Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SPEEDWAY (Lett) Craig Boyce, Jason Crump and Greg Hancock (top, left to right) celebrate on the podium with Sean Wilson and Ronnie Correy (bottom left, right). (Above) A hero and his heroes: Greg Hancock (seated) grins it up with former Team USA members (left to right) John Cook, Rick Miller, Dennis Sigalos, Lance King, Bobby Schwartz and Bruce Penhall (kneeling). "My ignition box went dead, so 1 had to make the switch," Correy said. "Now I'm back on my first bike, with a new box." Jorgenson salvaged some pride with a victory, as he surprised Crump, Karlsson and Danna in heat 12. Going into the last round of regular' hea ts, only Screen had the chance to maintain a perfect score. Hancock took control of heat 13 and guaranteed his transfer through to the semis by scoring a commanding victory and fini hing the heats with an ll-point tally. Boyce grabbed another win in hea t 14, and fellow Australian Crump owned heat 15. But Screen's day took a turn for the worse when, like Correy, he suffered ignition-box troubles, the difference being that Screen found out about the problem only after the tapes went up, and he wound up with a zero score. The first semi was bound to be tough, as Boyce had come on of late, and both Correy and Crump could be considered threats for the main-event win. As it turned out, all three were ahead of Danna when the tapes went up, and they scrambled for position, with Boyce coming out on top. Correy then got enough drive off turn two on the second lap to leave Crump behind . and transfer through to the main event. The second semi was all Hancock. His chief competition, Screen, dropped to the back again, hi.s ignition problems apparently unsolved. Screen's mishap afforded Wilson a main-event berth. Crump bested the last-chance race to become the fifth in the five-rider final, and he got better yet. Hancock got the best drive off the line from the third ga te position ana swept into the first turn with the lead, but he drifted wide, allowing both Crump and Boyce to smuggle underneath and pull to the front. Crump relegated Boyce to the second spot when they sorted ou t down the back straight. From there, Hancock tried it all to regain a front-running position, but in the end he would have to settle for third, as the Australian invasion occupied the top two slots. Crum p was the ultima te victor. "I used one of my GP bikes in the fina]," Crump said later. "I hadn't ridden it all day. I just pulled it out, changed the timing and carb, and took a bit of power away. Greg did me a bit of a favor. He made the start, but he couldn't keep it down. I just had a perfect line, and once I got in front, that was it. 1 had to win it, because 1 know that the editor of Cycle News is Australian, so 1 had to keep him happy. "It was a shame that it rained on and off, but 1 think the day was good for Greg," Crump said. "We riders did as good as we could for him." For Boyce, who came off the pole in the final, the finish was a testament to the type of day that he'd had. "I've just had two weeks off, so it was good to go and have a skid," Boyce said. "I just started off slow. 1 thought 1 was there in the final, but Jason (Crump) just had a run down the straight. 1 was dreading taking the inside, but 1 tried it. It was just too slick because of the rain. It was a great day for Greg. [t looks like he had a good-sized crowd, and he deserves every bit of it. 1 enjoyed it." , After such a strong start to his day, Correy's effort in the main event netted him fifth place, behind Wilson. Even so, it was a position that the jolly American speedway veteran didn't seem to mind too much. "I wasn't too happy with that gate five," Gorrey said. "Coming from there, 1 had no chance. But I'm glad for Greg that it (the meeting) didn't rain off. I grew up with him. We're like brother. If it wasn't for him and hi dad, 1 probably wouldn't be in speedway. I love him to death, and I'm ju t glad he had a good day." And ultimately, Hancock himself was pleased with his good day. "The weather was a bit crazy, but I felt that I had an excellent crowd," Hancock said. "Everybody enjoyed themselves