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(left) The main Dane: Hans Nielsen (2 ) failed to remain on the ra il that he had hoped for after' winning the Gennan Grand Prix. The Ionnet" Wor1c! Champion finished a disappointing thin! in the C final In the C fina l, m a n y ex p e r ts feIt ieJsen would romp away wi th a comfortable win. How wrong they were: He was again in th ird place, finishing behind Adams and Screen. As a result ielsen is now 19 points behind Hancock - quite a lot to try to make up over just two meetings. Peter Karlsson made it home in fourth place. Hancock was again low on power in the B fina1 and finished third after making a mess of the start, while Gollob went on to win the race over Rickardsson. Mikacl Karlsson was fourth. Hancock suffered his first defeat of the night in heat th ree, when he wa s forced to settle for second place beh ind Nilsen, a former Bradford rider who has obviously lost none of his knowledge of the big Od sal bowl. Hancock went wide a t one stage, but he managed to get his wheels back in line to hold off title challenger Hans Ni e lsen, wh u trail ed in third. Polish rid er Gollob has been one of the m ost in consist ent rid er s o f th e sea· son, and he added to his rep utati on o nce again as he recov ered fro m his nig ht marish last place in Germany to wi n his openi ng ri de in th e British ro un d in gra nd style. He started on gate four and yet made a flyin g s tart to sweep across his rivals a nd in to th e first bend we ll clear of the field. Three Swed es - Peter and M ikael Karlss un a n d Henka Gustafsson - could nut ge t near the Pole, who looked set for a great night. Hancock was up against Go llo b in th e next o ne a nd, und er th e ci rc u m stances, Gollob was th e clear favo rite for the holeshot. But Hancock dug deep and made a dream s ta rt, pulling clear a nd taking the win by a wid e margin, thus giving him some hope for the rest of the meeting. Gollob' s co u n try ma n, Sl awomir Drabik, pulled ou t of the race with bike problems, leaving Andy Smith in third . Ha mill was out again in heat six and he go t off to a poor star t, in total co ntrast to his previous rid e. This allo wed Mika el Karlsson to pull clear for h is first-ever Grand Prix heat win. with Joe Screen, another Bradfurd rider, relegating Ha mill to third pla ce. Andersen secured his first win of the night in heat seven, wh en a rerun was required because Aussie Leigh Adams lost control and fell. Andersen w as quick from the start and eas ily got the better of Nilsen and Peter Karlsson. Loram, who was lat er to play his part in the A final, was an impressive winner of heat eig ht as he beat Nielsen for his opening win of the night. Loram won again in heat II , outpacing Hancock and Adams to put himself up the re with the leaders , although there wa s still a lon g way to go in th e meeting. Two successive wins for Andersen in heats 12 and 13 m ad e the rest of the field s it up and take notice as he joined the leaders with so me superb gating and thi s was th e crucial factor on th is track. Hancock kept plugging away to try to secure a place in the A final, but disaster struck in heat 16 w hen he was forced to retire with bike problems . He was in the sa me heat as his Tea m Exide cohort Ha mil l, and made a steady start to the race. It was q uickly ap parent, tho ugh, that he was d o w n o n power, (AbmIe) IIaJ1< loram 01 England (7) angles lor the lead, with Poland's Tomasz GoIIob (13), Nilsen 01 Sweden (11) and Louis In _ 14. loram scored 13 points to lead the way Into the A final , but wound up fourth tn that event alter colliding with Hamill (left) Skyrockets firing oil in the background, Hamill (left), Andersen (center) and Nilsen (right) celebrate on the victory podium. "The A final saw Hamill get a taste of his own medicine as he was hit from the inside by the enthusiastic efforts o f Lo ra m, who, like Hamill earlier, had gained some unexpected drive. Loram did hit Hamill, but thankfully nobody ca me down, a lt ho ug h Hamill could argue he was denied the chance to chase after Andersen because of the incident. Andersen went on to win the meeting and, although Hamill finished second, he was a happy man since he is back in a position to challen ge for the champio nship . "It was a typical Grand Prix round and I guess on another day things might have gone against m e, " Hamill said. "But I really don't care what the critics want to sa y, because I'm right in there wi th eve ry thin g to go for in the final two rounds. This is a perfect position for me to be in, although I realize there is work to be done." Being tied on points with Hamill. Andersen is in precisely the sa me situation, and seems anxious to move on to and he had no option but to pull o ut. Ton y Rickardsson went on to win, with Hamill second, these two points putting Hamill in with a cha nce of success. Hancock needed to win heat 18 to get into the A final, bu t he was left wondering what m ight ha ve been. He o nce a ga in appea red d own on power, as Andersen secured the victory w ith Louis eve ntually passing Hancock for second pla ce. Hamill wa s then left with the tknowled ge that second pla ce in heat 19 would probably get him through to the A final - but that Nielsen was in there needing po ints, too. This is where, perhaps, the most con - Gollob. The drive sa w him go wide and almost hit Nielsen, who was trying to get around th e o u ts ide on the back straigh t. Instead, ielsen found the door suddenly closed as Hamill went wide. Nielsen mad e co n tact with the fence without crashing, and because there was no contact between the riders, the referee allowed the race to continue. Though Niel sen complained, it was to no avail and Hamill took hi s two points. This .m oment a lo ne kept Hamill's hopes of retaining his title very much alive, while at the sa me time it gave Nielsen a mountain to climb in the championship as he was relega ted to the C final tro v e rs ial and d ra matic event of t he GRAND PRIX RNALS nig ht occurred, as Hamill made a strong start a nd picked up some unexpected drive on the inside when he was chasing The D final saw Louis come a w ay with the win, followed by An d y Smith. Drabik an d He nka Gusta fsson. the rest of the series. "The next two rounds will be hard, but I'll be in there working for victory and I have no fears about Poland or Denmark," Andersen said. "I know both tracks well at WrocIaw and Vojens, and I'm ready for action! "" British Grand Prix 0dsaI Stadium Results: August 9, 1997 (Round 4 016) Q-lifrUtKlloNb OIA mINTS: 1. M.rk I.Dnm (13); 2. (TIE) BrWa AJwIcncaIJu:nmy ibeD. (12);: 4. Hamill n o); 5Mibn ~ (9); b. mEl Tcmy Kidoan:lssoa/ Gfq: HaadJ)oco SaftnlToaasz CoIIob Q5); 10. (TlfJ r...ap ~_I'I-Y- ~ (7); 12. mE) 0v1s ~/Prkr K.arl..on (6); 14 . m E) Slawomir Dubikl And.y SmithlHnuik G o A A. ~ 1. Om Louis; 2. Andy S mith; 3. SLtwomir Dr.-bil;4_Ht-nu~ C FINAl.: I . l-"&h A.Umoo;; 2. ).... ~ 3. .....-. Nirlwn: 4. I'tVr ~d¥.on. • ANAL: I . TOIrIoaZGoIIob; 2. Tcmy Kicbrd--.: J. M>bd I:arisoon. A AN AL: I . &n.a .ADdc:ncft; 2. Bally twniU; J . Jimmy ihl"a;-4. Marl.l«am. BiD,. f en. c..r: ............. Upcoming Aooods: Round 5 - Wrodaw, Poland, Augusl30 Round 6 - Vojens. Oerwnark. September 20