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Round 1: Czech Grand Prix WORLD INDIVIDUAL SPEEDWA Y CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES By John Hipkiss PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC, MAY 8 ~ >- S 20 t was a night of mixed emotions for Americans Greg Hancock and Billy Hamill as the World Speedway Championship Grand Prix series kicked into life in Prague, Czech Republic. Californians Hamill and Hancock, World Champions in 1996 and 1997 respectively, came into the meeting having launched a new partnership a week earlier which saw them adopt a new livery intended to shake up the sport's image. But then the pair received a premeeting blow when their revolutionary fork cover, sporting a new aerodynamic shape, was given the thumbs-down by Grand Prix race director Ole Olsen, who claimed it needed modification before it would be allowed to be used in the Grand Prix. Just 24 hours after that minor setback, the childhood friends experienced sharply contrasting emotions after one of the wettest Grand Prix rounds in the competition's four-year history. Hancock, a former protege of two-time World Champion Bruce PenhaIl, ended the Prague event elated, as he made it back to the big time with a second-place finish behind Poland's Tomasz GoUob on a track made hazardous by rain which feU throughout the meeting. But Hamill, given a winter reprieve after missing a qualification slot for the '99 series, bowed out disappointingly early, and he now faces a mountain to climb if he is to regain the World Championship. It was Hancock's first appearance on the Grand Prix rostrum since he became World Champion in Denmark in September 1997. His defense of the ti tle went badly last year as he opened with an early departure from the first round and nev(~ found his feet. In Prague, he hit the boards running. As a top-eight rider from 1998, Hancock started the Czech event later than Hamill, andin his opening ride he revealed his teeth, firmly holding on to his line as Swedish rider Henrik Gustafsson drifted slightly on the fourth turn. Hancock dived for the opportunity and held OT\ to his line as Gustafsson buzzed around his outside. The rider from Balboa Island, California, knew the best way to cope with the deteriorating conditions was to hug the inside line. On the first bend of lap two, Gustafsson tried an outside move, but there was no grip on the wide line and he feU, sliding - uninjured - into the fence. Hancock had settled for second, behind GoUob, when the Pole's bike slowed on the last lap, allowing Hancock" to dart through for first place, which gave him a favorable inside start for heat 17. Again, Hancock was in the right place at the right time. He was sitting on the inside line behind fast-starting Czech rider Antonin Kasper when Kasper became overexcited going into turn three. Kasper straightened up and headed toward the fence. He rescued the situation, but not in time to stop Hancock from sailing through to win and s!3ke his place in the semifinals. One race away from the crucial final, Hancock nestled in behind Gollob, who had soared around the outside from the start, to make sure of a place in the decider. Hancock had gate two for the final and on his inside was Sweden's Jimmy Nilsen, ·who had won his three qualifying races convincingly from the starting gate and stayed clean while most of his rivals were covered in mud. GoUob was on the outside grid, which (Top) Tomasz Gollob (left) stole the start ahead of Greg Hancock (center), Jimmy Nilsen (right) and Jason Crump (hidden behind Gollob) and claimed the Czech GP win at Prague, round one of the World Individual Championship Speedway Series. (Left) Former World Champion Billy Hamill suffered a horrible start in the 1999 GP Series, exiting the competition at Prague after just two rides. Hamill earned a mere two championship points for his troubles.