Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

hauling Dobrucki for third on the second lap . Heat eight remained u nchanged once H ancock g o t past Dad o s for th ird . Mikael Karls son went very wid e at the e n d o f th e third bend, but h e h ad enou gh s p eed to sta y in fron t of the American and follow winner Lou is over the line. G us ta fsso n co n ti nued hi s w in ning form in the next eliminator, keep ing the pressi n g C rum p a t bay, w hile Dad os took third off the struggling Hamill but st ill joined th e Ame rica n th rou gh th e exit door . ' The crowd enjoyed the next eliminator a lot more tha n either Hancock or Jor gensen . Dobru cki ca me off th e firs t bend in front and kept the ban ner s and flags waving for four laps, in sharp contrast to form er World Champi on Han cock, who missed the start completel y, tried to cut back up the insid e and was blocked by second-placed Sullivan . Dob ruck i was able to savo r the roa r from the terra ces a li ttle longer as h.is bike packed up on his victo ry lap and he made his way back to the pits across the center green . In sha rp contras t. .Han cock knew his untim el y e xit was al mos t ce r tai nly ano ther obs tacle rem oved from Gollob 's relentl ess march . When the main event got under ~ay, there was so me qu estion as to whether or not Nilsen's challenge to the mighty Gollob wo uld meet with the same fate. The two new comers, Nilsen an d Brian Karger, were caug ht napping by N ielsen and Mikael Karlsson, the latter nipping past N ilse n off the second turn. Gus ta fsson led heat 13 from the start, Leigh Adams surrendering second spo t to a fired -up Sullivan an d being joined by Danno in the next batch of now -or-n evers. But for 20,000 or so people, heat 14 was what they had come for - the arrival of Gollob into the ring in earnest. Th e chants for Gollob were tak en up prior to his appearance from out of the pits - an event tha t cau sed an eruption. And th e d ecibel le vel rem ained a t fever pitch as Gollob sho t from the start wit h on ly Crump fo r co m pa ny . H e spent the next four lap s testing some of the outer rea ch es of the tra ck as h e pulled away, Dobrucki and Peter Karlsso n bringing up the distant rear . There was dan cing on the terraces, in the aisles and in the press box, the place a mas s of wa ving red and white. If Nilsen had bowed ou t in heat I S, the crowd's celebrat ions would proba bly have gone on until the next GP a t Coventry. But it was Leigh Adams who was the firs t to go, hitting the tapes and joining Smith as a n unfortu nate pair who had traveled some 900 mile s for 68 seconds of racing . On the restart, Nilsen lau nched off gate on e and pushed Peter Karlsson w ide, allowing Kasper up int o second. Despite Karlsson' s effo rts, he cou ldn 't avoid the dreaded third pla ce. Wh istl es greeted Nilsen on his victo ry lap , bu t the cheers were soon back, as Dobrucki led heat 16, Chris Louis going w id e on t h e fi rst bend a nd b eing scoop ed up by the cleverly switching Stefan Danno, Karger only making it as far as third spot. Hea t 17 only ma d e it as far as th e first bend. Nielsen ca me o ff gate one and took his opponents into no man' s lan d . Gu stafsson , Rickardsson and Crump all hit the deck, squeezed ou t on the fence, with Ricka rdsson takin g the brunt of the collision. Gustafsson and Crump bo th showed concern for Rickard sson wh ile referee Steele s howed so me ext rem ely early Chr istmas sp irit to Nielsen, or dering a reru n, wit h all fou r riders included . (Above) Nilsen (2), one of the few men with a shot at running Gollob down in the second half of the GP series, finished a dissapolntlng second in the GP final afte r leading it for much of the distance. (Right) Billy Hamill (22) and Greg Hancock (6) suffe red more angu ish at the Polish GP. Neither American was ab le to advance to the GP final. Rickard sson was d own some time before walking grogg ily back to the pit s. On the restart, he wisely held back from the first b end; N ielse n a gain mo ved wid e, but Gus tafsson maintai ned hi s line on the ou tside to lead. Crump went und er Nilse n a n d th en pi ck ed o ff Gu stafsson on th e pit bend a ft er the Swede went out tow ard the fenc e on ce mo re, N ielsen picking him off a turn later. Rickardsson slo we d on th e final lap and returned to the pits rath