SPEEDWAY Intercontinental Final
W RLDQUAUFER
O
SER C
IES HAMPIONSH r---~---------- -------- -------_---.:.J
IP
(Left) Intercontinental Final
winner Ryan Sullivan
(foreground) leads Joe Screen
(left) and Frede Schon. Sullivan
led an Australian sweep of the
top three posit ions In the evenL
(Below) Another disappointing
day: American sam Ennolenko
displays the frustration of failing
to take one of the direct seed ings
In the GPs after suffering through
a day fraugh t with mechanical
prob lem s.
By John Hlpklss
VASTERVIK, SWEDEN, IULY 26
tanding alongside Sam Errnolenko's
~ pit station after the Intercontin ent al
Final meeting at Vas tervik, it was
p la in to see jus t wh y th e Ca lifo rnia n
needs to compete in the Grand Prix challenge if he is to resume his place by right
in the prestigious World Championship
Individual Series.
.
Adorning his workbench were burntout clutch plates by the scor e - th e
ex hib its for the d efense, if vou will.
Errnolenko' s ho pes of securin g a toptwo place to guarantee his inclusion in
the 1998 Grands Prix di ssipated when
he ran a disappointing third place in his
openin g rid e . While takin g nothin g
away from Austr alia's Cra ig Boyce (who
rod e a good line to pass Ermolenko), it
was clear that the American was lacking
on power.
R
r-,
0\
0\
r-«
rrl
,.....
.....
rJ'J
:::>
CO
;:l
e of the probl em as qu ickly as we
w ould have li ke d . My clutc hes we re
burning up every time and we need ed
to make some drastic changes."
Th ose cha nges w e re not mad e in
time for his second race, w hen he ran
another third pla ce, this tim e beh ind
eve ntual race winner Stefan Andersson
and first-time-out victor Joe Screen.
With two d isappointing rid es und er
hi s belt, Erm ol enko wa s langui shing
near the bottom of the pack, whi ch was
so mething of a majo r shock for the rider
wh om man y th ou ght w o ul d have a
strong chance of ma king the auto matic
cu t, as the Vastervik track is his ho me
Sw edish Eli te Leagu e circuit. By this
stage, Stef an Danno w as lead in g the
proceeding s wi th wins fro m both h is
rides, and another Vastervik hom e rider,
Craig Boyce, was level with Ke lvin
Tatum a nd Screen on fiv e points. But
there was a long way to go in the meeting and, wi th the track being prepar ed
in such a manner that it was conduci ve
to good racing. the in tensity of the field
was to throw up many a twist and turn.
Jason Crum p, g iven a late reprieve
followin g an injury to Dean Barker, had
begun with an ign iti on fault th at lett
him pointl ess from his opening rid e. But
th e yo u ng Australian raised hi mself
above the di sappointment, switched to
his second bike, and went on to record
four straight win s in his remaining prog ra m med rid e s. His compatriot a nd
Peter borou gh teammate Ryan Sulli van
had beg un with two second places but,
likewise, he w as to go throu gh the rest
of the card, recording consistently fast
times to add the title of 1997 Intercontinental Cha m p io n to that o f his 1995
Overseas Cha mpionship. For this meeting was to become Austra lia' s d ay,
w hil st Ermolenko's pit cre w w orked
incessant ly to find the ca use of hi s
po wer problems.
Things began to loo k better 'for the
Ame rican in h ea t 12, w h en h e w a s
involve d in an enthra lling bat tle with
Denma rk's Ronn ie Pedersen . With jus t a
tire's w id th se para ting the two as they
crossed the line, the verdict went Ped ersen's way - bu t Ermolen ko's total points
(Left) Ermolenko (left) battles with
Australia's Craig Boyce (right) and Gary
Havelock (background). The American
salvaged his day by at least qualifying tor
the Grand Prix Challenge meeti ng in
Wei neraNeusta dt, Austria. It will be his last
chance to gain a berth in the '98 Grand
Prix serie s.
tally doubled, and w ith meeting leader
Danno traili ng in third place, the field
wa s begi nni ng to open up. The interval
cou nt showed that Ermolenk o rema ined
a couple of points outside the top-se ven
cu t - the target all riders were head ing
for, wi th places third to seventh giving
eligibility to the GP cha llenge .
Out a g ain im med ia te ly afte r t he
interva l, Ermo lenko co nceded a hea t
wi n to C ru m p, but managed to s teer
dear of Peter Na hlin and Kaj Laukkanen
to move on to six point s and advance
his cau se for a qualifying spot. Brad ford
and Engla nd's Sean Wils on, wi thout a
p oint a t th is s tage, d id Ermol enko a
favor in heat 14 by ta king a win from
the hands of Kelvin Tatum and Pederse n. In the next heat, Boyce' s return to
his winn in g ways (af te r ha ving ru n
third place in his th ird ride) also aided
Ermolenko, for it was va luable points
taken from Andersson and Danno.
The meeting wa s beginning to boil,
as every point was being keenly contested . And while Sullivan's win in hea t 16
left him in command, there were many
uncertaint ies that needed to be resolved.
Tatum com pleted his sched u le with a
race win in heat 17, leaving him on 11
points and ass ured of at least a qua lifying spot. While Sullivan completed the
task of winn ing the meet ing with victory at the expense of Ermolenk o, the Californian's second place was crucia l.
As Su lliva n w as busy ringi ng Australia (unmind ful of the fact tha t it was
the rather unsociable hour of 3;30 a.m,
there) to break the new s that his family
had dreamt of - they had a Grand Prix
ride r in their mid st! - Ermolenk o had to
sw ea t out the final few heats in the pits,
kn owing that his final total o f eight
po ints left him preca rious ly positioned,
as by now no fewer than eight riders
had a score of this level or abo ve.
