Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

releg ated to third . And w hen Jor gensen edged out I::eter Karl sson in hea t 14, it meant both Karger and Karlsson were level on 11 points goi ng into the final rou nd of races . _ But th e real sc ra p w as d evel opin g lo w er down th e order, with no fe wer than 10 riders chasing the five remaining qua lifying places as Karger, Karl ss o n and Ermolenko (9 p oints ) w ere already home and dry. "A fter winning th e fir st two rides, I'm d isappoint ed not to be straight back throu gh to the Grand Prix, but a t th e end of the d ay I fini shed three points behind the top two," Ermolenko said . " It ' s g o od to be back o n a rostrum . That's always a good feeling, and I just hope I can make tonight worth it when I go to th e Grand Pr ix Challenge. The track was very difficult at times, and it was all about making the starts, which I . managed to do early on, bu t the meeting go t m ore diffi cult b e cau s e no rid er wanted to give away point s easily." The racin g then im pro ved , as rid ers threw everything into the first tum, and it was good to see that nobody got hurt in very tense circu ms tances. Mikael Karlsso n was celebrati ng after gaining five points from heats 16 and 17, as this was enough to put him through to a runoff for places in th e GP Challen ge. Karg er won heat 18 and Pe ter Karl sson won heat 20, which se t up a runoff for the Int e rcontinenta l titl e, and with fo u r rid ers on e ig h t p oints cha s in g three GP C h a llenge pl a ces, it meant an other runoff. Th ank full v, th e rain h alt ed fo r t he a ll-o r- no t h jng sho w downs, s ta rting w ith th e race for G P Challen ge places. This was wo n from the gate, as Hav elock mad e a drea m sta rt and ta len ted te ena g er N ic ki Ped ers en tu cked i n behind him . Mik a el Karlsson w orked h ard fo r th ird pl a ce , wh ich m eant heartache for Ronn i Ped ersen , wh o saw his h op es of G ra nd Pri x glory da sh ed within four la ps. Then came the race for the title, with Kar ger up aga inst Peter Karlsson . It was the Dan e who pulled clear to tak e th e hon or s, but both riders cou ld afford to ce lebrate t hei r pl a ce in t he bi g ge st speedway competition in the wo rld. " It w as re all y tough ou t th er e, not jus t becau se of the weat her bu t becau se of the s ta n da rd o f th e r id ers in th is meeting ," Kar ger sa id . "I could ha rd ly have wi sh ed fo r th is to hav e go ne so well, but to win it in my home country means a lot to me as well. We'll hav e to s ee what I ca n d o in the Grand Prix now, but I know that's even harder than this meeting!" "A lot of people hav e written me off because I was released from my British club in the winter, but I think I've proved a point tonigh t," runner-up Peter Karlsson said . "I know what I can do, and my gating was good , so there is no reason why I can't ca rry th is through to the Gra nd Prix. I th ou ght it was right to ca ll th e refer ee down - something had to be done - and I think everythin g has worked ou t well. Full credit to Brian for the runoff; he just made a better start than me and that' s all there is to say on it" l~ Vojens Speedway Vojens, Denmark Resu lts: August 21, 1998 O /A (Top 2 tr.ansfrr directly to G r series; next & 10 GP Chal lenge meet ing); 1. Bria n Karger (14); 2. Pete r Karlsson (14); 3. Sam Errnole nko (11); 4. Joe Screen (9); 5. John jor gen sen (9); b . Gary Havelock (8); 7. Nicki Pedersen (8); 8. Mikacl Karlsso n (8); 9. Ronni Pedersen (8); 10. Lars Cun nes tad (6); 11. Jaso n Lyons (6); 12. Peter Nahlin (6); 13. Paul H urry (6); 14. Kelvin Ta tum (4); 15. Ma rk Lemo n (2); 16. Glen Cu n n ing ha m (1) , DELMAR FAI RGROUNDS CRESCENT TRUCK U NES (100) CRESCENT Tickets: Agajanian Presents 310-547-9898 & Loca l Mle Dealers AVIS I'1'~ CAL-EXPO S tate Fairgrounds Sat., Sept. 26 7 :00 PM " T ell th em you read a b o u t It I n (![lffi!iTr:B " ,.". 7 998 AMA NIIUNI'A/N NAI/NG NII'II6'III1'I sHOKY MOOH TAltt' ~ ~ ............11III ~ . 4 N CTI O ",IE D -SEri~ I .,,-.. 4!r 1Wf3InIe1I>OrffJJ'ii'!1!$ . _ O T Ct ..O • • · 'Bif.fi:l"ft ........... ~ ~ PIZZA PLUS AfDUNUJP ~JIttJlV*.".,..,* wm TERS MARKET/RG ~~ CLASS ACT PROm CYCLE

• Cover