er than finish the race. . Su llivan s tole on e clap of Collob' s thunder when he led heat 18 all the wa y, the Pole swiftlymoving up from third , outside Mikael Karlsson on th e back straight. Screen finally got pa st Karl sson after several attempts. Gollob spent the final two laps testing ou t wid er lin es, enabling Screen to close on him. An a ll-Swedish heat 19 saw Nilsen head for the outside from ga te one. At first this tactic appeared to backfire, as Da nno and Mikael Karlsson came up the inside, but Nilsen's momentum took him back into second along the back str aight and he thus avoided a second early exit, unlike Mikae l Karlsson and Gu stafsson . Rickardsson dodged all traffic with a lightning start in heat 20, Dobrucki raising more cheers as far as the first bend, where Screen got under him and muted the nois e. It was the end of the line for the gallant Dobrucki and Kasper . Gollob go t the crowd going aga in off the starting line in heat 21, but Danno and Crump moved under him on th e first bend' s white line . Things couldn't have be en tigh te r d o w n t h e b a ck straight as Gollob got back on form and passed both his opponents, to th e biggest cheer yet. Da nno he ld second w hil e Crump a nd Scr een went to the conso lation final. Rickardsson ig n or ed h is grow ing head ache to lead off the start in hea t 22. Nielsen roun ded Sullivan down the back straig ht, with N ilsen at the back , and it remained that way for 2 1/2 laps. Entering the pit turn on the third lap , Sullivan hit a rut a n d wa s flung fr om his machin e, causing the race to be stopped. A reru n wit hout the Aussie was ordered, w hich was certainlv fortunate for Nilsen, who needed no se<:ond bidding. He sh ot fro m th e sta rt while Rickardsson shut the door on Nilsen . T he d efendi n g cha m pio n continu ed to gain on his fello w co u n tryma n, finally nailin g him going into the pit bend on the third lap , putti ng them bo th through to the main final, Nielsen the victim of circumstance this time, relegated to the consolation. And it seemed to take the wind from his sails, as he held fourth from the ga te in th at co nso la t io n , thi s tim e the sq ueezed as opposed to the squeezer on the first bend. Up fron t, Screen rode a su perb first lap, charging by Sullivan on the back straight to record his best-ever GP finish , lo o k i ng like th e Screen m achine of o ld . Cru mp sta lked his Aussie rival for four laps, bu t there was no way past. Wit h the noise level back in the red , the riders came ou t to choose gate positions fo r the main final. Go llob took four, Rickardsson three, and Danno one. Poland rea lly expected Gollob to shine n ow, but it w as Nils en who got th e ju m p and led a fasci na ting ga me of high-speed cat-and- mouse. Gollob wa s right ou t on th e fence , but Ni lsen was ther e too for the first thr ee laps. Coming out of the first bend for the last time, Nilsen seemed to lose a litt le speed as he got his wheels back in line and Gollob got to within inc hes down the straight. He onl y had one bend left, and he knew it, diving up the line into the pit tu rn , but his speed took him a long way past the comer. Nilsen got back in front, only for Gollob's final breathtaking effort to pull him back in line with the Swede and pip Nilsen by inches . N eedless to say, had th e Ol ympi c Stadiu m boa sted a roof, it would ha ve C/II been ra ised . Polish GP Wroclaw, Poland Res ults : July 3, 1999 (Round 3 of 6) CP FINAL: I. To masz Co flob (j .1W) ; 2. Jimmy N ilse n (GM ); 3. Stefa n Den no (C M); 4. To n y Rickardsscn 0,1\-\,). WO RLD INDI VIDUAL CHA MPIONS H IP S ERIES POINTS S TAND INGS (A fle r 3 o f 6 round s ): I . Tom asz Gol1ob (65/ 2 wins); 2. Jimmy Ni lse n (56); 3. Tony Rickardsson (41); 5. Stefa n Danno (40); 6. Jaso n Cru mp (37); 7: Ton i Kasper (32); 8. Joe Scree n (32); 9. Gr eg Han cock (30 ; 10. Pet er Karl sso n (28); 11. Mark Lcra rn (27/1); 12. (TIE) jo hn Jorgensen / Leigh Ad a ms (25); 14. Ryan Su llivan (23); 15. Mikael Karlsso n (20); Chris Louis (19); l b. mE) Ha ns N ielsen / Brio," Karge r O il ; 18. He n ka Gus tafsso n (14) ; 19 . (T IE) Robert Dad oa/ Andy Smith (12). Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Coventry. England. July31 Round 5 - Bydgoszcz. Poland. August 28 I ~ ~ ~ Q • CD CD CD ~ 25

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