Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Venegas opted no t to travel o';er from the United States, the gove rn ing bod y d ecre ed tha t Cunningham shou ld step u p into the starting lineup. And he took fu ll ad va n tage of his lat e ent ry with a sp lend id w in, wh ich w as to set up not only qu alifica tio n bu t also a s hocki ng ros tru m place. Ermolen ko re ma in ed unbeaten by w inning a restarted heat six, when Manchester's eagerness to make a good start cost him a tap es exclus ion . Lyons joined Er mo lenko on six p oints by wi nni ng heat seven from Cu nningha m in some sty le from the start. Dram a su rro u nd ed heat nine, as first Lechky crashed out on the first turn . In the th ree-man rerun, Nicholls lunged into Manch ester on the third lap , caus ing b oth riders to b it e th e d us t. Nicho lls, first to his feet, was exclu ded fro m the d ecla red rerun, bu t Ma nches- (Above) Chris Manchester (left) saw his hopes for a berth in the '99 GP ser ies come to a gr inding halt after th is crash with Scott Nicholls (right) in heat nine. (Left) Manchester Is consoled by Team USA manager James Easter (left) after the heat-nine incident. Manc hester suffered a concussion and was unable to continue in the meetin g. (Right) Winner Jason Lyons (center), runner-up Joe Screen (left) and surprise th ird-p lace finisher Glenn Cunn ingham take it all in on the victory pod iu m. ter needed a full checkover by the track m ed ics . Ref eree Rin gs tr om o p te d to give Man chester plen ty of time to try to be read y for the restart, ru lin g tha t the hea t should be run again immed ia tely afte r hea t 12! Th is biza rre d ecis ion incensed the . Aus tralian camp an d becam e the topic of several pit-side qui ps as the meeting progressed - although the rerun never took p lace, as Manchester was officially ruled out of the meeting because of his concussion, so Lemon was awarded the three points for the win. Heat 10 was started, and Joe Screen found himsel f in a low poi nts-scoring position, so he increased the pac e and came under Wigg . As he went by , he was knocked off balance appearing to clip Wigg's footr est. As Screen began to fall , Wigg dropp ed h is machine in defense. His exclusion was a decision tha t was eventua lly to consign Wigg to the reserve berth in Vojens. Screen wo n the reru n over Cu nni ngham, still collecting valuable sca lps on his way to that rostrum place, this time fin ish ing clear of Havelock. Lyons collected h is ha t tri ck of victo ries in the twice-s ta rted hea t 12, w hic h b roug h t him head to head with his nearest rival, Ermo lenko . Ermolen ko fou nd a greasy pat ch on the apex between tu rn s three and fou r and slid to th e d eck, ab le to remoun t and get his bike into motion jus t before Lyon s and the ever-battling Pau l Hurry came roun d for the seco nd time. Lyons had successfully seen off his closes t riva l and took a major stride toward the title w ith a comfor table heat-13 win, ano ther race that was su bject to a reru n after Lemon had crashed with Wigg on the first tu rn in a n i nciden t th a t w as declared to be first-bend bunching - all four back . Erinolenko returned to his wi nning ways in heat 15 after another frustrated start first time around . Steve Johnston had set the early pace, but both Screen by now Lyons' nearest opponent - and Erm olenko - still with title aspirations going by Johnston. Ermolenko cou ld rela x with 10 points from four rides, and his last place in his final race onl y served to determine his finishing position. The title was confirm ed in heat 18 as Lyons ma intain ed his unblemished scorecard, and then Wig g proved just how critical that heat -l0 exclusion wa s when h e won his last rid e to secure enough poi nts only for nin th place. Screen wo n heat 20 to secure second p lace - b ut the ni ght be lo nged to his Belle Vue Aces colleague, Lyons . "T h is is t he grea test d a y of my car eer, and it comes at a time when I'm e njoyi ng my racing more tha n ev e r," Lyo ns sai d . "It' s a long and ha rd road through to the Grand Prix, bu t I' m convinced I can ge t there for next year." . Errnol enko was satisfied w ith h is efforts, ac hieving qualificatio n just a week after enjoying a full max imum at the North American Final in Au b urn, Cali fornia. "I always said I wa nted to get back in th e Grand Prix, and n o t h i n g has changed - this is just a step on the way back to where I believe I belong," Erm olenko said. "I have every faith in m y a b ili ty to match th e best in th e world , and m y determination is as stro ng as ever ." Manchester was naturally upset wi th his performance, which was brought to an abru p t halt. "I had an open mind going into the mee ting. I just wanted to give it my best shot a nd enjoy myself, but I'm disappointed about the way the whole thin g w ent ," Manchester sa id. "I want to co me back to Engla nd to race in the 'Ieagu e here next year, an d a good display today migh t have do ne something for me." • c-:\' Poole Stadium ' Poole , England Results: June 14 , 1998 O /A (Top 8 advance 10 In te rco n tin enta l Finoll): 1. Jason Lyo ns 05 points) ; 2. Joe Screen (2); 3. Gle n n C un ning ham (11) ; 4 . (TI E) Kelv in Ta tum /Sel ID Ermo lenko /Gary Have lock (10); 7. Marl Lemo n /Paul Hu rry (9) ; 9 . Sim on wtgg (7) ; 10. (T IE) Brent wernee/ Sreve Johnston /Savala s Clouting (5); 13. mE) Scott N ic holls /Paul Atkin s (3); 15. (TIE ) Karo ly lechky / Chris Manchester (1) ; 17. Paul Oug hton (0) . Upcoming Rounds: Intercontinental Final - Vojens, Denmark, August 21 Grand Prix Challenge - Par dubice , Czech RepUblic. October 3 A B ~ 45

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