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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127849
wi th cou ntryman Jimmy Nilsen in heat eight, a heat won by Slawomir Drabik of Poland, with Rickard sso n br eat h ing down his neck. Hom e wi ld card Robert Barth was a surp rise winner of hea t nine, and agai n Gollob struggled at the back as he contin ued to find an answer to all his problems . Big guns N ielsen and Hancock met in heat 10, but there was no contest as the main Dan e pulled clear of Hancock and "w o n th e race by some 20 ya rd s, o nce again un derlin ing his superiori ty in the meeting. , Hea t 11 o nce aga in served up a treat for the fans • and once again Rickardss o n was invo lv ed i n some thr ill in g a cti o n a lo ngsi de H a mill, who was passed by the Swede, only to retu rn th e compliment on the next lap in brilliant style. Missin g it all up front wa s Brian Anderse n, who will enjoy wa tching that one on th e vid eo ... , Protasiewi cz d ro pped his first poin ts of th e mee ting in heat 12, which was w on by Aus sie Leigh Adams in im pressive style. Peter Karl sson trailed at th e back , once agai n providing a su rp rise. j Heat 13 saw the clas h of H ancock and Hamill, and it was the series leader who pulled away fro m the s ta r t firs t. .Gollob prod uced one of his best rides of -th e m eeting to bea t Hamil l, leavin g th e Californian with a mountain to climb for ·the A fina l. Tha nkfully for Hamill, he managed to p rod uce th e goods in hea t 20 an d ed ge through to the top-sco rers ' race to keep up his serious challenge to retain his world crown. N ie lsen m a d e s u re o f h is A-fina l p lace in heat 14, winning easily from the gate, while Lou is boost ed his sco ring power two races lat er with an equally Impres sive T wi n. act! Hea t 18 saw Nielsen pa ss his fellow countryman And ersen, o nly to pull ou t wi th bike p rob lems, allowing Andersen through for a win that put him into the A final for the first lime . Hancockwon hea t 19 to secure his p la ce in the big o ne, and the m eeting w a s set up nicel y for th e fi na l s how do wn . GRAND PRIX FINALS ' There was ye t ano ther su rp r ise in s to re: Col lob, w h o h ad en te red th e meeting second in cham pio nship points, had his eng ine blow u p in the 0 final and finished last ove rall. This has p roba bly cost him a cha nce of challenging for th e title. Ultimately, Smith beat Karlsson to take th e D-fin a l vict ory, with Wigg finishing thi rd . Adams was an impress ive wi nner of the C final, beating Loram, Barth and Drabik. Rickardsso n got w hat he d eser ved w ith a superb victo ry in the B final as he rode away fro m Nilsen , Lou is and Protasiewicz. Then it was s howdown ti me , with the top sco rers looking fo r a crucial viclory at this halfway stage of the series. . I Nielsen ma de a d ream start from the insi de to take the decisive wi n in fro nt of his cou ntryman Andersen. Hancock a n d Ha mill ha d a n ea rly clash th a t resu lted in da mage to Ham ill's wheel spokes, forcing him to retire fro m the race and leavi ng him in fou rth place. It was a d ra ma tic end to a m eeting that had eve rythi ng - good racing and a touch o f co n trover sy, wh ich alwa ys brings ou t the noise in the fans . Han cock was happy with third place, which extended his lead in th e title race to 14 points over Nielsen. "Th is competition is always tense (Lell) Hamill runs outside of Ande rs en and Tony Rickardss on in heat 11. Rlcka rd sson went on t o win the B fin al. . (Below lell) Poland's Thoma sz Gollo b. sec ond In po ints co ming t o Germany, finished last in the D l inal aller his engine btew up. Drdbik / Andy Smith (6); 13. Peter KaTI~n (5); 14. (TIE> Simon W igg / Tho mMio z Collob . G ran d Prix Fina l" D FIN AL: 1. Andy Smi t h; 2. Pe ter Kar l!i!\O 3. n; Sim on Wigg; 4. Thomas z Go llob. C FINAL: 1. Le ig h Ad a ms ; 2. Ma r k Lora m; 3. Rober t Barth; 4. SL1womir Dra bik. B FINAL: 1. Tony Rickard sso n; 2. Jimmy Nilse n; 3. Chris Louis; 4. Piotr Protasi ~w;cz. A FIN AL: 1. Hans N I~IIien; 2. Bria n And erse n; 3. G~ Ha ncock, 4. Billy Hamill. WO RLD IND IVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINT ST AND IN CS (After 3 of 6 ro un d li): 1. Gre g Han cock (63); 2. H a n,; Nielsen (49); 3. Billy Hamill (48); 4. Thomasz Go llob (44); 5. (TIE) Ton y Rid.a rd s!oOn / Brian A nderson (43); 7. Jimmy N ilo;en (33); 8. (TIE) o.ri.. . Loui s/Mark Lora m (28) 9. Sla wo mir Drabik (24); 10. Leig h Ada ms (20; 11. Pete r Karls so n OB); 12. And y Smi th (13); 13. Piotr Probsicwicz (12); 14. Jaso n Crump (8); 15. Robert Barth (7); 16. Simon Wigg (5); 17. Tomas Topin ka {21. Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Bradford. England, August 9 Round 5 · Wroclaw, Poland. August 30 .' . and the meeti ng today was s uper b," Han cock sa id . "I th ink the fa ns had a g rea t da y to wa tch s p ee d wa y . I fee l happy with my position at this stage of the series, and I know that if I stay in the A fin a l for the rest of th e se ries I will probably be champion, but I'm not even looking tha t far ahea d. Hans N ielsen has proved today what he can do; and if he continues to rid e like that , he will be up th er e challe nging for th e w orld title and I need to s tay o n th e pace for the rest of th e series." After his experience last year of losing the title a t the very last Grand Prix o f th e seas on, N ielsen feels co nfi dent that he can wi n the se ries from second place. "Second pl ace is a go od position to be in at the halfway stag e, and I kn ow from last yea r tha t it can be wo n in the very last race. Ho pefu lly I can go forward and wi n it this year ," Nielsen sa id . Ha mi ll is refusin g to be w ri tten off by the critics afte r again looking off the pa ce in the early stages of the meeting, but he did well to get th rou g h to the top-scorers' final. " It was to ugh agai n a nd I still fee l there is a long way to go," Hamill said. "At least I got thro ugh to the A final an d, if I can carry on with that, there is no reason why I can 't be champion aga in. I had some tough 'races aga in where I was missing the start, bu t I know what I'm capable of achieving and I can go forwa rd from here wi th a positive attitu de. '-, (Abo ve) Reigning World Champion Bill y Hamill (1) wheelles 011 a tum ahead 01 Slawomir Drab ik (14) and Andy Smith (18) en route to a berth in th e A l inal. (Bel ow) Aller heavy rai ns soaked the track Saturday , a ri ders ' meeting was con ducted by GP organizer Ole Olesen and" was dec ided to delay the meeting until Sunday. Germ an Grand Pri x Landsh ut. Ger many Results: July 5, 1997 (Round 3 016) Q U.llif ying Hlr.lb Q /A POINT S: 1. Ham; Niel sen (1 2); 2. Gre g Hancock (11); 3. m E) Brian Andt-r.en/Billy H.mtilI OO}; 5. Jim my Ni lse n (9); 6. Chris Loui s (8); 7. (TIE) Ton y Rickard sso n/ Piotr Prot.uie wicz / Lt-igh Adams/Ma rk L or.1m / Rob crt Bar t h (1); 11. (TI E) 5 1a womi r 23