Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

of heat 10, with Eng lishmen Chris Louis and Andy Smith going th rough to th e main even t. MAIN EVENT Rick ard sson started as he ai med to go on , w ith a stu n ning sta rt in heat 11 th at allowed him to co mforta bly beat new track-record hold er Leigh Adams , and the rest of th e field kn ew Rickardsson was the man to stop. But N ilsen also started his night we ll with victory in hea t 12, as N ielse n continued his p rog ress through fro m the early ro unds with a steady second place. Big g u ns H a m ill a nd Tom as z Gollob cla s h ed in heat 13 agains t q ua lifie rs Andersen and Smith, and it was A nderse n w ho m a d e t he qu ick s ta r t, with Hamill trailing at th e back. Han cock m ad e a p oor s ta r t w ith third place in heat 14, behi nd Su llivan and Karlsson, but at this stage it w as no disaster, as the reigning Wor ld Cha mp ion had another chance to progress. H amill had lo st ou t in o ne o f th e races of the series and w as d one ea rly again with a last place in heat 16, w hich was his last chance to go through. Jason Crump was a clear winn er from th e tapes , but you co u ld have thrown a blanket over Hamill , Casta gn a and Ha ncock as they all battled for th at precious second place to keep them in the hun t. Ha ncock he ld on under severe pressure and was able to go th ro u gh bu t for Hamill , his hopes of title g lory were e nded , a nd h e w as o n hi s way home. "There's not a lot I can say abou t this," Hamill sa id . "I' m not making any excuses, and I'd just ra ther put it all to one si de a nd forget a bo u t it. I' m n ot w orried abo ut m y place in next yea r's Grand Prix because th er e is a big ga p between me and the rid ers be low, but a good meeting in Poland cou ld still put me o n the ros trum ." Rickardsson dominat ed heat 17, wi th Karl sson comi ng from th e ba ck to frustrat e N ielse n - but no rider wen t ou t at th is stage. Th e next pressure race was heat 19, and it was bad news for Lora m and An dersen, w ho had both battl ed hard to go through fr om th e pre-main event, but they could do nothing to sto p Ada ms and Han cock . I " Past m aster" N iel sen went o u t in heat 20 to take his tall y up to 60 Gra nd Pr ix po ints - o ne behind Hancock an d Hamill with one ro und to go a nd still no t a ce rtai n ty fo r next year's series . Crump fe ll in t his ra ce, a n d it was Nils en and Louis who p r o g r es s ed through to th e fina l event. Despite his fail u re to qualify, N ielsen said th a t he still feels that he is more than competitive. m"ll's been a hard year, and the guys (Above left) Billy Hamill (right). shown with Greg Hancock (left). sa w his chance s for the 1998 World Championship dissipate when he failed to qua lify for the semis . Hamill now has to watch his bac k, as he is preca riously clos e to the bottom of the elite eight tha t aut omatically qua lify for the '99 GPs , (Above) Hancock (1) finally broke through to make his first final In the series . whe re he carded a fourth place finish , Like Hamill, Hancock cou ld face elimination from the GPs if he fares poorly in Poland . (Right, from left to right) Louis, Rickardsson and Karlsson ce lebrate atop the winner's rostrum. a t the top are getting tougher to ca tch for m e, but I'm s till en joying it a nd I have proved w hat I can d o throughout this year," Nielsen sai d . "This meeting was har d because I had to work my wa y through the early stages of this new formula, but it wasn't too bad for me, even if my final result coul d have been better." FINAL EVENT Home fans went wild as Ricka rdsson roared to vic to ry in the first se mifinal, and to make it a grea t race for Ipswich fans, Louis came from the back to pa ss Aus tralians Adams and Sullivan to