Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

neck. Th e hom etown hero was ex pected to w in, the Pole; practicall y assumed he would wi n. He d id n't, an d Gollob d idn't betray hi s e mo t io n as hi s cha llenge for his hom e G P e n ded a t the hand s o f th e superb ri d ing of Lo ra rn. Th e s ta diu m hushed as Gollob went ou t, before the 20,000 e nthusiastic fans s h ifted thei r su ppo rt to any ride r w ho cou ld rest rict the scoring power of Tony Rickard sso n . . Ricka rd sson, w ho shook off a sho ulder injury he picked u p las t Tu esday in Swe den, was riding well and ad mi n istered the firs t blo w to Co llo b's ner ves w he n thev met in Heat 11. Rickardsson we nt int o'the sem i-fina ls w ith the cro w d on his back, bu t that w as nothing new to th e double World C ha m p io n, who has su ffere d the w ra th of Byd goszcz tw ice in th e past . Co me th e fina l th er e wer e three rid ers who could hav e been adopted Poles, th e cro w d 's ene rgy chan nelled into s to p p ing Rick ard sson, for wh om vi ctory would have meant a wor ld cha mpions hip lea d o ver Go llob. But we've been warned never to rul e ou t Nielsen, and Byd go szcz sho wed us exa ctly why. His passage to the final had been classic ielsen . Clinical a nd effective to the last, the Dan e was hunting the win w hich would let him leave the GP sce ne w ith his head held as high as ever. Rickardsson kn ew the dan ger as soo n as he lost the coin toss for ga te positions w it h th e fo ur-ti me World Champion . And when the w ho le speedway world's focu s was on the battle between Gollob and Rick ard sson , in ca me the " Ma in Dan e." He w ent fro m th e inside in th e final and dug int o his resources for the ty pe o f ga te it seems o nly he ca n produce. He wa s never goi ng to be caught a nd w ild ly ce lebra ted his rec ord sixth G P win, one wh ich ass ures he will retire the o nlv rid er to wi n a ro und in eac h of the co mpetitio n's five seasons . It was a masterful win , as Nielsen did every thing th e form at d emand s: fou r starts, fo u r w ins, G P victor . Ricka rd sso n finished second, leaving h im just four p oints down o n Gollob after fighting off Ryan Su lliva n, whose performance was perha ps his best ye t in a GP . Su llivan fini shed a place high er at the same venue last year, but this tim e he coolly negotiated both the Pre-Main a n d Main Ev ent s and then passed Rickardsson in the fina l before losing the second pla ce with a la p to go . The chips w ere down for Sulli van, but those 18 points have brightened his Grand Prix picture co nsi dera bly. If he on ly sco res th e minimum in Vojen s at the final round, those o uts ide the ma gic top 10 will still hav e to mak e the final to catch him. Fourth fin alist Loram su ffered th e type of ending which would keep more ten se characters awa ke for weeks: he ran out of fuel on the first lap . His fru stra tion wou ld ha ve been more int ense had he been in the hunt for the world title or a top-1 0 pla ce . But to end a superb night, possibl y the best of his GP career, in that fashio n wa s heart-breaking. Co ntroversy wa s expected as the big guns ca me out together, and the expectat ion beca me real itv. Rickard sson and Go llob went for the ~me piece of track, got th e same p iece of track a nd fell to th e d eck in a hea p. Rickardsson checked o n th e p ron e Go llob b ef ore w a lki ng back to the pit s. Wisely, in vie w of the bo ttl es a nd glasses that g reete d him af te r a n incid en t so me may re mem be r relating to Go llob (it d idn' t even involve Rickard sso n) in 1995, the World Cha mpion kept h is h e lm et on. Gollob returned to th e pit s in an a mbu lance, but w as back for the re-run, as his fall w as no t serio us . (Left) The weight of the world: Tomasz Gollob (right) suffered the shame of not eve n qua lifying for the GP Final on his home tra ck. Fortunately for the series points leader, Nielsen defeated Rickardsson in the GP Final to minimize the damage. (Below) A pivotal momen t: Tony Rickardsson (right) checks on Tomasz Gollob (left) after their hea t 11 run-in. Both riders made the restart, and Rickardsson took the win. Th e pai r rod e the first comer almost side by side, a nd Go llo b go t ah ead as Rickardsson lift ed sligh tly o n th e first back stra ight. But Gollob's speed carried him past th e corner, while Rickardsson kept it tight, cutting Gollob off as they left tu rn fou r. Go llo b tr ied an unusu a l line enteri ng th e firs t bend of lap tw o, but that failed , and Rickard sso n pulled a wa v for a v ic to ry th at wen t fu r ther th aO' w inning jus't Hea t 11. It w a s a m aj or blow to a man wh o co ns ide rs Bydgoszcz his backyard . N ielsen 's sta r ti ng s ki lls won h im Heat 14, a lt ho ug h he didn' t lo ok th at qu ick , as he twi ce had to block Jason Cru m p, w hich allo wed [a cek Goll ob to snatch second pla ce. S te fa n Danno su ffe re d th e m ost heartbrea kin g o f ex its as he bl ew an eng ine