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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127854
SPEEDWAY Round 4: British Grand Prix WR O LDINDIVID A UL HAMPIONSH SER IP IES C • de nly u pon him, Nielsen hit th e fence and could easily ha ve go ne d own, bu t the referee allowed th e race to continue si nce no co n ta ct was m a de. Nielsen a rg ued it was foul riding, a lthough it was no t d eli berate, a nd no ac tion wa s taken. Hamill was happy to take the two points. " Peop le ha ve as ked me a bo o t t he incident with Han s, but I ha ve been o n the wrong end of so me rou gh decisions in th e pa st, a nd Hans must rea lize he has dish ed out a fair a mou n t of ha rd riding in the past," Hamill said . "That's not to say I d id it deliberatel y. I hit so me drive and my first priority was to keep the bike under con tro l. which was w hat I managed to do." ji mmy Nil s en and Mark Loram ro unded out the Avfinal field ; Lc ra m score d better in th e qualify ing heats tha n anyone with h is 13-po int sco re, while Nilse n, like Andersen, scored 12 to qualify. By J ohn Hip kis s BRADFORD, ENGlAND, AUG.9 Iter gelling .off to a slow start at \ the Bri tish Grand Pr ix with a to non-finish in his firs t heat, Danish star Brian Andersen rebound ed big to lend the way agai nst the world 's bes t every tim e he took the track and u lt imat ely to score the A-final victory. The Dane's fir s t .year on the Grand Prix circuit has see n his resul ts impro ve rapi dly, a nd Andersen was quick to express his d eligh t at scoring his first Grand Prix vic tory ever - and he believes it may be only the beginning. "It's my first year in Grand Prix racin g and many people said I wasn't ready for it," An dersen said. "Bu t I really believe I can go on and win the title after this. I'm on top of my racing. I feel good every time I ge t on a bike , an d I'm righ t th ere challenging fo r th e Wo rld Cha mpions hip." He is indee d ch a lle ng ing for th e World Cha mpionship, as poi n ts lead er Greg Hancock finished a d isappointing seventh ov erall on th e night, all owing both meeting winner Andersen a n d Exide team ma te Billy Ha m ill - second overall on the nigh t and now tied in seaso n points with And ersen - to close th e ga p to only seve n poi nts, 75-68. And a ltho ugh scoring seventh- place poi nts is disappointing for a ma n leading a World Championship, Ha ncock was lucky to ha ve been able to race a t all. Tra veling to the meeting, his team va n burst in to fla m es on the high way jus t before rea ch in g Brad ford , and he Ii .... tIl ::l eo ::l < 32 (Top and above) Brian Andersen (12) gets the jump on J immy Nilsen (11). Mark Loram (7) and defen d ing Wo rld Champio n Billy Hamill (1) in the A fi nal at th e Briti sh GP. The yo ung Dane went on to s core his first Grand Prix victory. (Right) Andersen lead s series po int s leade r Greg Hancock (3) and Chris Louis 01 England (8) In heat race act ion. Hancock finished t hird in t he B final and now holds a slim lead over a tie between Ham ill and Andersen In th e race for the cr own. was forced to ma ke a qu ick exi t from the ve hicle. The van then ro lled down the road to an island, wh ere it simply blew up. Luckil y, ev eryone esca pe d u nh ur t, bot he lost his bes t bike and equipment, as well as all the team merchand ise, all at o nce. It was ha rd ly the ideal way to p repare for a Grand Prix round , and it showed in his performance o ve r the course of the nigh t. "I know it's been a bad day for me, and it ha rdly started well with all my personal problems, but I'm not using that as an excuse (fo r not winning) the meeting." H an cock said . "My lead has been cu t, bo t I still feel happy that I am up there in the lead with two rounds to go , a nd I wou ld rather have asevenpoi nt lead than play catch-u p to the rest of the guys." Like Andersen, Ham ill also be nefited from his teammat e's poo~ luck, and with his so lid 20-poi n t score, he has m oved rig ht back into contentio n for the champio nship he wo n last year. H is berth in the A fina l, ho we ver, wasn' t gai ned wi thout so me con tro versy. In a crucial hea t with Hans Nie lse n, Hamill picked up some unexpected drive o n the inside when he was chasing Tomasz Gollob for the lead . This d rive forced lIamili to r u n wide a nd he almost hit Nielsen. w ho was trying to go around the o utside. Wi th Hamill su d- QUALIFY ING HEATS It was hardl y an ideal sta rt for English s ta r Chris Lo u is i n hea t o ne. He gate d perfectl y and wa s looking good for an opening victo ry on home soil, but he w a s fo rced to pull o u t w i t h bik e problems, a llowi ng Tony Rickardsson through for the win. .Ha rnill's openi ng rid e was in heat two, in w hich he survived an early test of n e r ve s . He was pu lled back for rolli ng at the start, and yet in the rerun he maintained his composure superbly fo r a fine win over Bradfo r d r id er Lora m, w ho tried hard to ga in ground on the reigning cha m pio n bu t could find no way through.