Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Above) A jubilant Rickardsson celebrates on the rostrom. He now tra ils series leader Gollob by a mere nine points with two rounds yet to be run. (Left) Action, Jackson! Although neither rider made it to the main event, both Andy Smith (foreground) and Scott Nicholls (background) co uld testify to the hooked-up nature of the Coventry track. finishing at the rear in the first semifinal. Jimmy Nilsen, who had started th e night nin e po ints ad rift of Go llob, failed to reach the last eight wh en he was brilliantly passed by Joe Screen in heat '20. The sa me fate befell wild-card hopeful Mark Lorarn, wh o made his exit in hea t 19 d espite a Herculean attempt to pass .Leigh Adams on th e lin e - something man y in th e s ta di u m felt he had achieved. What of Jimmy Nilsen, in second before Saturday's event? He'd been brutally hon est abo ut his own performa nce in Wroclaw, insisting he hadn't ridden well despite adding a further 20 points to his tally. This time around , his racing - his opening ou ti ng exce p te d - was . b elow p ar aga in , bu t hi s reward was more commensurate, bowing out befor e th e fina l part of proceedi ngs for eig h t GP points, eas ily his worst performance of the series thu s far. The manner in which N ilse n went to his elimi nator was a good summati on of his nig ht. Ni elsen go t rou nd him for seco n da t t he en d o f heat 18's fi rs t la p . N ilsen go t back under the Dane but was traveling too fast, an d Nielsen regained control. Ryan Sulliva n then edged u nder ilsen befo re the Swede managed to ge t back into thi rd . It was that sort of GP, thou gh . Take the world's bes t riders, a track most know well, and shake vigorously - a recipe likely to ha ve an adverse effect on the st and in gs, a nd so it proved . And s o me o f th e racing w as eq u a l to th e ma gnitude of the event, the topping on it all being a good-sized , very voca l crowd. Jum pin g into fourth slo t overa ll was consola tion final wi nne r Jason Crump, an expert when it comes to British GPs. He d id some cle ver tac tica l riding thi s tim e around to m ov e up t he or de r. Adams pu shed him all the way in their consolation race, but Crumpie ne ver put a wheel wr on g. And wh en he needed to, he was sm art enough to se ttle for a placing, such as in heat 12, when he quickly made second p lace his own, cutting off any a t tack fr om third-place d Andy Smith. Three Coventry competitors, racing on their home track, enjoyed their now customa ry hit-and-miss meeti ng . Whil e Ha nc ock reac hed the rostrum, Bria n Andersen earned just tw o third placings in th e ea rly p ortion o f th e meetin g before bowing out, and Bill y Hamill spent the whole meeting fretting over h is m ach in ery . H am ill was ex clu ded u nder the two-m inu te ruling when his thro ttle cab le br oke at the start in hea t thre e , swa pped b ik e s wh en Sco tt N icho lls tou ched the tapes in heat 10, a n d a lso cha nged his m ac hin e before hea t 16. In the latt er, he came fro m the ba ck to pa s s Smit h , but th ird p la ce meant he was elimina ted . O n a cu t-a nd- th rust ni ght that was high on drama, Toni Kasper survived a horrible-looking crash into the fence on the Coventry tum in heat six, and Hancock and Hamill also tan gled in heat 13, but were given a reprieve when Stefan Danno and Ryan Sullivan came down in front of them. But the real theater wa s left to the very end - and it could yet prove cos tly in Gollob 's bid to become 1999 World Champion. The wi nner was Ricka rdsson, who starte d .the nigh t 24 poin ts beh ind the Pole. " I h a v e n ever h ad a good GP in Br itai n b e fore, ari d it ' s so me th ing I wa n ted to put righ t," Rickardsson said. "Tomasz s till has a usefu l lea d , a nd I wi ll possib ly need to wi n both the fina l rou nds . But things are goi ng my way at the m oment. I feel I am riding bet te r now than las t season, and I believe I can do it." Californian sta r Greg Hancock, wh o rides at the Coventry track in his British Leagu e caree r, was pleased with his perform anc e, as he got his Grand Prix yea r back on track. " I feel good , even th ou gh I didn 't wi n it ," Hancock said . "To ny made a grea t start in th e fina l, an d altho u gh I was level with him , it wasn 't en ou gh . I lost it a bit on the third and fourth turns, and Chris tucked under me , but I feel I ha ve go t so me good equipment again, and that's good news." . Hancock' s fellow Californian, Billy Hamill, has had a nightmare yea r in the Gr and Prix after m aking a comeback from a back injury at the end of last yea r, and he now faces the prospect of racing in the Crand Prix Challenge in Italy to secure his automatic plac e next year. "It 's pret ty amazing I got as far as I did," Ha m ill sai d . "My thrott le cable popped ou t in my first race, then it was my tappet adjusters, and then I blew a hea d gas ke t. It wa s o ne t hi ng af ter ano ther, and I used three different bikes d u ring the meeting." Dan is h legen d Hans Nie lsen was fourth in his la s t-eve r Brit ish Gran d Prix, as he has confirmed he is read y to carry thro ugh his plans to retire at the end of the season. "I would have liked to hav e won my last-ever meeting at Brandon, but start- ing off gate four in the final wa s always going to make it di fficult," Nie lsen said . "I d id w ha t I coul d a n d t ri ed to ge t arou n d th e ou tsi de, but the re wasn't much room." As for seri es lead er Go llob, he was left wond ering w hat might hav e been after pulling out of the conso latio n fina l. " I s aw the lig hts fl a shing a n d thought th e race had been s to p p ed," Gollob sai d . " It meant the night ended in a bad wa y for me, but it wa s not of m y doing . A n in e-po int lead is not enou gh, and I a m now worried about Ton y Rickardsson , He looked ve ry fast and is in top form at the moment. " CN Brandon Stadium Coventry, England Results: July 31, 1999 (Round 4 of 6) C P FIN A L: 1. Tony Rick a rdsson (j aw); 2. Ch ris Lou is (GM); 3. Greg Hancock (GM); 4. Han s Nielsen (law). World In d i v id u al C ha mpio ns h ip Se ries Point Sta n d ings (A fter 4 o f 6 round s ): 1. Toma sz Go llo b (75 / 2 wi ns ); 2. To ny Rick ard s son (66 /1); 3. Jimmy Nilsen (64); 4. Jason Cru mp (52); 5. Greg Han cock (49); 6. Stefan Danna (45); 7. Joe Screen (43); '8. Chris Lou is (39 ); 9 . Leig h Ad am i (39); 10. (T IE) Ton i Ka spe r (3S)/ Ma rk Loram (35 /1); 12. Ha ns Nie lsen (33); 13. Pet er Karl sson (32); 14 . Ryan Su llivan (30 ); 15. mE) Mikael Karlsson (27)/John Jor gen sen (27); 17. Bria n Karger (23); 18. Henrik Custafsson (8); 19. Andy Smith (17);.20. Billy Hamill (16). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Bydgozcz, Poland, August 28 Round 6 - Vojens, Denmark, September 25 Billy Hamill (22) suffered through a se ries of problems at Coventry, forcing him to switch motorc ycles several times dur ing the meeting. The former World Champion once aga in bowed out early, and will have to contest the GP Challenge to remain in the Grands Prix for 2000. . m m m ~ oS - ~ U> ::> Cl ::> < 17

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