Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

World Individual Championship Series Preview tha t he alwavs wa nte d to stav with the team on a short-term basis. Instead, Ermolenko has spent the opening weeks of th e 1996 British campaign with the Sheffield Tigers, but he is set to leave the South Yorkshire club at the end of the m on th in order to concentrate all his efforts on the Grand Prix trail. "I was so busy with British League racing last year that I had to look at my schedule," Ermolenko said. "And I'm glad that I did, because somethi ng had to give in or de r for me to do well in the Gra n ds Prix. I looked at some of the other guys like Tony Rickardsson and Hans N ielsen, and I saw th at they had quit British Leagu e and they were certainl y ben~ fitin g fro m it in terms of a mo re sens ible sche dule. They are great riders, and th ey co u ld probably cope with British League a s w ell, bu t th e Grand Prix is so important th at you have .to be tot ally right befor e you prep are for a G r and Prix . It ' s n ot idea l wh en yo u a re ra ci n g in Britain on a Thursday night be fore flyin g ou t to a Grand Pr ix at the w eeken d . You ju st cannot be properly pr epared like that. "I believe that I have done the righ t l ed by reigning World Champion Hans Nielsen 01 Denmark (left), the 16 best speedway riders in the world willaga in battle for the world title in a six-race Grand Prix series. By John Hipk iss ra n d Pri x speed w ay returns this week end - but only after a massive spat over tires was resol ved . The crisis, which almost brought a ha lt to th e World Individual Ch ampionship Series altogether, stemmed from an argu ment concerning the decision to use new solid -block tires in th is year's GPs. The riders felt th at the new tires were too unsafe to be consi dered, and several announce d that they would no t co nsider competin g o n them withou t proper testing. Talks appeared to have broken down between Gran d Prix Race Director - an d th ree-time World Speedway Champion - Ole Olsen an d officials of the International Grand Prix Speedwa y Riders' Association, and the entire Grand Prix series appeared to b e in doubt before FIM President Francesco Zerby was forced to step in and a compromise was agreed upon. The current plan now calls for testing of th e new G tires in p ractice d uring th e first three Gra nds Prix and then implem entation in the final th ree rou nds. Af ter the decision was m ade, the world's top riders, includi ng Americans Sam Erm olen ko, Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock, were given a deadline to sign Grand Pri x contracts or face exp u lsion from the spo rt's top com petition. Hancock, the winner o f last yea r's British Grand Prix in London, is happy with th e arrangement after the en tire series looked threatened at on e stage. " It was just too soon for these tires to be used in the toughest competition of all, and I'm so pleased everything ha s been sorted ou t after a bit of give and take on both sides," Hancock sai d . "It means that we will be able to practice on these new tires, and we will be able to report back to GP officia ls with our comments. Instead of fighting with the managem ent, we will be workin g wi th them. The Grand Prix was a great success las t year, and I was always confi- dent th at some solutio n woul d be reached after all th e h ard work put in last year, because it is too goo d to waste ." The FIM ha d notified the re leva n t countries of the prob lem s surrou nd ing th e G Ps and went as far as to ask for n omin ati ons for a lte rna tive r iders sho uld the crisis rem ain. "I don 't really believe there was an y chance of it getting to that stage:' Hancock said . "A lot of it was jus t talk, but thankfully everything is ready to go for (Wroclaw) Poland." And wi th that, the series is on , and 1993 World Champion Sam Ermolenko should on ce again be a key player in it. Erm olenk o appe ars as serious as ever to reg ain the world number one - so serious that he ha s backed out of a full pr ogram of British Premier League for thi s season. Ermol enko told his parent club, Wolverhampton, that he w ould no t be ab le to do a fu ll season, so the team elected to replace him despite the fact thing," Ermolenko said . "But I suppose only time will tell, because the Grand Prix is a long, hard roa d for all the guys, and it' s ge tting more and more competitive." Erm olenko finished last year's Grand Pri x rounds in sty le af te r a nigh tm ar e run of results in Austria and Germany which put him under pressure to keep his Grand Prix seed ing, as on ly the top eight rid ers were assured of a place this year. But he came on strong toward the en d of th e series to fini sh th e year in third place after finally sorting out his machinery, a factor which he believes he will ge t right from the start th is year. ' "Last year' s Grand Prix was the first on e for everybody, so it was a leaming process, which m eant e ve ryon e was le vel ," Ermolenko sa id . "Bu t I had all sorts of bike problems which I couldn' t work ou t - ma inl y b ecause I w as too busy racing, and that's one of the reasons why I made this decision." Ermolenko is ex pected to be one of

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