Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Cha m p ions hi p Spe e d way G r and P ri x S e r ie s R o u nd 2. M illenn iu m S tad iu m STOR Y A N D PH OT OS By J O HN H IPK ISS CARDIFF, WALES, JaNE 9 igtim e speedwa y is back after the success of the British Grand Prix at the fabulous Millenn iu m St ad iu m in Card iff, as rider s, fans and o fficials alike were all unite d in th eir prai se for t he eve nt. A crowd of ove r 3 0 ,000 assembled in t he Welsh ca pita l and there is little doubt that the rest of the GP series is facin g up to the possib ili ty of be in g an an ti -cli max afte r an eve nt of th is na tu re. T alk of an en larg ed ser ies em brac ing such venues su ch as Bar c elon a, Monaco and even Los Angel es can no longer be viewed as a pie -in -the -sky fa nta sy . Card iff showed that anythin g and everything is now poss ible. Ben field Spo rt s Int ern ati o nal, th e Londonbased even t -m an ag em ent c o m pany wh o now owns t he r ig hts to th e GP series , must have been popping wi th pride as th e n ight u nf o l d ed in to a m em orabl e speedway ca rnival. Soul ma n Edw in Sta rr g igg ing o n th e center g re en helped sto ke u p a m ag ic al at mosp he re , and the d in o f air - horns was de afe n ing as 7 p .m . app roached . T hree ho urs late r, as the fi reworks exploded and a st orm of red co nfetti eng u lfed th e rostru m fi nish e rs, sp ee d wa y 's p r ofil e h ad b e en rai sed to a ne w m od ern -day hig h . Victo ry on the night went to threetim e f o rmer Wo rld Cham pio n T on y Rick ard sson , wh o beat off the cha l lenge of J ason Cru mp, T omasz Gol lo b and Nik las K lingberg - t he surp r i se p a c k et w h o was ha v i n g his eighth rid e of the night, in th e fina l. B 48 JUN E 27 , 200 1 • 0: U 0: • EO It meant the Swede narrowed T om asz Gollob's lead at the head of the standi ngs to j ust two po ints, and already at this early stage, it appears the chase for the 200 1 title cou ld turn into a two-horse race. Gollob, who won heats 11, 17 and 2 1 off the in side grid to win a place in the final , curiousl y chose gate two , and Rickardsson , who looked hungry from the outset, gra tefully fired away to 25 points off gate one. A nig ht that began tamely - on th e track if not off it - began to heat up when th e eliminators beckoned and som e ruts began to appear on the fi rst and second turns, but one ri de r who wi ll go co ld at th e m em o ry of h is Po la nd 's Tomasz Gollob Ifore ground) made a peculiar gate choice that may have cost him a shot at his second straight GP win of the season. The Pole came home th ird in the Main Fi nal, and now leads Rickardsson in the standings by just one point. nevvs first exp erience of th e M ill enn ium Stadium wi ll be Billy Hamill. He had labelled the specially-laid 2 87 -m et er circuit as a "g rade-A race track " after Fr iday 's practic e, but, sadly , Hamill 's night was terminate d by a couple of mishaps, one a trifle harsh and t he ot her tr uly horrifyi ng . Hamill was excl uded for hi tti ng the deck in his first rid e in heat fou r, the unlu ck y victim of noth in g m ore tha n a racing incident when Mar k Lorarn 's rear wheel took away h is left arm as they en tered the th ird t urn at close q uarters. T he pressure was on for Hamill to win heat five, and he du ly ob liged off th e o utsi de ga te , b ut hea t nin e Speedway took a giant stride forward wh en th e World Spe edway Grand Prix Se ri e s playe d before 3 0 ,000 ra bid fans at M ill ennium Stadium in Cardiff , Wa les. Sweden's Tony Rickardsson Icenter) won th e historic event that c ould tum the sport closer to the mainstream. broug ht abo ut his downfall, and also left hi m nursing som e pai nfu l injurie s. Ha m i ll wa s t u c k ed i n se c o n d beh ind Scott Nicho lls, and looked set to qualify for the Main Event. But he go t too close to the Ip sw ich w ildcard, too k off out of on e of th e ruts on the first and sec ond turns and reared into the back of Nicholls. Ham ill was fl ung ov er h is handleb ar s and suffe re d a

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