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SPEEDWAY WORLD INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES Protasiewicz was in the wa rs again in heat 14, and he wen t into the fence and was excluded - but he still had another chance to go through . The rerun was won by Andersen, and Tomasz Gollob worked hard to get the better of Henka Gustafsson. Hamill wa s the firs t real, shocking failure of the meeting, as he we nt out in heat 15. He made a poor start and tried everything to ge t the better of Brian Kar ger but lacked the speed to ge t close . Louis produced a good rid e in he a t 16 to beat N ilsen and Gustafsson with a su perb move. Nielsen saw off the early cha llenge of Ha ncoc k to lea d hea t 17 fro m s ta rt to fin ish , a nd w it h G ollob goi ng wide, he paid the price by traili ng in last. Ricka rdsson sec ured his firs t win of the nig ht in heat 18 w ith a su pe rb firs t bend w hich left his riv als trailin g. And Go llob was put o u t of th e mee ting by his Ipswich teammate, Lou is, in hea t 20, as the British rider worked hard to pass h im - it le f t Go llob wi th o n ly eig ht Grand Prix po ints. CHAMPION SHIP SEMIFINALS Lou is , Nielse n, Rickard ss on a n d C ru m p were clear qualifiers fro m the semifina l sta ge, Crump wo rking the most to pass Hancock in heat 22. Han cock had to se ttle for the Co nso lation Final. CHAMPIONSHIP FINA LS 24 Kasper w as th e shoc k winner of the Consolati on Fina l - and he di d it comfortabl y over Han cock, Kar ger an d th e unfortunat e Lorarn, w ho was edged out by Karger. The fi n a l w as clea r -cu t f ro m th e mom ent Ni else n mad e the start off ga te three , with Lou is ch a s in g hard a n d Rickardsson settling for third pla ce. " I' ve a lwa ys felt co nfid en t of winning in Vojens, and I sta rted th e series with se rio us hopes of becoming World Champion again, " Nielsen said afterward. "But yo u have to take your hat off to Tony - he's had a great series now, but if I ca n win the next tw o, an d he drops p oin ts , 1 know I still ha v e a chance. It's hard this year, and I have to try and stay in the mai n event of every meeting - bu t it's not easy, and this win mea ns a lot to me." (Above left) As his Team Exide teammate had in the first round of the series, former World Champ ion BillyHamill suffered an ear ly exit at Vojens, missing a valuab le opportunity to challenge Rickardsson in the standings. Hamill rema ins fourth , with 44 points . (Above right) Runner-up Chris Louis (18) tries to run up the Inside of series leader Tony Rickardss on (center), while Nielsen (outside) makes a break for the dirt line. Rlckardsson finished third, thus maintain ing a healt hy points lead . Jason Crump (not sh own) was fourth. (Right) Reigning World Champion Greg Hancock has continued to improve with eac h GP round while rema ining vocal in his opposition to the new race formal. Hancock just missed out on his first final at Vojens and wound up second in the Consolation final. Ru nn er-u p Lo ui s mad e n o bon es about his happiness with his own result in the meeting. " I' m d e li ght e d w i th t h e resu lt beca u se everyon e w as ta lkin g a bou t Tony a nd ho w he was going to win it again," Lou is said. " He didn' t, a nd I want to be up th ere, challen gin g. I feel goo d thi s year, th e team around me is good an d I'm happy to be doin g well in the Gra nds Prix . I kn ow there is more to come fro m me." Rickard sso n is refusing to talk abo ut the title - but he is still more than happy to be in the po siti on of clea r leader a t the halfway stage. "I reali ze the pressure is on me, and everyone will be trying to get the better of me for the rest of the se ries, bu t I can cope w ith that," Rickard sson sa id. "I' m jus t go ing to con centrate on my own racing and my own team. Things are going w ell, and I'm trying not to w orry about an ybody else. Hans did w ell tonight; I have a lot of respect for tha t guy and he deserves his success, but I want to be up ther e at the end of the year." Su rp ris ing ly, Ha m ill wa s not down after m issing out on a hig h finish - and he re fu sed to bl ame anything but hi s own pe rformance. "Peo ple hav e asked me w he ther this is all abo ut my en gine or other mac hinery, bu t I'm no t mak ing any excuses - it was all dow n to me," H a mill sai d. " I have to take a lon g and hard look at the way t h ings h ave go ne for m e , a nd I wa nt to ge t back on the right track for th e n ext ro u nd o n m v hom e tra ck a t Coventry." ' Hancock en joyed his best Gra nd Prix of the year - but he is still ver y much agains t the new format whi ch puts rid ers under pr essu re. "1 ca n see why the y've tried thin gs like th is, bu t the su p po rters can' t even fill a program in and , for me, that's not good enough," Han cock sa id . "We ha ve to talk about it no w or just get on wi th it and hope so mething cha nges in the w inter , because it's all wrong. It was hard again tonight, but I'm happy to be making ste ady progress, and I'll stay positive about it all ." I~ Volens Speedway Centre Volens , Denmark Res ults : J une 19, 1998 (Round 3 of 6) SEMI 1: 1. Chris louis; 2. Hans Nielsen: 3. Ma rk Loram; 4. Antonin Kasper. SEM I 2: 1. Tony Rickardsson: 2 Jason Crump; 3. Brian Karger; 4. Greg Hancock CONSOLATION: 1. A nton in Kasper ; 2. G reg Ha ncock; 3. Brian Karge r. 4. Ma rk Loram. FINAL: 1. Hans Nleleetu 2. Chris Louis; 3. Tonv Rickardssoru 4. Jason Crump. ~ FIN AL PLA C I N CS AND S C O R ES'!. H a n , Nielsen (25); 2. Chris Lou is (20); 3. Tony Rickardsson (8); 4. Jason Crum,P Ob) ; 5. Antonin Kasper (5); b. Greg Ha ncock (14); I . Brian Karger (2); 8. Mark Loram (101; 9. (TIE) Tomasz Collob/jimmy Nilsen (8); 11. (TIE) Brian An de rsen /Stefan Da nno (7 ); 13. (T I E) Billv Ha mi ll / He nka G u stafsso n ( 6 ); 15. ( TlE) P iotr Protas ie iwicz /A ndy Smith (5) ; 17 . ( TtE) Leigh Ada ms /Lars Gu nnested (4); 19. (T1E) Ryan Sulli van / Armando Ca stagna (3) ; 21. (TI E) Zo lta n Adorja n / Sebas tian Ulamek (2); 23. m E) Craig Boyce/Iesper B. Jensen (1). WO RLD IN DI VID UA L C' SU P SER IES PO INT S STAND INGS (After 3 of 6 rounds): 1. Tony Rickar dsson (68/2 wi n s); 2. Jimmy' Nils en (46); 3. Ha ns N ielse n (45 /1 ); 4. Bill y H amill (44) ; 5. C hr is Lou is (43 ); 6. Tom asz Collob (40); 7. Greg Han cock (30); B. Henke Gus tafsso n (29); 9. Stefan Danno (27); 10. Toni Kasper (26 ); 11. Ma rk Loram (23 ); 12. rrm Rya n Sulliva n/jason Crump (22); 14. Andy Smith (21) ; 15. Leigh Adams (21)1; 16. Zolta n Ado rjan (14); 17. mE) Brian Ande rsen/ Brian Karger (1 2); 19 . (T IE) A rm a ndo Ca st a g na y Pe t cr Karls"c;on (9) . • Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Coventry, England, August 7 Round 5 - Linkoping, Sweden, August 28