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/127593
eSPEED~~rldfudM~~Ch~_ioo_sh~i_&~'na_I~~~~~~~~~~_ ! rmo en 0'St e am ion! t"""'1 By John H ipkiss POCKING, GERMANY, AUG.29 a m Erm o le nko, the man whose eventfu l speedway caree r has bee n p u n ct ua te d with m is fortune and controversy, fin a lly s h rugged o ff the jinx to become Am erica 's fir st World Champion si nce Bruce Penhall. He's also only the th ird Ame rican to ha ve won the title. Jack Milne was th e firs t, winni ng the World Cha m p ionship in 1938, and Pe nhall the second with title winning performances in bo th 1981 an d '82 . The m o s t co n s iste nt ride r in th e British League for the past three yea rs, Ermolenko has often struggled to assert his authority when it has been need ed th e mos t, bu t this time th at essen tial ele ment o f luck was on his side. He had to survive two jit tery mo ments before he ov ercame the challenge o f th reetime World Champ ion Hans Ni elsen and was assured of the cro wn, but few speed way fo llowers co u ld b egrudge hi m of his success. From the start it was clea rly going to be a two-man battle. After the firs t two round s Ca l if o rn ian Ermolenko a nd Dane Nielsen were the only riders not to h ave dropped a p oint . Ermolenko led all the way in his tw o ou tings wh ile Ni elsen ha d shown h is determi nation by co mi n g fr om beh ind to beat 1992 World Champ ion Ga ry Ha ve lock of Eng land. Ermolen ko's firs t doub t came in his th ird race when Po li s h contende r Tomasz Gollob was knocked down as the ri ders b u n ch ed in the fi rs t turn. Ermo lenko might have been respon sibl e, but Br itish referee Fra nk Eb d o n call ed a ll fou r rid ers back for a rerun and Erm olenko was quick to accep t his second cha nce. Two hea ls later N ielsen w as held off for fou r na il-biting laps by Ermo len ko's Bri t is h Leag ue teammate Pe ter Karl sson of Sweden, and at the end of three rounds, Ermolenko was the only rider w ith a perfect score. The crunch ca me in heat 15 with the cla sh of the g ia n ts, Er molenko a nd N ielsen. Ermolenko s ho t into the lead on the back straight and Niel sen loo ked beat en, b ut coming off the fourth tum Ermolenko drifted w id e a n d N ielsen saw his chance. He took it at full thr ottle but slid into Erm olen ko on the wav , and the American was driven into the fence. The rac e w as s topped a nd referee Eb don decid ed N iels en was a t fau lt, b ut the Danish rider stayed on the track to take his p lace at the sta rting ga te for the r eru n cl e arl y thi n ki ng th at Ermolenko should have been excluded . The rerun was held up for several minutes before th e s ta rt ing o fficia ls pers ua d ed Ni elsen to return to the pits. There was an u p roar from the Dan ish fan s and there w as mo re trouble as the race got u nd er way a second time. As the three rem a ining rid er s hit the first tu rn Er mo le nko was lead in g, but his cha in snapped when fellow American Billy Hamill ran in to his rear wh eel and fell. It was a tr icky situa tion for the referee . Ha mill w as d own, Er mo lenko had s to p p e d a nd En g land's An dy Smith was th e on ly rider still going. Ebdon S Sam Ennolenko leads Hans Nielsen in the pivotal race 15. Enn olenko became the first Ameri can World Champion since Bruce Penhall. Bill y Hamill (3) fini sh ed 10th in th e World Final. Hamill earned th e las t qu alifying spot in th e 1994 G ran ds Pri x. 22