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/127959
SPEEDWAY W ORLDC A H MPIONSH IP Q UALIFIERSERIES Vojens Speedway despite the fact that the rain was easi ng . Stee le ordered th e Vojens track staff to work on the track wi th a view to taking the d irt to the ou tside, wh ich meant the top s u rface, which was nothin g but slim e, was clear for the rid er s to continue. But th e p roblems d idn't s top th er e. Hea t ni ne had to be ra ced more th an once, as Aussie Mark Lemon we nt down in the first turn but wa s allowed back in for a rerun. Then he repeated the damage and w as excluded by Steele for cau sing the stoppage of the race, and effectively his n ig h t was over. Peter Karlsson took full advantage of the second rerun to make it three straigh t wins and he became the favori te to go on and tak e the title. Mik ael Kar lsson struggled for th ird p lace in heat 10 and , with three poi nt s from thr ee rid es, it looked almosy certai n tha t hi s ho pes of a pl ace in the Gra nd Pr ix cha llenge were o ve r - u nti l la ter . Ermo lenko ' s fi rs t defe at came a t th e hands of Nic ki Ped ersen in heat 11, but with eight poin ts o n th e board, he was still well on course for a rostrum place . H ea ts 12 and 13 proved to be the tu rning point for Karger, as he assured himself of a place on the rostrum wi th two successive wins. He was an im pressive win ner of heat 12, ahead of country man Jorgens en, an d in hea t 13 he was forced to work ha rd in the early stages, with a tight firs t turn ag ains t the hardriding Ronni Pederse n, w ith Ermo lenko 36 VOjENS, DENMARK, AUG. 21 III ain failed to dampen the enthus iIP asm of home-nati on fa v orite Brian Karger as he roared to victory at Vojens Speedway in Vojen s, Denmark, to gain o ne of two places available in next yea r's World Indi vidu al Champion ship grand pri x series. He go t the better of classy Swede Pet er Karl sso n in a runoff after both rid ers finished on 14 points, ensuring th ey will be mi xing it with the big boys next year . "S u d d e n" Sa m Er m o le n ko w a s pl ea sed w ith hi s effo rts, as he headed the qualifiers for th e Grand Pri x Challenge, which takes place in Pardubi ce, Cz ech Republic, on October 3. Oth er qu a li fiers fo r the s ud de ndeath-chall en ge even t were Engl and ' s joe Screen, Denmar k' s John Jorgensen, Eng la nd' s Gary Havelock, Denmark' s Ni cki Ped er sen a nd Sweden 's Mikael Karlsson. The meeting started in dreadful condi tio ns, with ra in ,coming down, which caused some conce rn for th e major ity of rid ers h e adin g b a ck to Engl and fo r important meetin gs th e following nig ht. If th is meeting had been ca lled off, it w oul d have been o n Saturday, w hich would ha ve ca u sed chaos with th e British League. As is always the case when racing in the rain, riders went for the fast starts to avoid g etting filled in with dirt fr om their riv a ls ' back wheels, but that' s exactly what ha p pened to Kelvin Tatum in hea t one. The former World finalist missed the start and made a mess of the first turn as Overseas Cha mpion Jason Lyons pulled we ll clear dow n the bac k straig ht to head the race from Nic ki Pederse n and joe Screen. Kar ger signaled his in tentions to the rest of the field wi th a fas t sta rt in heat two, lea ving G u n nesta d, Pa ul Hurry a nd Pet er Nah lin tr ailing w ell beh ind him . Th is was matched by Peter Karlsson in heat three, as his margin of victory wa s impressiv e o ver Gary Havelock - (Top) Denmark 's Brian Karger (center) scored 14 points and went on to a win a run off against Peter Karlsson (right) to win the Interco ntinental Final at Vojens Speedway in Denmark. Both riders also earned direct seeds into the 1999 World Indivi dual Championship Series. (Above) Stay in' alive: Alt hough he fail ed to fi nish in th e top two, the th lrd-plaee finish of Sam Ermolenko (lett ) has given him the right to co ntest the GP Challe nge meeti ng, wh ere he has a soli d ch ance of earn ing a tick et to the '99 grands prix. (Below) How atroci ou s were the condi tions at Vojens? Jason Lyo ns (abo ve) and Mark Lemo n (below) made contact in heat nine, forcing t hem into a slide throug h the slime. the ,1992 World Champion - Glenn Cunningham and Ronni Pedersen . Errnolenko start ed in sty le w he n he made a flying start in heat four, a n d after a tight battl e w ith h is W ol verhampton co lleague Mikael Karlsson in the first bend , he wa s a co m fo r ta b le winner, but with rain coming down all the time, there were genu ine fears this meeting would not be completed. As m uch work as possib le wa s done on the tra ck in between hea ts four and fiv e, as th is w as th e en d of th e firs t round of races, with ev er y rid er co m pl et in g o ne race. Er mo len ko looked su pe rb again in heat four, goi ng on the Ieaderb oard w it h six po in ts fro m tw o races as he showed Nah lin, H avelock an d Tatum his ba ck w heel in cl as sic "Su d d en Sam" s ty le - his th ree rival s could not get near him. Kar ger suffered hi s only d efeat of the night in hea t seven , when he w as second best to Peter Karlsso n, who loo ked fast as he ro ared away into th e second lap, w hile hi s young er brother Mikael trailed in at the back . But the m ake-o r-break time for this event came at th e e n d o f h eat eig h t. . w he n eac h rid er had compl eted t w o , ra ces . "Su d d en " Sam took th e in titiative by as k ing Eng lis h referee Tony Steele to go down to the track and tak e a close inspect ion, as condi tio ns w ere ge tting worse