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World Championship Speedway Grand Prix Series Round 3: Vojens Speedway 1Above) Crunch time: Fonner World Champions Greg Hancock (5) and Billy Hamill (2) had another rough outing at Vojens. Both failed to advance into the semis, and they now find themselves in a struggle to avoid the cutthroat GP Challenge meeting. (Above right) Sweden's Jimmy Nilsen crashed spectacularly after colliding with anotherrider during heat 12. Nilsen was not seriously injured. (Left) (Left to right) Runnerup Crump, winner Rickardsson and third-placed Leigh Adams pose for photos on the Danish podium. Crump is currently third in the series standings, but he will need a lot of help if he Is to catch Rickardsson. Danish GP capped a 47-43 Polish League win over Hancock's Wroclaw, again missed the cut for the main event when he was eliminated in third place, behind Hans Clausen and Hancock in heat nine. He had run a third behind Danes Brian Andersen and wild-card Jesper B. Jensen in heat one after drifting wide off the second turn, but had bounced back to win heat five to find himself up against Coventry colleague Hancock in heat nine, an eliminator race. Hancock had started with a second when he passed Matej Ferjan in heat four, but then came in third behind Nicki Pedersen and Leigh Adams in heat seven. Facing Hamill and Hancock in heat nine were two Danes, Clausen and Jensen, and though the two Americans gated to lead down the back-straight, Clusen exploited a gap around the outside on the third and fourth turns and it left Hamill third and out. 24 AUGUST 15, 2001 • C U c I e Hancock survived into the last 16, but not for long, as the Main Event quickly got the pulses racing. The sparks flew when defending World Champion Loram was excluded after he came down on the outside of Pedersen in heat 11. An erroneous announcement had informed the stadium that all four were back in, and a frustrated Loram vainly tried to return to the track, aiming a kick at the closed pit gate when he was prevented from doing so. Heat 12 produced more authentic sparks when Pole Grzegorz Walasek, a late replacement for the injured Chris Louis and an impressive winner of his first two races, clattered into Jimmy Nilsen from behind to send the former World number-two rider crashing. Nilsen's machine was sent into orbit and it only narrowly missed the stricken Swede as it bounced spectacularly back toward terra firma. Hancock had already stopped with machinery failure on the first two n e _ s turns prior to the drama - the victim of an official failing to refuel his tank correctly - so he went into heat 15 knowing that his Grand Prix challenge for this year was on the line. The first running ended with Hancock in the air-fence after being carved up by the over-combative Rune Holta, and in the re-run he was left trailing at the back behind Todd Wiltshire, Holta and Clausen. Though he made every effort to stay in touch, he was forced to drop his machine when he tried to dive sharply under Clausen off the fourth turn and the Danish Cha'mpion chose to slow on him at just the wrong time. Hancock was justifiably incensed that his exit had been influenced by matters other than his own racing ability. "They drain your tanks in the Grand Prix and fill them back up before each race," Hancock said. "They had drained mine and only partially filled it before heat 12, and I ran out of fuel going into the first corner. It was no fault of my mechanic's but those who fill the tanks. I protested to the referee but all he could say was 'bad luck'. I have lost out because of the system and everyone worried about riders cheating with fuel. All I can say is that it won't happen again! "Then in heat 15, I went for a big dive up the inside and Hans Clausen parked on me at the same time as I was getting close to him," Hancock continued. "All I could do was lay the bike down to avoid drilling him. I felt it was his mistake, and again I paid the price. I put my case to the referee and told him it wasn't my fault. But he felt I went in too fast and basically it was hard luck again." Loram, like Hamill and Hancock struggling to live up to his GP ranking, departed in the next race but all the top-four placed riders after the first two rounds reached the semifinals, and Rickardsson, Gollob and Jason Crump all made the final again. Rickardsson surprised Gollob right on the line in the first semi-final, but it was no surprise when the masterful Swede, starting off the inside grid for the fourth time on the night, made it four straight wins in the final, with Gollob trailing in fourth, behind Crump and Adams. Rickardsson looked head and shoulders above the rest of the field, and he now goes to Prague in the Czech Republic for the fourth of this year's six GPs, on Saturday August 18, as clear favorite to lift his fourth World title. The final two rounds are at Bydgoszcz in Poland on Saturday September 8, and at Stockholm in Sweden on Saturday September 29. "When I'm doing those extra press ups during training, I make myself think of what it would mean to me to win this year's title in Stockholm," Rickardsson said. Few who watched his win in Vojens would now back against Rickardsson doing just that on September 29. CN VojeDs Sp"•••, VajeIIs,D. . . . . llesalts: .hIIy 28, 2811 I....... 3 sf IJ SEMI-FINAl. ] Top 2 transfer to final): 1. Tony Rickllrdsson; 2. Tomesl Gollob; 3. Rune Holte: 4. Mikael Karlsson. SEMI-FINAL 2: 1. Leigh Adllms; 2. Juon Crump; 3. Todd Wiltshire; 4. Nikolas Klingberg. CONSOLATION FINAL: 1. Nikolos Klingberg: 2. Todd Wiltshire; 3. Mikeel Kllrlsson; 4. Rune Holta. FINAL: I. Tony Rick8rdsson; 2. Juon Crump; 3. Leigh Adams; 4. Tomuz GoUob. FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPEEDWAY ORAND PRIX SERIES (After 3 of 6 rounds): 1. Tony Rick8rdsson (66/2 wins): 2. Tom8sz GoUob (59/1 win): 3. Jason CNmp (45); 4. Todd Wiltshire (42): 5. Leigh Adams (38); 6. Niklos Klingberg (35); 7. Ryon Sullivan (33); 8. NIkki Pedersen (32); 9. Henka Gustofsson (25); 10. Peter Korlsson (23). Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Prague, Czech Republic, August 1B Round 5 - Bydgoszcz, Poland, September B