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.SPEEDWAY . World Grand Prix Challenge Lonigo Speedway to pass him and take the heat win. Not that it mattered as Adams won each of his last three rides to clinch the top spot in style. Both Adams and Cox looked certain to qualify from the moment each recorded wins in their opening rides, but what a scramble went on behind them in the standings as the Italian crowd of 5000 basked in the sunshine and marveled at the sight of riders doing all they could to finish in the top eight as the six automatic seedings and two reserve spots were on the line. Three riders finished with 11 points to take their places in next year's series: Sweden's Peter Karlsson, who was seeded to the GP Challenge by virtue of his three appearances in the 1995 Grands Prix; two-time '95 Grand Prix winner Tommy Knudsen of Denmark; and perhaps the bravest rider of the afternoon, England's Joe Screen. Still suffering from a badly broken left foot, Screen defied doctor's orders to ride. Though he had to be lifted on and off his bike before and after each race by his helpers, who included former World Champion Peter Collins, Screen clinched fifth place overall after surviving a firstbend fall in his third ride. Finishing one place behind Screen was his British Premier League Bradford Dukes teammate and 1992 World Champion Gary Havelock, who looked to be out of the competition after three (Above) Australia's Leigh Adams (middle) splits Sweden's Mlkael Karlsson (Inside) and England's Joe Screen (outside) on the way to a 14-polnt day and a triumph at the Grand Prix Challenge In Lonlgo, Italy. (Right) Marvyn Cox (foreground) put together 13 points for second place and a berth to the Grands Prix. But what about Larsen? C ompetitively speaking, the year 1995 is fast turning out to be a year to forget for American Josh Larsen. who cannot wait for the European season to finish so that he can return to California. Having missed the first three Grand Prix rounds due to a back injury sustained at an individual meeting in Germany, his involvement in the last three rounds should have seen him gain a place in the Gr!lJl(i Prix Challenge meet at Lonigo. Should is the operative word. for the FIM did not indude Larsen in the lineup, and acc0rding to Larsen, the sanctioning body has not yet bothered to give him a reason why. The Grand Prix ruJes dearly state that any rider competing in tIuee Grand Prix rounds would ride at Lonigo. Based OIl that niling, Sweden's Peter Karlsson ctid. Larsen did not, and no one seems 10 know why. HI suppose it's typical of the way that I've been treated by the FIM that they didn't give me any reason for not including me at Lonigo: Larsen said. After the British Grand Prix I was told to go back to tile rideis' hotieI and wait for a senior FIM offu:iaI to come and see me. 1 waited and waited, more in hope than anything else, but no one showed. which is what 1 should have guessed would happen in the first place." Larsen adm,its that his abysmal treatment at the hands of the FIM have left a big question made. 0'Vft his futuft! racing plans in Europe. "I have to say now that fill. at the point where 1 reaDy don't care, as they've totally screwed up my 8eIlSOII," Larsen said. NAnd if they'd CBI1ed me offering a place in the chalJenge meet, r d probably have told them where to shove it. My dub, ArenaEssex, have been great, and it's 0Il1y my loyalty to them that saw me return to Ensland after the U.s. NatioDaIa. As to next year, well, 1 really don't know at the moment. I just want to get home, !:lave a break, and then give thought to what 1 .want to do with my life &em 1iM!re, Maybe ru go back to Europe next year, maybe 1 woa't. We'lIjustMwfDwaitandsee." A pcett:y' disitha!lioned _ , ~ got even WOl'Ile for Larsen. On the day of the Grand Prix GalIenp, he _ an iDvitatioa to ride in an open meeting in Gnie:zo, PaImd" wbeft he aacbed, aud iastead of eamiIlg a few bucks, ended his day COM'urd, bllitaed and bruised. H By John Hipkiss LONlGO, ITALY, OCT. 8 hree-time Australian Champion Leigh Adams stole the show at Lonigo Speedway en route to earning the win - and more importantly one of six direct berths to the 1996 World Individual Championship Series - at the World Grand Prix Challenge meeting in Lonigo, Italy. Adams looked to be in control from start to finish aboard his super-fast G,M prepared by ace German tuner Otto Weiss. He dropped just one point in five rides to earn 14 points for the win while England's Marvyn Cox claimed second with 13 points. Five super-smooth starts had the Aussie Adams breathing fresh air by the time he hit the first turn each time, and it was only a mistake at the end of the first lap in heat eight that allowed Cox 7 rides with just four points to his name. An engine failure while leading heat J1 looked to be his undoing, but Havelock picked up five points in his last two races to clinch the sixth spot on the day with a total of nine. With six riders qualified, that left three.riders battling for the two remain- . ing reserve spots. Australia's Craig Boyce, England's Andy Smith and Poland's Tomasz Gollob tied on eight points, forcing a runoff for the remaining placings. GoUob, the first rider to post a win under the new Grand Prix format, never should have allowed himself to fall that far down the scoring ladder and for the rest of his life perhaps will be left cursing a rash challenge on Knudsen in an earlier heat. Eight points from .his first four rides left the Poiish star needing just one point from heat 17 to see him qualify. In that race, he gated in second