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.S E D A . . P E W Y· . World Individual Championship Series . Round 2: Italian Grand Prix (Left) Defend ing Wor ld Champion Hans Nielse n (1) mastered the start and held off Bill y Hamill (5) and Tony Rlckardsson (2) for vict ory at the Italian Grand Prix. (Below left) Polish GP winner To mmy Knu dsen (12) defeated Rlc kardsson (ri ght) In heat 20 to cem ent a spot In the A final, where he crashed and sustained a bro ken coll arbone. - By John Hlpklss LONlGO ITALY, JUNE I , eigning World Champion Hans Nielsen of Denmark proved just wh y he is the favorite to do .it all again in the World Individual Championship Series this year when he gra bbed his chance to clai m the Italian Gra nd Prix victory at Lonigo in brilliant sty le. Nielsen, who was the clear winner of the first-ever Grand Prix series last year, looked se t to m iss ou t on th e A fina l w hen he fin ish ed th e quali fyin g heats with II points, but when second-pl ace points man Greg Hancock fell in his final qualifi er , N ie lse n w as all owed in thr ough the back door. The meeting was keenly contested yet again, with all th e riders clearly determined to finish as high up the ladder as possible - even if it meant taking certain . risks that they .would perhaps not d are to try in normal league racing. Am erican rider " Su d den" Sam Ennolenko had possibly the worst night he could ever have feared , and his hop es for Grand Prix glory were shattered after he finished in last place and took a ride to the hospital after a horrific crash in the D final. . QUALIFYING HEATS Ennolenko's nightmare began in heat one when he lifted at the start and was taken out wide in the second tum. It is always important to make a good start in th ese meetings, and ErmoIenko was clearly upset at the end of the race. Australia's Craig Boyce made a dream start to lead Nielsen, and England's Gary Havelock took ad vantage of Ermolenko's misfortune to grab third place. With every point vital throughout a Grand Pri x meeting, Havelock' s gain was very much Ermolenko's loss, and Havelock would go on to enjoy his best Grand Prix yet. . Denmark's Tommy Knudsen looked set to repeat hi s success in the open ing round in Poland after firing a warning to those who felt that he could not pr oduce .consisten t results. He was a comfortable winner of heat two, finishing well ahea d o f th e bes t action as Gre g Ha n cock missed the gate from the outside before making a brilliant move out of the secon d bend. The gutsy American went to th e boar d s an d gra bbe d a han d fu l of thr ottle, taking him pas t Brits Joe Screen and Marvyn Cox for a second-p lace finish. Drama su rrou nded heat three whe n America's Billy "The Bullet" H am ill - . fourth at the opening round in Poland missed the gate and was taken out in the first bend. This, on paper at least, was a rac e which Hamill should ha ve be en cap abl e of winning. but instead it was Italian wild-card entry Stefan Alfo nso wh o made a su rp rise start and sent the horn e fans wild as he ra ced to victory. . Eng lishman Chris Loui s edged o u t Hamill w ith Sweden ' s Hen ka Gu st afsson looking below par in last place. Form er W orld Ch ampi on Tony Rickardsson of Sweden pu lled off a stunning rid e in heat fou r w he n he wen t from third to first. Britishers Andy Smith and Mark Loram were looking se t for the first two placings until Rickardsson, who was obvious ly quicker , m ad e his move perfectly - scraping his elbow on th e ou tside fence as he wen t by - and took them both . Hamill may have been thin king that it was not going to be his night when he crashed in heat five under pressure from Loram . After his di sappoin ting third place in his opening ride, Hamill needed a good one to recover but ins tea d got caught up in a mess on the second lap . . Loram w as ex cl u d ed for ta king out Hamill. In the pits Ha mill sat down and was visibly shaken, but he gathered himself together and proved his detennination by enjoy ing the rac e of hi s life in the reru n. Hamill made a gr eat start from th e ou tside and s wep t a ro u nd none othe r than Nielsen and Knudsen to pick up thr ee pr ecious points and lift himself back into the meeting. Hamill celebrated wit h a lap of honor on one wh eel. Ricka rdsson fired a warning to hi s rivals with a fast win in heat six which set a new track record of 64.3 seconds. This was almost a second faster than the previous five races, even though at th is stage th e track was drying out in the bakin g-hot Italian temperatures. Th e Swede looked smooth as he easily beat Louis, Screen and Ermolenko, Ermolenko wa s not on his own in a nigh t of misery . Gustafsson had to show pl enty of character to finish stro ngly after tw o successi ve last-pl ace rides. In heat seven, he was covered with dirt as he finis he d beh ind winner Cox, Smith and Boyce, wh ose third-place finish was su rp rising cons ide ring h is im p ressive opening ride.. H ancock went about his bu siness and looked imp ressive in heat eigh t when he made a perfect start to pull clear of a determined Gary Havelock. The Englishman ' s long-track racing style made him look fast d own the straights, bu t Hancock kept cool and won the race. Alfonso claimed th ird with Peter Ka rlsson of Sweden last. Karl sson , one of the top rid er s in th e Brit ish League, was clearly unhappy with his machinery, and he was another surprise struggler during the night. Rickardsson wa s on a maximum six points and the clear leader after every one had completed two rides while Hancock sat comfortabl y in second pl ace with five. No less than six riders were a point behind with four. Nielsen en joyed his firs t w in of the night in heat nine when he made a great start and got the better of the all-action Screen. The Dane's lead was never really threatened as Screen and Gu stafsson battled it out for second place ahead of an ou t-of-touch Karlsson . . Errnolenko' s run rema in ed sou r in he at 10 eve n wh en it looked as though he was set to pick up his first points of the event. As if to sum up his night, the American wa s pu sh ed ou t in the early stages and slip pe d alarming ly behind Smith and Alfonso while Knudsen made it look easy as he pulled clear and took the victory. Erm olenk o st ruck his handlebar in anger when he crossed the finish line. Team Exide colleagu es Ham ill and Han cock met each other in hea t 11, and it was Ham ill who made the better gate, Hancock locked up on the first tum in a

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