and the racing was good." And as for third place? "I would have liked to have won the final, but that's the way things go," Hancock said. "At least it showed that everybody was racing to win, and not there to do me any favors. "But it really was a day for me to remember," Hancock said. "All the superstars of yesterday and my heroes showed up at the same time in the same place. Who knows if that will ever happen again? At the end of the day, I'm grateful that they all turned out to pa,y tribute to my 10 years of service. Nearly every one of them played a role in my career at some stage." ,~ Coventry Stadium Coventry, England Results: April 19, 1998 QUALIFYING SCORES (top eight tunder to semisr. 1. (TTE) Greg Hancock/Ronnie Correy (11); 3. Jason Crump (10); 4. Joe Screen (9): 5. Craig Boyce (8); 6. (TIE) Stefan Oanno/Sean Wilson/Tomas Topinka (7); 9. (TIE) John Jorgenson/Shane Parker (6); 11. Mikael Karlsson (5); 12. Andrea. Jonsson (3); 13. (TIE) Jesper B. Jensen/Steve Johnston (2); 15. (TIE) Ben Howe/Troy Pratt (1). SEMll (4 laps; 4 riders. top 2 tnnsfer to final): 1. Craig Boyce; 2. Ronnie Correy; 3. Jason Crump; S. Stefan Danna. SEMI 2 (4 laps; 4 riden, top 2 transfer to final): 1. Greg Hancock; 2 Sean Wilson; 3. Tomas Topinka; 4. Joe Screen. LeQ (4 bps; 4 rideB, winner transfers to final); 1. Jason Crump; 2. Stefan Danna; 3. Tomas Topinka; 4. Joe Screen. MAIN: 1. Jason Crump; 2. Craig Boyce; 3. Greg Hancock; 4. Sean Wilson; 5. Ronnie Correy. TEST MATCH, 1. USA 21 (Bobby Schwartz 7. John Cook 7, Rick Miller 4, Lance King 3); 2. England 9 (Malcolm Simmons 4, Chris Morton 3, Simon Cross 1. Phil Collins 1). PENHALUSfGALOS RACE 1, 1. Dennis Sigalos; 2. Bruce Penhall. PENHALUSfCALOS RACE 2, 1. Bruce Penhall; 2. Dennis Sigalos. PENHALL/SICALOS RACE 3, 1. (TIE) Bruce Penhall/Dennis Sigalos. The return of "Siggy" and "The Fox" T here was perhaps no greater anticipation than that for the return of former twotime World Champion Bruce Penhall and his boat-racil1g partner, former World Best Pairs Champion Dennis Sigalos. Penhall, who electrified the World speedway cene with his championship final win in El1gland's Wembley Stadium in 1981 and then backed it up with a second title at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1982, had not seen the shores of England since riding in Rick Miller's testimonial at Coventry in 1990. It had been even longer since Sigalos, who retired at the end of 1985, had been on a big track. But the pair acquitted themselves well for the British crowd, pulling wheelies and generally having a good time as they rode to a draw in their best-of-three match-race series. Sigalos copped the first race, with Penhall taking the second. And then both riders wheelied across the line in a dead heat on their final ride of the day. "We had a blast - first alld foremost," Penhall said. "It was great to see the boys again. We all spent a lot of years here together under more stressful circumstances, but from the time that we saw them, it was just a lot of laughs. Not having been on a bike in six years, I could have used a bit more practice, because J didn't feel polished. But it was a blast, and I was glad to do it for Greg. He certainly deserved it. J can't believe he's been in England for 10 years." About the only glitch came when the upright Godden on which Sigalos was supposed to compete gave up the ghost, and he was forced to ride one of Hancock's Iaydowns. Former World Champions Dennis 5198105 (left) and Bruce Penhall (right) came out of retirem6nt and took to the tnck for a three-race match series. Sigalos.won the flrat reca, with Penhall grabbing the second before the pair wheelled to a drew In the third. "I was a little leery about that," SigaJos said. "But after 1rode the bike, it was fine. I'd naden the uprights during my career, so I knew how they reacted. But the Iaydowns are boss. They hook up, and the way it worked out, everything was cool. It was a good turnout for Greg. We: were glad to be there for him. It was nice to be in England and see all the boys, and the fans. again. It's been quite a few years. It was weD worth the hip."

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