermo en 0 a.v n e Wor Final a csto Q'\ rl Ameri can Sam Ermolenko Oeft) dominated race fiv e onl y to blo w a motor yards from the finish line. Ermolenko qu alified for Pocking. Ermole n ko holds up his fmgers in celebration of qualifying for his seventh World Final, Ron nie Correy mirrors fru strati on after fa iling to quali fy. Correy will be a reserve at Pocki ng. By John H ipkiss VETLANDA, SWEDEN, AUG. 6 a m Er molenko advanced to the World Speedway Championship Final, where he hopes he can shake off the gremlins which have hounded him since he first made his impact on the wo rld scene eight years ago . Ermolenk o finished third in the 1985 World Final at Bradford, England, and two years later he was again' third in Amsterdam. Since then , although he has been one of the most consistent riders in the British League, injuries an d mechanical problems ha ve been his downfall at the crucial stage. . Cu rrently leading the Briti sh av erages h e will aga in try at Pocking, Germany, on August 29, to become the firs t Am erican Inidvidual Speedway World Ch ampion since Bruce Penhall in 1982 a nd he has that titl e firmly in his sigh ts althoug h he did not find it S 10 ea sy go in g in the Semi-F in al in Vetlanda. He made a pr om isin g start, lea ving England's Joe Screen, the eventual winner, behind in his first heal. but the second lime out he hit disaster when his engine blew a few yards short of the finish line when he was headed for another win. Er mo lenko was angry and disappointed, but he shrugged off the setback to ta ke another scalp in his th ird ride, that of Danish ace Tommy Knudsen. After being ou tga ted a nd ou traced by the flying Pole, Tomasz Gollob, and having to take second place in his fourth race, Ermolen ko badly need ed points from the fina l heat to make sure of gettin g one of th e eig ht qualifying spots. He led fo r nearly three la ps bef o re Sweden's Henrik Gus tafsson took him by su rp rise sweepi ng ar ou nd th e outside. But Ermolenko's two poin ts we re enough to see him through to Pocking on a lQ-point total. Ronnie Correy, Ermolen ko's teammate at Wolverhampton was not so fortunate. H e recovered well after be in g pushed back to third by Swedish rider Tony Rickardsson and Czechoslovakian Bo Brhel in his opening ride. A win over Gollob, second place to Screen, and another win in his fourth race against Pola nd 's [acek Kryzaniak, Marvyn Cox (Germany) and Piotr Swist (poland) put him second in the standings. Bu t tha t was where things went wrong for the Californi an. A w in in his last heat w ou ld have earned him a run-off with Screen for the top spo t, but Correy made a hash of the s tart and tail ed off la st behind Gustafson, Ermolenko and England rider Chris Louis. It meant that Correy had nine poi nts along with Louis and Swede n's Pe ter Ka rl sson, ano the r o f Co rrey's Wolverhampton teamma tes. Only two qualifying p laces remained and Correy again missed out. Louis swe pt around Karlsson from the outside gate and the Swede comfortably held off Correy to confirm his ticket to Pocking . Correy will also go, but only as a reserve. Correy was devastated after the meeting. "I knew things were not right when I lined up for that last race," said Correy. "I felt the clutch dragging into the comer and 1 should have said something before the run-off, but I didn't and the same thing happened again. "It was a te rrible mistake," said Correy. "It's hard to accept that one minute I was close to winning the meeting an d seconds later 1 was oul. I still can't believe it. I'm still in shock." Although Correy does no t want to cash in on another rider's misfortune, all he can hope for now is that one of the qualifiers will be forced to pu ll ou t, Screen headed the score chart with 12 points, and Gollob bea t Gustafsson in a ru n-off for second place after they had tie d with 11 po in ts. Despite Correy's fail ure, the U.S.A. will s till have three championship contenders a t Pocking. Ermo lenko, who finished fifth at Vetlan d a with 10 po in ts, will be joined by Greg Hancock and Billy Ha mill who q ualified from the first Semi-Final at Lonigo, Italy. ~ Results 1. Joe Scree n ( Eng land) 12; 2. Tom an Go llo b (Pol.1nd ) 11; 3. Henrik Gus tafsson (Swed on) 11; 4. Tony Rickardsson (Sweden ) 10; 5. Sam Ennolonko (USA) 10; 6. Per Jonsson (Swede n) 10; 7. Chris Louis (England) 9; 8. Peter Karlsson (Swede n) 9.