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seco nd-place finis hes to Manches ter in
round tw o and Hancock in roun d three.
"I we nt out there and everything was
righ t for th e first two rides. I sta rt ed
thinking abou t my bike and I tried to
adap t it to the cha nging track co nditio ns ," Ermolenko said. " But the bike
wouldn' t hold up to the changes I made.
Then I sta rte d th inking abo u t myself.
I've got to get my shit .together for these
last tw o heats."
It would get worse for Ermolenko in
he at 14. Com ing off the pole, he lost one
point to Ha mill and another to the event
leaders with a disappoin ting third-place
finish. This pu t Ermol en ko squa rely on
the bubble along w ith two Southern Californ ia regulars: Venega s, who had wo n
heat 13 for three big points; and Faria,
who finis hed in second place in heat ~4,
a hea d o f Er rno- .
lenko. John Ad en
picked up his first
w in of the night in
heat 15.
Heat 16 was the
quintessen tial race
of the evening as it
pitted t he th re e
lead ers, all un defeated , against one
a no th er. Larsen
would come from
th e p o le, wi th
Mancheste r to his
im medi a te right.
Hed d en w as in
gate three, with
H ancock on th e
outsi de.
Larsen took the
s tart w h e n the
tap es wen t up but
drifted
h igh,
allowing Hancock to drop down and
tum the comer first for the lead on the
back straight. Manchester got his worst
start of the meeting, beating Hedden to
the first tum and dropping right to the
pole in an attemp t to stay with Hancock
and Larsen. The dust wisping off Manches ter 's rear tire told the tale; there
wasn't any traction to be had down low,
and he was stuck in third place. Hancock continued unwaveringly to the
checkered flag for the win and retention
of a maximum score. Larsen fin ish ed
second - dropping a critical point - and
Manchester cruised to third.
"I made a great jump on Larsen, but
he beat me to the comer," Hancock said .
"I just had to make it happen. I was on
the back of that th ing and pressing as
hard as I could for every tum."
Hancock was clearly over the hump,
then a runaway w in over Schwartz,
John Kehoe and Oxley in heat 17 gave
the PowerBa r /Oilzall/Troy Lee
Designs/Bell/Eddie Bull/Cirello/Talon
Engineering /GTS Leathers /Oak ley
MSR-backed Hancock the vindication he
had come seeking.
"I feel great, obviously, because I
wanted to win it full stop, and I didn't
want to lose an y points. That's what I
did," Hancock said . "I try not to think
about (the past). I'm more concerned
with tomorrow rather than yesterday.
Instead of getting run over, we ran over
everybody this time."
Hancock may have locked up th e
title, but the remaining four qualifying
spots were still up for grabs. Larsen was
assured on e of them when he finished
second behind a rejuvenated Ermolenko
in heat 18.
Hamill ' s win in heat 19 drew h im
even with Larsen at 11 points, ensuring
at least one run-off on the night, bu t it
also spelled a d isastrous end for Manchester. Looking sure to earn a spot for
the next round , Manchester ga ted
(Rig ht) Hancock (left)
peers over his shoulder
at Larsen (right) In heat
16. Larsen tried but
failed to catch Hancock,
finishing second and
dropping a point.
(Below right) Billy
Hamill faltered In the
early rounds before
coming on strong later
In the night. Hamill
defeated Larsen Ina
run-ofllor second
place.
(Below) Seconds alter
this photo was taken In
heat 19, Chris Manchesterclippeda hay bale
and was seriously Injured In the subsequent
crash. The accident ended Manchester's bid for
a qualifying spot
behind Hamill and drew close to him as
they came back across the stri pe at the
end of lap one. Manchester continued to
look for a way around Hamill in turns
one and two before setting up for a fateful pass attempt in tum three. Drifting
to the extreme outer edge of the tu m,
Manchester momentarily caught tra ction, bringing his wheels into line. He
continued to try and turn th e co rner
behind Hamill, but clipped the last hay
bale in tum four just as his dri ve down
the front stra ightaway had begun. Manchester's GM instantly made a hard left
turn, throw ing h im to the grou n d.
Thou gh consciou s and alert, Manchester
complained o f se vere soreness in his
right hip . He was taken by ambulance to
the Ventura County Med ical Center
wher e X-ra ys later determined there
were no breaks, but Manchester had
apparently d islocated his hip severe ly in
the crash.
Manchester ' s s u d d en m isfortune
qu ickly put Faria back in the hunt for a
qualifying spo t, w hich was gu aranteed
when he won heat 20, the final regu lar
round of the eveni ng.
In the run-offs to determine the final
finishing ord er behind Hancock - an d
more importantly, the gate draw for the
Overseas Final - Hamill defea ted Larsen
for second place, w hile Faria defea ted
Ermolenko for fourth place, surprising
everyone, except maybe himself.
"I figured it wo uld take 12 points to
qualify for this thing," Fari a said .
"Unfortunately, what happened to Chris
made it that much easier. I just went for
it. You had to go to the dirt."
Hamill, though a bit d isappointed
ab out the way his evening had go ne ;
still offered the best summation of what
the American Final was all about.
"I told you it was going to take a lot
of throttle," Ha mill said . "I'm through
(to the ne xt round). Wha t more can I
~y?n
D
Larsen (13); 4. Mike Faria (11); 5. DuIde Ennolenko (11);
Ventura County Fairgrounds
Ventura, california
Results: May 21, 1994
6. Ouis Manchester (10); 7. Owiie v ~ (8); 8.1loI>by
Schwartz (7); 9. (TIE) Ed Castro/Jim 51
S