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/127949
SPEEDWAY O VERSEAS FINAL By John Hipkiss POOLE, ENGLAND JUNE 14 , ason Lyons raced to victory in the Ov erseas Final at Poole Stadium in , the south of Engla nd , thu s boostin g his chances of a first-ever Grand Pri x appearance next yea r. Lyons becam e only the second Australia n to take the title on a Wim borne Road track, which held up well despite some dread ful overn ight rain. And there was good news for Ame rica, as "Su dd en" Sam Ermol enko cou ld have joined Lyons on the rostrum but for a pointless last race, after d ropping on ly two points from his opening four rides. But there was not such good news for Californianduo Brent Werner and Chris Manchester, who both went ou t of the comp etition. Werner, who rid es in the British Premier Lea gue for N ewcas tle this yea r, fou nd the going tough agai nst riders from the Elite League - a higher standa rd than Werner is .accustomed to. And "M anny" was u p se t to miss ou t after look ing forward to the event, as he felt he had a point to prove to Britis h promoters wh o gave him the cold sho uld er during their wi nfer tea m planning. But Manch ester crashed out, suffering a mild conc us sion, and he was unable to parti cipate fur ther in the meeting, which left him won dering if he will eve r make it to the Gra nd Prix. Lyons, Erm olenko and the six other qualifier s will now lin e up at Vojens, Denmark, on August 21 wi th a view to r eachin g th e Gra nd Pri x Chall eng e . Effectively, these rid ers are now just 10 races away from their dream of a starting place in next year's GP series. The fact tha t the meeting wen t ahead was a credit to th e tra ck s taff, w ho worked tireles sl y up to s tart time to make the circuit raceable, as an o nsla ug ht of heavy ea r ly afternoon showers added fu rther saturation to a track that had su ffered a deluge on Saturd ay . But despite those efforts, th e Wimborne Road circu it - staging th e mos t prestigious meeting in its SO-year history - looked mor e like an ice rink in the first batch of rid es . On ce the tapes went up in heat one, the red stoplights we re quickly shining as the four riders s li pp ed aro und th e first turn, Steve Joh nston being ruled the gu ilty party as he crashed and had to sit ou t the rerun. }j 8 la ~ ~ 44 (Above right) Australia's Jason Lyons was the top man at the Overseas Final round of the World Championship Speedway Qualifier Series in Poole, England. Lyons scored a 1'5-point maximum score en route to the Overseas title. , (Right) ( F o reg~o u n d, left to right) Jo e Screen, Sam Ermolenko and scott Nichols charge through the first tu rn, while Steve , Johnston crashes out. Screen and Ermolenko advanced to the Intercontinental Final, set for Vojens , Denmark, on August 8. M ar k Lem on , o n h is h o m e track, mad e a beller sta rt, but a loose spark plu g caused his bike to sto p, leaving just two rid ers to finish. Lyons was quick away in heat two, and a lt ho ugh th e tr a ck was still ve ry s li p pe ry a n d inco ns is ten t, he was untrou b led even b y Joe Screen , wh o promo ted himself from last to second at the expense of Ma nches ter. Defe nding Overseas Cha mp io n Ke lvin Ta tu m almost crashed ou t as he steered toward th e p it gate on th e secon d la p , but a piece of expert contro l managed to keep him aboard his mach ine but ou t of the reckoning for any points. In heat three, South Africa n Karol y Lechky las ted only to the first turn and t h en went cras hing o u t, le avin g Ermolenko to collect three point s. Simo n Wi gg, rid in g through th e pain barrier wi th se ve red an kle ligam ents, ope ned his scoring wit h secon d place, ahea d of Clou ting . Up until Friday lu nch ti m e, Glenn Cunningh am was only a reserve for this eve nt, but w hen American rider Cha rlie