Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.SPEEDWAY··. ., Worldlndlvldual.~ Round 4: Linkopping Speedway with nowhere to go as they came off the back straight on the second lap anli took a header into the fence. "I just don't know how the referee could've excluded me," argued the 'Bullet' after seeing his exclusion light come on. "I was tucked behind Greg and there was no way the referee could've had a clear view (of the incident). I was not to blame." In the re-run, Hancock had iiIe'-a lot easier and staved off the early Ermolenko challenge. Knudsen then gained a confidence-boosting hea t win over Nielsen before Gollob took full advantage of a late mistake by Wild Card ~try Peter Karlsson. (Left) Winner Tommy Knudsen (center) Is flanked by runner-up Tony Rlckardllson (left) and third-place flnlMer Greg Hancock (right) at the Speedway Grand Prix round In Sweden. (Below) Sam Ermolenko (12) dives under two-time Grand Prix winner Knudsen (5). Ermolenko suflarad mechanical problems but stili quallfled for the B Anal where he finished fourth. By John Hlpklss LINKOPPING, SWEDEN, AUG. 12 I ~ 0\' ...... a rf") ..... } 18 f there was any anxiety on Tommy Knudsen's part concerning the outcome of Gary Havelock's appeal, the Dane never let on, and instead became the first rider to win two rounds in the inaugural Speedway Grand Prix Series. With both riders even on GP points after Knudsen had been awarded four points from the opening two Grand Prix rounds, Havelock was aggrieved that he was due t6 sit out this roun4 by virtue of the fact that Knudsen had the better GP rating. But on appeal Havelock was reinstated by the FIM at the expense of American Josh Larsen, who had expected to make his first GP appearance following the injury that had ruled him out of the series to date. It was a strange decision by the FIM jury, who announced at the pre-meeting press conference that "the rule has been clarified and Gary was right in pointing out that any changes to the rule must be made at least seven days before an ensuing GP round, and that our decision to allocate four points to Tom~y was sanctioned just five days previous to the German round. In the interests of the sport, the jury has decided that both riders will be eligible to contest today's round, and Josh Larsen will be the first reserve. Josh will .automatically take his place in the lineup for the Vojens round." While the speedway world was debating this remarkable adjudication, the 16 competitors set about the task of producing the most keenly contested round of the series to date. At the interval stage, Knudsen of Denmark was level on points, unbeaten, with current World Champion Tony Rickardsson of Sweden, and both riders were due to meet in their next outing. Series leader Hans Nielsen had already suffered the ignominy of a third-place finish in his third ride and, by his standards, was having a bad night, having mustered just six points. On a grippy track that was in total contrast to the slick circuit that had been prepared for the practice session the previous day, the meeting was wide open with American Greg Hancock chasing the leaders with eight points after three rides and a plethora of riders challenging for a place in the all-important A final. Quite evidently, Race Director Ole Olsen and his track maintenance crew had worked extensively overnight to transform the slick circuit by adding truck loads of shale to produce the deepcshale track. Rickardsson opened the meeting with a heat win after having to pass the fast-gating Craig Boyce in the process. Things became really tight as the trio of Americans gave no quarter in the battle for supremacy. Hamill, finding himself on the outside of Hancock, was left With the track slowly churning up, the riders were left looking for different racing lines, which made the racing much more unpredictable and continually had the BODO-plus crowd on its feet. . Having gained victory over Hancock in his second ride, Knudsen was grateful for an untimely engine failure by Ermolenko in their third outing. Ermolenko was on course for his first race win of the meeting (and only his fourth of the series) when his new laiddown motor packed up, leaving him

• Cover