at the sta rt of the Heat 15 eliminator, with Chris Lou is pa ssing Mikael Karl ss on for seco nd on lap o ne . But Louis looked far from comfortabl e on a track w hich demanded he ride a wid e lin e, a nd he only just re p elled a last bend attack from Karlsson to survive the elimi nator. Hamill a nd Pet er Karlsson went ou t in a ro u tine Heat 16, and thi s meeting w as clearl y boiling down to a handful of rid ers. Rickardsson tra p ped to win the 17th from Loram, wh o drove beautifull y und erneath H enka Gustaf sson o n th e second bend of lap tw o for second, and Rickard s son a nd Loram w ent to th e se m is. ext was Gollob's first chance to join them. He missed it aft er a terrible start, from gate three, try ing to cut ba ck and go up the insid e, a s Sulli van had no t been quick fro m gate one and hiS' presence on the white line was enou gh to s to p G oll ob's a ttem p t. Sullivan sa t in behind 1 ielsen, while Gollob qu ickl y passed Hancock at the end of the first lap.i but that wou ld be the limit of his . progress in that race. Hancock, who loo ked well bel ow his bes t, was elim inated from Heat 19 with Screen, the lat ter who jus t could no t squeez e past Gustafsson. The Swede followed Ada ms hom e to make his firs t semi- fina l of the season. A Gollob one-two, with jacek settling in behind To rnasz, co mp lete d the se m i fina l lineup, but the exu bera nce was no t there. Rickard sson intens ified th e pressure still further by w in ni ng his semi final. Even thou gh his race was far from perfec t, Rick ard sson le t Gollob know he woul d be w aiting fo r h im in th e final. Sulliva n followed him in for h is fir st fi nal o f the year. All 20,000 pa irs of eyes we re on Go llob at the start of th e seco n d semi, bu t it w as ie lsen wh o go t away.• H e was never cha lle nged as Go llo b took second pl ace and Gustafsson th ird. But Lora rn se t off o n o ne o f hi s cha rg es. He to ok Gu stafs s on a n d lined up Gollob , h oundin g h im do wn until he w as level, leavi ng turn two for t h e fi n a l t im e . He d rov e underneath and moved wide out of tu rn four to halt G oll ob' s w id e run to th e lin e . Goll ob hammer ed his throttle in a bid for th e line , whi ch se n t hi s wh eel in th e a ir, ra the r tha n past Loram's. It wa s a thrilling climax, as Lora rn beca me the man 'rho put the "Oh gos h" in Byd goszcz, spo rting ly a pplauded by man y fans in the packed stadi um. Gollob m inimi zed the damage by w inning the Consolation, ahead of Adams, and then Nielse n did his party piece ga te in the final. T he fa ns w ere pl ea sed th e Dan e m aintained Gollo b's lead for him , but th e Bydgos zc z Express hadn 't mad e hom e ad vantage count, and Rickardsson feels he has a brilliant chance of ca tching h is fo rmer Ipswi ch teamm ate a t th e po st. . "A few months back I felt I had lost th e ch ampionship," Ricka rd sso n sa id. " Now I have been making every fina l and eve ry thing has been good . I feel like th e wi nd is bl o w in g a t my ba ck righ t now, a nd I fee l hun gry fo r it. I ha ve no thi ng to lose, especially as ] was reall y down after th inking] had lost my title a t the firs t round. Tomasz is the guy sitting w ith the trophy in his lap, an d he is try ing to prot ect it. I am attacking , and tha t is the way ] like it." A dejected Go llob assessed the situation , and fully understood th e co nsequences of th e final Grand Prix . "I was sure Ton y Rickardsson wou ld win in the final race, but lu ckily for me h e fini sh ed seco n d behind Hans N ielsen," Gollob sa id . "But it is going to be th e Dani sh GP th at will d ecid e everythin g. It is no u se to specu la te. I must wi n there to sec ure the go ld med al. ] am aw are of the fact that th e Sw edes will rid e ag ains t me th er e, but it makes no difference to m e. If I a m fast , nob od y will harm me at Vojens." ' Lo ra m was remarkab ly lai d ba ck a f te r being fo rced o u t of th e fi n a l beca use of lack of fu el. "O nce I mad e the fina l I was delighted, becau se it is h ard e noug h to get th ere," Loram s a id. " I felt I h ad t he .speed , 1 was passing people a nd felt ] wa s d o ing every th ing I needed to win it." eN Polis h GP Bydgoszcz, Poland Results: August 28 , 1999 (Ro und 5 of 6) cr FINAL: 1. Ha n s Nit:' l ~l' n (Jaw) ; 2 . Ton y Ric ka rdsson (jaw) ; 3. Ryan Su lliva n (GM ); 4. M.lrk Lor-am (G M) . W ORLD I NDI VI D U A L CHA M PIONS HI P SERIES PO INT S STA N D INGS (Aftt.'r 5 of 6 rounds): 1. Toma sz Goll o b (90 /2 w ins); 2. Tony Rlckard sson (fl6/1); 3. Jimmy Nilsen (68); 4. J.lsun Cr um p (hO ) ; 5. Han s Nielsen (SK/ l) ; 6. G reg Ha nc ock (56); 7. Leigh Ad am s (53); 8. JUl..' Scree n (52); 9 . Mark Lora m (51/ 1); 10. Stefa n Danuo (SO) 11. Rvan Su llivan (48); 12. Chris Louis (46); 13. To ni ; Ka sper (39); 14. Pet er Karlsso n (37); 15. Mik.·ll'l Karlsson (33) , Upcoming Round: Round 6 - Vojens . Denmark. September 26 41

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