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Overseas Final v Speedway WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER SERIES By John Hipkiss KING'S LYNN, ENGLAND, JUNE 13 merica's quartet of Josh Larsen, Mike Faria, Jim Sisemore and Bart Bast crashed out of the World Championship qualifying process in the Overseas Final held at . King's Lynn in England on June 13. None of them mustered enough points to finish in the top eight and progress to the Intercontinental Final to be held at Poole, also in England, next month. It was a hugely disa ppointing afternoon for the Americans, with only Larsen showing any real sign of being able to compete with the top British and Australian racers in the 16-man field. He began the afternoon well with a good second place, behind defending event champion Jason Lyons in heat two, and followed that up with a third placing in a breathtaking heat seven ~ that saw him, Sean Wilson and Scott Nicholls battle for supremacy over the first couple of laps. The latter squeezed • through the narrowest possible gap to hit fresh air on the fourth bend, leaving Larsen and Wilson to fight tooth and nail for second place, with the Englishman just getting his nose in front on the third lap. Larsen's third outing, though, was to cost him dearly, for from the outside grid in heat 12, he could make no impression on the other three riders, and trailed in last. That left him with just three points a t the interval stage, and he gained some hope of qualification with another fine second place, this . time behind Carl Stonehewer in heat 13. However, by the time his last ride carne around, it was obvious that nothing less than a victory would be sufficient to give him any chance of progressing through to the next round. Sadly for him, in heat 18, he came face to face with a certain Mark Loram, ~. who had raced to four brilliant 'wins in his races thus far and never looked likely to lose out in this one either, as he shot into the lead as the tapes rose. Loram went on to take the checkered flag, thus clinching a well-deserved meeting victory to go with his recent (Above) Mark Loram (center) earned the victory at the Overseas Final in King's Lynn, England. Ironically, the win came after he had already won the Swedish round of the World Individual Championship Series for which he is trying to qualify. (Right) Seen better' days: All smiles at this point in the day, American hopefUls Bart Bast, Jim Sisemore, Mike Faria and Josh Larsen all failed to make the cut to the next round. Larsen did manage six points, making him the top-placing American. successes in both the Swedish Grand Prix and the British Final. It really was Loram's afternoon from start to finish, from the moment he came out on top in a breathtaking opening ride against Nicholls (who was to ulti- . mately claim the runner-up spot in the meeting) and Paul Hurry. While those three were dicing for the lead, Faria could only watch from afar, trailing in behind the British trio by some distance. Faria, though, deserved more for his efforts than his final twopoint tally, as he was always in the thick of the action, but his borrowed bike seemed to lack the necessary power required to compete with the top guns in this meeting. Sisemore's moment of glory. came in heat eight, when he popped out of the start to claim second place, behind Paul Hurry but ahead of Australia's Frank Smart and fellow American Bast, who led Smart for the first two laps but could not repel his hard challenge on the third, and the charging Aussie very nearly caught Sisemore on the line for the second spot. Sisemore held on, though. Unfortunately, those two points were his only ones of the meeting, and it has to be said that his efforts were hampered by carburetor problems that plagued him all afternoon. Bast was another disappointment, very rarely showing the sort of speed required to . compete at this level. With Loram looking untouchable from the outset, the main interest was concerning who would join him on the rostrum, and who would qualify and who would miss out. As it transpired, there were no real shocks in either department. Nicholls, having had to give second best to Loram in his opening ride, recorded four straight wins from then on to finish second, while defending champion Lyons won the final race of the meeting to claim third spot overiill. Fellow Australian - and former World number three - Todd Wiltshire recorded three heat wins in his ll-point tally to finish fourth, and the most entertaining rider on vi.ew, Stonehewer, placed fifth despite recording a similar l1-point score. The remaining three qualifying places went to former World Champion Gary Havelock, Sheffield's Sean Wilson and Paul Hurry of Oxford. The only real hard-luck story of the meeting was that of Eastbourne's Dean Barker, who seized an engine while leading hea t 16. A win there, to go along with the one he recorded seven hea ts earlier, might well have seen him claim a qualifying place, but it just wasn't to be for fhe man who 'has made a remarkable recovery from a serious arm injury he sustained a couple of years back. Despite the huge disappointment in the American side of the pits after the meeting, Sisemore and Faria in particular enjoyed the experience and both indicated that they would love the chance to compete regularly in Britain. Faria has already done so, of course. "1' d love to cpme back to England and race here again," Faria said afterward. 'Tve always been available to do so, but the truth is, I've never been approached by any club since my last spell in the UK. 1 still think I could do a good job. The message is: Come and get me!" Sisemore, too, believes it would improve his racing dramatically if he could get a regular spot in the British Elite League. 'Td love to ride over here," he said. "Today was awesome, and just to be part of i,t was something I'll remember for a long time. Yes, I'd like to come back over, so I'll just sit by the phone, 1 guess, and wait and see if it rings!" _ King's Lynn Speedway King's Lynn, England Results: June 13, 1999 QUAUF1ED: 1. Mark Loram (IS); 2. Scott Nicholls (14); 3. Jason Lyons (13); 4. Todd Wiltshire (Il); 5. Carl Stonehewer (11); 6. Gary Havelock (10); 7. Paul Hurry (8); 8. Sean Wilson (8). NON·QUALIFIED, 9. Josh Lacsen (6); 10. (TIE) Dean Barker/Stuart Robson/Frank Smart/Nigel Sadler (S); 14. (TIE) Jim Sisemore/Mike Faria (2); 16. Bart' Bast/Shaun Tacey flee Richardson (0). Upcoming Rounds: Intercontinental Final - Poole, England, June 18 Poland Continental Final· Wroclaw, Poland, June 25 41