Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Rounds 1&2: Eastbourne &Wolverhampton, England Speedway USA VS. ENGLAND TEST SERIES By John H ipkiss IPSWICH, ENGLAND OCT 23 , . ru s t ra ti o n s u r r o u n d ed the ' scheduled three-race England vs. USA Test series as 'rain put an end to any hopes of producing a winner. The third and final match at Ipswich Speedway was postponed eight hours before the scheduled sta rt time because of heavv and constant rai n . And that washed 'out any chances of finishing the rubber match, as bo th Jos h Larsen and Jo h n Cook h a d alread y gotten th eir fligh ts boo ked for the home journey. But the USA team was down to th e minimu m, anyway . "Su d d e n Sa m" Ermole nko's season en ded in di sappointment w he n he broke his Wrist in a horrifying high-speed crash at Hull. D uri ng the Elite Leagu e ma tch wi th Coventry jus t one night before _ • • the Ipswi ch test , he hit the fence com ing ou t of the fourth tu rn a t full th rot tle. The crowd hel d its collective breath as Ermo lenko lay on the track, and he was take n to the hospital with neck, shoulder and wrist damage. "It's a disappointing way to end the seaso n.I but I ha ve to be happy wit h w hat I' ve done all yea r," Ermol enko said. "I had a change of British clubs, and that's always hard , but thin gs went well for me , and I'm determined to do it - all again next yea r. It was disappointing to see th e last test washed out a t Ip swich. I would have liked to have seen the boys go on and win the series, but at this time of ye a r, th e weather is al ways unpredictabl e. I g u ess we jus t ran out of options when it comes to the team, and we had little cho ice but to not run the final test. " Greg Hancock was already out of the final tw o tests with a broken sea phoid s us tai n ed while rid in g fo r h is Eli te Leagu e club, Coven try . SEC OND TEST MONMORE GREEN STADIUM 22 Th e Eng lish team ens u re d th ey wou ld take th e test se ries d o wn to the wi re a ft er a co nvi nci ng team p erformance against America at Wolv erhampton o n Oct ob er 18. Joe Screen wa s the sta r of the show, with three stra ight wins to put Da ve Jes sup ' s m en in co n t ro l, fr om which point they n ev er look ed ba ck. Ho wever hard the y tried , The Am erican team cou ld n ot m ake any progr ess in pulling back th e early deficit, thanks to so me sharp ga ting and d etermined racing from the Engla nd boys. England m ad e a good s ta rt to th e ma tch with im pressive w ins for skipper C h ris Lo u is a n d Screen . Scr een was pushed ha rd by Billy Ha m ill in heat two, but showed his liking for the Mon mo re track by keeping the Grand Prix Cha llenge wi n ne r at bay . Th e form er Wolves favo ri te s till knows the fastest way aro u nd Monrnore, an d he proved that by keeping ou t Mark Loram wi th a superb ride in heat three. Screen was also involved in one of th e bes t ra ces of t he n igh t w hen he timed his move superbly to pass Brent Wern er on the last bend of heat five, and thi s ke p t Engla n d just a head at an im portant s tage of the match . Wern er, wh o rid es fo r the Premier Le a gu e ' s Team Workingt on, used th e 'w id th of th e tra ck to bl ock ou t Screen, but th e En gli sh rid er d id enough to ha ve th e edge in a thrilling finis h. En gland took a se riou s grip on th e co n tes t with a m a ximum 5-1 in heat eigh t fro m Screen and David Norris as the y blo ck ed o u t th e thr eat o f ErmoI enko. And Ermo lenko was in vol v ed in more drama wh en h e took h is Hull (Above) led by Joe Screen (3) Team England came back from its first-round defeat at the hands of Team USA to beat the Yanks, 48-42 In Wolverhampton, England to force the rubber match in the Test Match Series. The thi rd rou nd at Ipswich was called due to rain and the fact th at Team USA was too inj ured to ·cont inue. (Right) Happier days: Team USA revels in their win at the fi rst round of the Test Mafch Series in Eastbourne on Septe mber 18. Both Greg Hancock and Sam Ermolenko wo uld SUbsequentl y suffe r inj uries that would end their seas on. teammate Scree n to the fence in a spectacular heat 11. Screen looked set to pass Ermolenko, but the Ca liforn ian to ok him to the fence coming out of the third tum, and only Screen 's ski ll kept him on the machine. .There wa s noth ing nasty abo ut th is, sim ply su perb racing at high speed. England secured the victory with tw o successive shared heats in 13 and 14 to put the match beyond Am erica's rea ch . But the Stars and Stripes finish ed th e meeting in style, wi th both Hamill and Ronnie Correy rid in g a su perb lin e to gain a 5-1 ove r Screen and Paul Hurry. But the result was 48-42, with England always in con trol. It sho uld have set up th e series for a thrillin g finish. FIRST TES T ARLINGTO N STAD IUM Sam Erm olenko domin at ed the first test a t Ea stbourne with a vintage pe rformance to in spire an Am er ican wi n on .September 18. Erm olenk o went throu gh the card and ra rely looked as thou gh he we re in an y trouble as he roared to a 15- point maximum. Bu t h is performance was matched by another veteran, John "Co w bo y" Cook, w ho rolled back the years with a superb display w hich included fas t s ta rti ng, cha lle nging in the first comer, and great mo torcycling ski lls. Coo k won the match fo r th e Americans in he at 14 w hen he partnered with Josh Larsen to sco re a 5-1 after Larsen, wh o has spent the 1999 seaso n at Eas tbourne, went from last to seco nd d own the back straight on the first lap . The result put t he m atch b eyond Engla nd's reach, and it wa s no surprise w he n Ermolenko w on heat 15 a lo ng w it h Correy to give the sco re a more emphati c lo ok, the USA ta kin g t h e CIII match, 51-39. Monm ore Green Stad ium Wol verha mpton, England Results : October 18, 1999 (Round 2 of 3) OIA:. 1. England 48 Que Scree n 11, Mark Loram 9, Chris Louis 9, Pa u l H u rry 7, David Norris 6, Martin Dugard 6) 2. USA 42 (Ronnie Coney 14, Billy Hami1l9, Sam Ermolenko 8. Josh Larsen 6, Joh n Coo k 3, Bre nt werner z). I Arington Stad ium Eastbourne, England Resu lts: Septembe r, 18, 1999 (Rou nd 1 of 3) OIA:. 1. USA 51 (Sam Ermolenko 15, Ronn ie Correy 12, Greg Han cock 11, John Cook 8, Josh Larsen 4, Brent Werner 0 ; 2. Engla nd 39 (Chris louis 9, David Norris 9, Joe Screen 8, Dea n Ba rke r 7, Pa ul Hurry 4, Lee Rickardson 2>'

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