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/127957
SPEEDWAY WORLD INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPSERIES By J o h n Hip kis s COVENTRY, ENGLAND, AUG.7 ussie ace Jason Crump was handed the per fect birthday present with a su pe rb wi n in the British G rand Prix at Cove ntry's Brandon Stadium. Cr u m p, so n of fo r m er A us t ra lia n int ern ati on al phil Crum p, w as born in Eng la n d durin g h is fa ther's British Lea gue career, and Dad w as on ha nd wh en Cru m p scored the win a t rou nd fou r of th e World Individual Cham pionship Series just one day after his 23rd birt hd ay, which made for a great do uble celeb ra tion after preparati on s for the meetin g kept him from partyi ng it u p on the night p rior to the GP. A lt ho ugh World Cha m pio ns hi p leader Ton y Rickardsson lost ou t in his bid to make ano ther fina l after heat 20, A 00 0\ 0\ ,...... .-.D N .... sr: ;::l eo ;::l < 34 !ffi"= ' = = = = = = - - - - -- the 1994 World Champion and current series points lead er still holds a la-point ad vantage over fe llow Swede Jim my N ilsen, w ho d id qua li fy fo r th e fina l despite suffering a broken collarbo ne two weeks ago . . . The rou nd held more disa ppointment for America's Tea m Exide-backed duo Gr eg Hancock a nd Billy Hamill , w ho were looking to make it into the final at w ha t is ba sicall y their home track, as both race for th e Coventry Bees in the British Elite League. But bo th Hamill and Hancock had to settle for a place in the conso lation final, thus missing out on a go ld en op p o rt u n ity to make se rio us head way in the cha mpi onship race. PRE·MAIN EVENT The earl y stages we re pred ictable, as man y races were won straight from the - - = - - - - - - , - - - - -- - - - ---l (Ab ove left ) Aus tral ia's Jason Crump raises his hands in triumph afte r earn ing his second career speedway 'Grand Prix victory just one day after his 23rd birthday, at the British Grand Prix In Coventry, England. (Top) Crump (10) battles fellow Australian and fellow finalist Ryan Sullivan (9). Sullivan went on to fi nish fou rt h in the fina l. (Above) Jimmy Nilsen (8), shown here leading defending Wor ld Champion Greg Hancock (1), put together a heroic ride in The Final to finish second while nursing a broken shoulder. sta r t, whic h ha rdl y crea te d a good impression for the TV viewers throughout Europe. Brian Andersen made a flyin g start to heat one and never loo ked bac k, wit h Ryan Sulli van chas ing har d . Stefan Da nna cha rge d from the ga te in h ea t tw o, a n d Eng lish w ild ca rd Joe Scree n provided the firs t entertai nme nt of the night as he passed Zol tan Adorja n bu t could not ma ke an im p res sio n on Dan no . Ham ill started in the pre-main eve nt becau se of h is d isappointment in the previou s rou nd , and he go t off to a dream start by eas ily bea ting his rivals in heat three. Henk a Gus tafsso n made progress by wi nn ing of heat four, and there was a good effor t from fo rmer World Und er-2l Cha m p io n [ esper B. Jensen, who worked hard for his second place. H eat five w as th e first race w hich eliminated rid ers, and it was Pio tr Protasiewicz an d Sebastian Ulamek who packed their bags early as Leigh Ad ams