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SPEEDWAY WORLD TEAM CUP FINAL (Right) Hancock clashes with teammate Hamill as Hans Nielsen dives up the inside . The Danish team was th ird on the night. (Below) Polish rider Tomasz Gollob drives up the inside of Ton i Caspers of the Czech team. Poland was fourth, the Czech Republic fifth. 14 weather conditions, even if the eve r-present threat of further rain mean t it was rus hed throu gh wit h hardly a moment to pa use for brea th. It took four hea ts for th e surface slime to d isappear off the top, and they we re four hea ts that we n t sw immingly for the America ns. They registered an easy 5-1 over the Czech Rep ub lic pair ing of To ni Kasper and Mario Jirout in heat on e , a n d th en repe a ted it w it h another ma ximum against the Poles in heat four. Sweden did likewise with 5-1 scores over th e Hungarians and th e Cze ch s, although Sand or Tihanyi decked Ton y Rick ard s so n when he to ok a way hi s front wheel on the second bend of hea t two . It w as a' s eemingly insign ificant incident a t the time when Rickardsson follow ed Jimmy Nilsen h ome in th e restart, but o ne that wa s to have fa r graver co ns equ en ces for Sweden lat er on . The United States and Sweden were level on 10 points api ece w hen they met in a crucial heat eight. Something had to give, but it proved to be far from conclusive , Nilsen outgated Hancock and Hamill, but Rickar dsson , aboa rd his secon d bike af ter bending a frame w hen parting compa ny with his first machin e, was tra p p ed a t th e ba ck a nd los t momen tu m in a pat ch of water on the whit e line. The Danis h fans, having acclaimed a fir s t-r a ce 5-1 from Hans Nielsen a n d Bri a n Ka r ge r o ve r t h e Ge r mans , watche d th eir firs t-cho ice pa iri ng salvage a 3-3 by both passing [acek Go llob in heat seven, but the klaxons fell silent w hen' they con ced ed a d eflating 5-1 to the Ame ricans four races later. Hancock was left with nowhere to go but d own into the d ir t on a tight first turn, b ut ·in th e seco nd runnin g both Americans qu ickly go t free. As the d ark clo u ds dro pped another heavy s hower on to th e proceed ings, Hancock w as passed by Nie lsen . Bu t he refused to be beaten a nd bra vel y lo ca ted a way back pa s t the Dane to rejoin Hamill up front. Sweden was still playing catch-up to the Americans, but they sprang a shock when they carne to th e tap es for th eir Scand ina vian showdown with Denmark in heat 13 without Rickardsson. Reserve rider Pe ter Karlsson was preferred to the Grand Prix leader, with Rickard sson revea lin g la ter that he felt his se co nd machine was d own on power and had to persu ade manager Mats Ol sson to make the change. The Danes also opted for something di fferen t by swapping their Bri ans . Karger was out, Andersen was in, and it wa s the Danish reser ve who began an eye-catching point-proving exercise - to the officious Vojens ga teman who had refu sed him entry, at the ver y least - by storm ing flat out down the back straight to d issect Karlsson, who appeared to be turn in g right u n d e r pressure from Nie lsen, and Nilsen, who was going left. N ilsen fi nishe d las t a nd tha t le ft th e United States on 18, Sweden on '15 a nd Denmark wit h 13 after four races each . The United Sta tes had Germany and Hu nga ry to meet, and the Magyars had a lready been on the receiv in g end of four clear-c ut 5-1 tallies. So it wa s up to the Germans to try to p lace a spoke in th e wa y o f th e s ta r-spa ngled lead ers, a nd th ey p itch ed in for heat 15, with reserve Matth ia s Kro e ger p a rtn e rin g wit h Rob er t Barth. Kroeger, a rela tive unkn own in such lofty sp eed way circles but a m embe r o f th is ye a r's W o rl d Longtrac k / Grasstrac k Grand Prix series, had a lrea dy d isplayed amp le ev idence of his burgeoning ability by collecting tw o seco nd places and a sti rring win ove r'Kasper and [irou t in heat 12. But collecting points off the also-ra ns was one thing. Matching the incompa rable Americans was a totally different proposition. Ori this occasion, the Ge rmans were lef t the scra ps a s the two Statesiders sped away to all bu t seal their triumph. Only a disaster of titanic proportions in their final race would now deprive the Ll.S. duo of striking gold, and it jus t wasn't going to happen . The ir last of five 5-1 scores was fitting ly the most convincing, and altho ug h both Sweden a nd Den mar k fi nis he d on a high , w it h Andersen taking th e chec kered flag for the third time in thr ee ou tings as the Danes brough t the cu rta in down with a 5-1 over the hapless Hunga rians, it was the p rolific U'S, pairin g w ho were fittin gly gr eeted wit h a rendition of Q ueen's "A Kind of Magic " as the fireworks exploded int o the Dani sh nigh t air. "We have salvaged something good out of our year and it's the first real trop hy w e can d evot e to the memory of John Scott," Hancock said . "There was a lot of emotion for us in winning it, and we won it for Joh n. We a ll worked really hard , the mechanics did a great job and so too d id Sam Ermolen ko in the pits. It's the highl ight of the year for us and we've pu t America back on top agai n." T he U.S. team devoted its success to late team manager John Scott, a decision eloquently explained by new boss James Easter. "John meant a lot to the Americans, not on ly as a manager but as a pe rson as well ," Easter sai d . "T hey h a d so me wond er ful times when he wa s manager an d it might sound a bit sy ru py, but we all seemed to say together as we wen t onto the cen ter green for the presenta\tion that this wa s for the Squ ire. It was genuine and heartfelt." . n Vojens Speedway Center Vojens, Denmark Results: September 11, 1998 FIN AL S CO RES : 1. United S tates 28 - Greg Han cock 12+5, Bill Hamill 16+1; 2. Swed en 24 - To ny y Rickardsson 5+1, Jim my Nilsen 13+2, Peter Karlsson 6; 3. Denma rk 23 - Hans Nie lsen 10+3. Brian Karger 4+1Bria n Andersen 9; 4. Pola nd 17 - To masz Go llob 15, Ia cek Go llob 0, Robe rt Dados 2+1; 5. CZl. Republic 14 'Ch - To n i Kas per 9. Marte [ tr ou t 5+3 ; 6. Ge rmany 14 Robert Barth 6+1, Gerd Riss 1. Ma tth ias Kroege r 7+1; 7. Hun gary 6 - Zolta n Ad orjan 5, Sando r Tihan yi 1.