join Rickardsson in th e final. Anothe r Ip sw ich man, Tornasz Go llob, was the favori te to go through from the second se mifinal, but he blew his engine, w hic h d enied him the ch ance . Nilsen t rail ed in th ird to effectively hand th e titl e to Rickardsso n, as Nilsen needed to at lea st match his countryman in order to keep the race open for th e 'Po lis h round . Hancock and Karlsson made it through to the final. The Consolation final saw Nilsen win in so me style ahead of Gollob, Adams an d Su lliva n, but this d id ' no thi ng more than so rt out the finishing positions. Ra in started t o fall in the la tter stages, bu t it had little or no effect on track conditions , and it certainly failed to da mpen the en thusiasm of Rickards- so n . He m ade a flying s tar t fro m the tapes in the Gr and Fina l and as the riders w en t down the back straight, th ey spread ou t, with Louis and Karls son followed by Ha ncock. Rickard sson w as a worthy winne r, and as he cele bra ted by di vin g o n the track in spectacular st yle, he knew he was closing in on his second World crown. "I know peo ple w ill say I'm almost there, and 1 suppose that' s fair comment, but I'm not prepared to celebrate until it is certain," Rickard sson sa id. "I felt rea lly good a bo ut tonight. Peo p le started asking questions abo u t me d uring the Britis h GP, but I always knew I co uld do well here. I have no worries about going to Po land; I like that place and I know I can go there and finis h as World Champion ." Louis' seco n d brought g reat jo y to the Brit, who pro babl y still hasn 't sho w n all that he m a y be ca p a b le of at th e World level, despite finis hing as hi gh as third in th e world in 1993. "This was a m eet ing I re ally enjoyed," Lo u is said. "The tr ack was grea t eve n tho ug h the p r a ct ice was called off, and I'm absolu tely d elighted about th e res u lt. It was tough out th ere, bu t I was confi den t a nd th e bikes felt really good for me ." Despite his struggles in 1998, reig ning cham pion H ancock said that h is fou rth place will allo w him to keep his ch in up, even though he still has reservations about th e se ries format. "It's be en a di sappointing se ries fo r me, but this ha s made me feel mu ch be tter about it all," Hancoc k said . "I ' m still no t co nvinced a bo ut the race format. Billy has come he re and had only two races, and I don't think that's right for Wo rld-class riders who spend time in the works hop, bu ild ing up tow ard th is. " Bu t I' m pleased with m y resu lt, " Hancock continued . "A nd I just ho pe I can bu ild on thi s in Poland and finis h th e series in style to se t me u p for next year." .~ L1nkopping Speedway L1nkopping, Sweden Res ults: August 28, 1998 (Round 5 of 6) SEM I 1: 1. Ton y Rickardsson; 2. Chris Lou is; 3. Leigh Ada.ms;'Ryan Sullivan . SEM I 2: 1. Greg Hanco ck; 2. Peter Karlsson ; 3. Jimm y N ilsen; 4. Tomasz Gollob. CO N SO LAT IO N: 1. Jimmy Nilsen . 2. Tomas z Go llo b; 3. Leigh Ad am s; 4. Ryan Su llivan. FIN AL: 1. Tony Rickardsson: 2. Chris " ui s; 3. Peter Lo Ka rlsson; 4. Greg Hancock. WORLD INDI V IDUA L CHAMPIO N SHIP SERIES PO INTS ST ANDINGS (After 5 of 6 rounds): 1. Tony Ricke rdsson (101 / 3 wins) ; 2. Jim my N ilsen (81); 3. Toma s z Go llo b (72); 4. Chris Louis (69) ; 5 . Greg Hancock (6 1); 6. Billy Hamill (6l); 7. Hans Ni el so n (60 1ll; 8. Jason Crump (54 / 1); 9. Ryan Sullivan (48); 10. Ant onin Kasper (43); 11. Stefan Da nno (42) ; 12. (TIE) Mark Loram /Henrik Gust afsson (37); 15. Leigh Adams (36); 16. Andy Smith (31); 17. Brian An derseen (28 ); 18. Pet er Karls son (27 ); 19. (TI E) Armand o Ca s ta gn a l Zolta n Ad orjan (18). . Upcoming Round: Round 6 . Bydgodocz, Poland, September 18 41

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