Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

British League cra sh in ·1996. Sla w om ir Dra b ik a n d Roman Pova zhny wer e bea ten bad ly in heat six asjohn Jorgensen and Piotr Swist pull ed w ell clear to exte nd th eir interes t in th e e ven t - an d at th is s tage, e very th in g seem ed to be goin g accord in g to pl an with no major shoc ks . Bu t th e s ig n s w er e bl e a k for Erm olenko as he tra iled in las t in heat seven, with Ni kki Ped ersen again looking im pressive - th an k full y for Er rnole nko, it w as not a n elimi nation rac e, but h e w as st aring d efeat in the face as he looked ahead to the prospect of heat lO. Jo e Screen , w ho m m a n y p e opl e be lieve has the ability to become Wor ld Ch a mpion if o nly he cou ld reprod uce his British Leagu e form on a cons isten t basis, secured his first w in as he ea se d ho me ahead of Ulamek in hea t eig ht. Jens en w on his se co nd rac e of th e da y in hea t n in e to m a ke surpri s in g p rog ress a t th e ex pense of Boyce an d Tihanyi, w ith Boyce being the first casu alty. By th is p o int, it w as o b vio us th a t passin g wa s di fficult on the big, flat Pard ubi ce circ ui t, and as Erm olenko line d up for his mom ent of truth in heat lO, he knew a fas t s ta r t was crucial. But he pulled off an insp iration al rid e to prove the doub ters w ro ng, makin g a poo r sta rt .bu t picking his momen t su perbly to get the better of Pro tasiewicz. Bu t he knew he still had to make anothe r pa ss and he did so by going wide int o th e d irt and brushing as ide Havelo ck in a thrilling finish that alon e was worth the price of admission . Former Danish G ra nd Prix wi n ner Mar k Loram join ed the action in heat 11, a nd he loo ked li ke a cl a s s ac t as h e pulled off a s tu n ni ng pass o n Zo lt a n Adorjan desp ite coming und er pressure from Nikki Ped ersen. Hea t 12 saw Leig h A dams fi re a warning sho t to his rivals with a br illiant rid e to co m fo r tably beat Bria n Andersen - but at thi s stage there we re no eliminations . Dan no and Jorgen sen loo ked sty lish wi nning heats 13 and 14 before the next eli mi natio n ra ce, w hen th e p ressu re wa s re all y m oun tin g for r id e rs w ho had co me so far a nd ye t faced heartbreak . _ In h e at 15, it looked a s th ou g h Erm olenko' s efforts in hea t lO had been in vain, as he was struggli ng in t hi rd p lac e for three la ps, but he timed h is mo ment to perfection once ag ain w ith a brillian t pa s s o n It a li a n Arm a n do Cas tagna to keep his Grand Prix d ream alive. That mean s the rid ers w ho missed out were Cas ta gna and Sw ist, and th ey we re joine d in the showers by Ula mek and Jensen as Screen and Smith w en t through in heat 16. Th e fi rs t two rid ers to qualify fo r next ye ar' s s eries w ere Stefan Da nno and Mik ael Karlsson, who finish ed in th e first tw o in heat 17, leaving H enka Gus tafsson and Mark Loram to face an elimina tion race. Th ey wer e jo ined b y Ad am s a n d An dersen, w ho could relax in th eir final races, leaving Jor gensen and Ad orjan to do th e w ork. Nik ki Ped er sen a nd Adorjan w ere casua lt ies o f a di sa ppo inting hea t 19, which saw Gustafsson and Smi th make it thro ug h to the final eve nt. H e a t 20 w as th e crucia l race, in which Ermolenko w ent ou t of th e champions hip, fin ish ing th ird d espite workin g h a rd to m a ke u p grou n d on Jo rgense n and Scree n. " I've do ne it bef ore, bu t 1 can tell you th is mea ns a .lo t to m e be cause th e (Ab ove) Lei gh Ad am s was naturall y pleas ed to hav e wo n the Chall enge, and he's put him sel f in position to challen ge for next year's World Champio nship. (Ab ove ri ght) Sam Ermol enko suffered disappoint men t in the Czec h Republic. The Californian didn't post eno ug h good fi ni s hes t o qualify fo r next year's Grand Pri x Series. (Ri ght) Joe Screen thrilled the crowd w ith his wheelies at Pard ub lce Stadium. Gra nd Prix is th e bigg es t eve nt in th e w orld , a n d th ere w as n o w a y I w a s going to mi ss o u t on it, " Adams said . "It w as rea lly