Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127862
Smith made an all-or-nothing dive into
the middle of the first tum on lap three,
bringing Karlsson crashing down. Referee Ebdon excluded Smith, who understood that this meant the end of his desperate GP hopes. No matter how much
protesting at the starting line he tried,
Ebdon was resolute.
Ulamek at least managed to hold on
in the rerun to collect his only win of the
afternoon. But that was not the end of
the story of this heat, as Gustafsson was
found to hav e a faulty silencer an d had
his two points deducted, which resulted
in Smith 'becomin g the first in line after
the two reserves for any GP call-up in
1998.
Protasiewicz ma de it back-to-back
wins for Pola nd by taking the he a t-I S
honors, forcing hi. way around Louis to
en
sure that he was jus t one win away
from a gua ranteed 1998 GP bert h.
Boyce somehow managed to escape
ano ther po ssible exclusion as he again
found himself with jitters a t the tapes in
heat 16, but it was no wond er that there
was tension at the start, as both he an d
Adams w e re d esperate for a wi n to
leav e them any hope of a possible toptwo finish . 1l was Swindon rider Adams
w ho got clean away, however, leaving
Boyce to battle his way past Screen and
Swisl
Protas iewicz w as qu ick" fro m th e
traps in his final ride, but it was not the
clean est four circuits he has rid den, as
he was almost separated from his mount
on the second lap . But by holding on, he
guaranteed hi s inclus ion in the 1998
Grand Prix troupe, while Boyce was
grate fu l for Er mole nko's ca r b u re tor
problem, which forced the American to
drift wid e on the last half-circuit, which
let Boyce earn two points - enoug h to
rekindle his Grand Prix career.
Smi th demonstrated how costly that
earlier exclus io n proved to be, as he
won his final outing ~ a race that saw
Ronni Pederso n replace Drabi k. Those
three points left the Brit just two short of
earning a GP reprieve - at least as one of
th e res erves - but instead it was to be
Ada ms, wh o finished second, who now
has to keep six dates free in h is 1998
schedule for Grand Prix competition.
Da nn o forc ed his way to the front
and wa s looking w ell -set to earn a
runoff for the prestige of being the GP
Challenge champion, but Louis, with no
hope of qualifying, battled away to pass
the Swede and ensure a clean mee t victory for Protasiewicz.
With th e top ' four rid ers done and
dusted , it seemed as though the final
heat w ould be just a formality - but it
was reserved for some vintage Gus tafsson, who carne from behind to complete
Tatum's afternoon of misery.
Few cou ld argu e that Protasiewicz
and Da nno dese rved their qualifications, and that the GP itself will be better for their inclusion - from the second
round a t least - of the two Australians,
Adams (w h o uniquely has no w su rvi v ed all three GP C ha llen g es) a n d
Boyce. But at the end of it all, the overall
field for 1998 ma y we ll be considered
the worse for th e ab sence of Lo uis,
Gustafsson and Ermolenko .
L\
GP Challenge
Wien er Neustadt, Au stria
Results: October 4,1 997
Q UALIFI ERS FO R 1998 C P S ERIES : 1. Piotr
Protasiewicz (14); 2. Stl!foln Dann o (13 ).
RE$EltV ES FOR 1998 G r SERIES: 1. Leigh Adams
(12); 2. Craig 8o~ (12).
O / A POINTS: 1. Piolr Prol"""it>wicz; 2. Stefan
Danna (13); 3. (TlE) l.t"igh Adams/ Craig Boyce (12);-5.
An dy Smith (9 ); 6 . Chris Louill (8); 7 . (TIE) H..-nrik
Gus taf55o n /~butien Ulamek/rC'ter Karlsson/Sa m
EnnoIenko (7); 11. }Acek Kryzyzania k (6); 12. (TIE)
Tomas Topinka/Piotr Sw ist (5); 1-4. Joe Screen (4); 15.
Kelvin Tatum (2); 16. (TIE) SJawo mir Drabik/Hanni
Pederson (1).
WORLDSPORTS
2&TH A AL
NNU
WINTER NATIONAL
$
SUZUKI.
dHONDA
Y
AMAHA
KAWASAKI
~
I
"..,.
•
A
•
•