cutthroat o u t there, and I kn e w I h a d t o m a k e t h e s ta rts because p ass in g w as so hard - I guess you ha ve to feel sorry for some o f the guys w ho rely m o re o n th eir p ass in g a b ili ty. I' m n ot wo rr ie d a bou t th e G ra nd Pr ix for next year - I know I ca n le arn and m a y b e be in co n te n tio n, because it ' s been d isa p poin tin g for m e so far." . It w as a b rave effort by Errno le nko and his p erfo rm a n ce d ese rved m o re reward, as he was the most entertai ning rider at the show . " It w as hard for me after w orking so hard in my races, and I gues s I ran o ut of stea m tow ard s the end, bu t I feel pretty . prou d of m y efforts, " Er mole n ko said . " Mee ti ngs lik e thi s a re all abo u t pressu re, and I knew I cou ld han dl e that - it's ju st a shame tha t one rac e and o ne third p lace has cos t me a place in next year's series." Hen ka Gu stafsson qualified fo r th e fina l w ith an im pressive rid e in heat 21, fighti ng off the br ave challenge of Brian Andersen, who m ad e it a h at trick of seco nd pl aces to join the Swede in the fina l. "I still w ant to be World Ch ampio n, " Gustafs so n said . " I' ve b een ta lk in g about it for a few years now and [ knew ' [ had to respond to the pressure today ." Dan no a nd Scre en tra iled in at the back, but at th is stage it meant little as they w ere .alread y th rough to next year's event. Adams was already celebrating qualifica tio n fro m this eve nt for th e four th tim e in as many years w hen he roared to v ic to ry in h ea t 22, wit h An d y Sm it h aga in look ing im pressive. He we nt on to complete four p erfect w ins by m aki ng the gate in the fina l, wi th passing again almo st im possi ble as t h e t r a ck h a d becom e slick. The Aussie got the d rop in the first tu rn o f the final , ahea d of A n ders en , w it h G us ta fsson and Sm it h ba ttli ng it out in the min or placings. " I' ve h a d a d ifficult s easo n w it h inju ries an d at o ne stage I thoug ht my shou ld er wo uld end my sea so n early, so th is is a special moment for m e," Ande rse n sa id . " I kn e w it wou ld b e h a rd work, bu t I al so kn ew I could beat all the g uy s in th e com pe tition, and I ju st go t my head down and tried to ri de sensibly ." Th e fo rma t was in teres ti n g in the quali fying stages - but the even t was all but over by th e end of hea t 20. I~ Pardu bice Stad ium Par dublce, Czec h Repu blic Results: Oct ober 3, 1998 H EAT 1: I. N: Pedersen : 2. Boyce; 3. Ha velock ; 4. Swist. H EAT 2.: 1. Protasicwicz; 2. KarL sson; 3. Jorgensen; 4 . Tihanyi . H EAT 3: 1. Je nse n ; 2. Sen-e n ; 3. R. Ped e rsen; 4. Drabik. H EAT 4: 1. Ulamck: 2. Ermo lcnk.o; 3. Povaz hny; 4. Nagy . . HEA T 5: 1. T ihany i: 2. Havelock ; 3. R. Ped ersen ; 4. Nagy. H EAT 6: 1. Io r gen sen : 2. Sw is t; 3 . Drab ik: 4 : Po vaz bny . H EAT 7: 1. N . Pede rsen ; 2. Karlsso n; 3. Jensen ; 4. Erm olcn kc . HE AT 8: 1. Screen; 2. Ula mek; 3. Pro tasiewicz: 4. Boyce . H EAT 9: 1. Jense n ; 2. Swi st; 3. Boyce; 4. Tiha nyi. • .H EAT 10: 1. Jorgense n; 2. Ermolen ko: 3. Ha velock ; 4. Protasi ew icz . H EAT 11: 1. Lorarn: 2. Adorjan; 3. N . Ped erse n; 4. Ulame k. ~ H EA T 12: 1. Adam s; 2. Ka rls so n ; 3. Sc ree n; 4. Castag na . HEAT 13: 1. Danno; 2. Andersen; 3. Erm ole nko: 4 . Jense n. HEAT 14: 1. Jorge nse n; 2. C ustafsso n: 3. Smi th; 4. Sw ist. H E AT 15: 1. N . Pe d e rsen ; 2. Er mo le nko; 3 . Castagna: 4 . Swi st. . H EAT 16: 1. Screen: 2. Sm ith; 3. Ula me k; 4. Jensen. HEAT 17: 1. Dan no: 2. Karlsson; 3. C us ta fsso n: 4. Lora m . . ' HEAT 18: 1. Ada ms ; 2. Andersen; 3. Jo rgensen; 4. Adorja n. HEAT 19: 1. C us tafssor u2. Smith; 3. N . Pedersen: 4. Adorjan. HEAT 20: 1. Jo rgensen; 2. Screen; 3. Errnolenko: 4. Loram . SEM I 1: 1. Gustafsson; 2. Andersen ; 3. Da nna; 4.· Screen. S EM I 2: 1. Adam s ; 2. S m ith; 3. Karls so n ; 4. Jorg ensen. . CO NS I: 1. Du nn e : 2. Ka rl ss on : 3. Screen: 4. Jorgensen. FINAL: 1. Ada ms; 2. And ersen; 3. C us tafsson: 4. Sm ith . .N ~ l-< OJ ,.0 o ..... u o 25

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