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ous with himself - and a Sky TV cameraman for that matter - for earning an exclusion for jumping the tapes extended the Swede's cushion at the head of the leaderboard to 11 points. It was a kind of poetic justice as Pol· ish referee Marek Wojaczek held the tapes long enough for Gollob Poland's maverick number one - to lurch into them. Wojaczek had consistently kept the riders at the start too long, and it was Gollob who paid the ultimate price. Rickardsson, who had threatened to emulate his Vojens performance of four wins off four inside gates until Hamill intervened in the final, now has 86 points, Gollob 75 and Crump 63. Hamill is ninth, with 37, and Hancock 15th (14th discounting Grzegorz Walasek, who as a reserve can't qualify in the top 10) on 23 points. Britain's reigning World Champion, Mark Loram, is just ahead of Hancock in the standings and also fearful of haVing to battle for his Grand Prix future in the GP Challenge. Only six go forward to next year's series from the Challenge - rather than 10 as in previous seasons . but the 2002 field will also be made up of nominated riders, and both Loram and Hancock would surely have a good chance of a nomination should events conspire against them in both the last two GPs, and the sudden-death ChaleN lenge at Krsko on October 13. Greg Hancock's woes continued at Prague. The American bowed out early and now must achieve a comeback victory similar to Hamill's if he Is to avoid the GP Challenge meeting. ever happens, happens. I'm not putting any pressure on myself as far as the Challenge goes or anything like that. I've been in one before and I enjoyed myself, so I'm just going to go out and ride to the best of my ability like I did in Prague. I feel that's where I'm at right now." Did Hamill feel any resentment at the thought others might be writing him off, calling him a spent force? "You know, I don't really put much thought into that," he said. "I just concentrate on myself, people come up and say 'what's wrong?,' but like I've said in interviews before, I can't pinpoint one particular problem. And I can't pinpoint one particular reason why I won in Prague, either! Everything just fell into place. We worked good, but all of us have been working really good together all year, we were just disappointed in the results because we probably put a hell of a lot of effort into it. When you put that much effort in and you don't get the result you're looking for, it's very frustrat- ing, and that's probably more pressure on my shoulders." While Hamill celebrated his first GP victory of the season, fellow American Greg Hancock again cut a disconsolate figure in the pits at a packed Marketa Stadium. Hancock suffered another early exit - he has now failed to make the semi-finals in all of this year's four rounds· and finds himself in desperate need of a similar pick-me-up in the last two GPs in Poland and Sweden next month. Hancock started with a third behind Henka Gustafsson and Nicki Pedersen in heat three, but then stylishly drove around Carl Stonehewer to win heat five to stay involved. But any thoughts that his GP season was about to take an upward hike disappeared when he was beaten into third again by Mark Loram and Piotr Protasiewicz in heat nine to exit ahead of the Main Event with just four points. "It's so disappointing," Hancock said. "But all I can do is keep plugging away and hope that I can come up with the goods in the last two GPs. (Below) Ryan Sullivan survived this grinding heat-race crash and came back to win the Consolation Final. (Below right) Reigning World Speedway Champion Mark Loram suffered a disappointing meeting In Prague, failing to make It Into the semis. Loram currently finds himself outside the top 10 in the points standings as well. Going out in the early stages in every round so far is just not me. I have been gutted and hurt by the experience. In speedway, like all other sports, you have to learn to take the bad with the good. It's tough, but it is all about battling through and getting yourself back on top." Hamill enjoyed an early stroke of good fortune when Peter Karlsson's engine died in heat two to give him second place behind Toni Kasper, and he seized the opportunity to advance into the Main Event with another second behind another Czech rider, Bo Brhel, in heat seven. He then swept around Todd Wiltshire in one of the best races of the night to win heat 13 - having earlier got the better of his Aussie colleague Leigh Adams - and he booked a place in the semi-finals with a ~econd behind Rickardsson in heat 17. Hamill then finished second to Crump in his semi-final, despite doing his best to run the Aussie wide on the first two turns, but he got his revenge when he exploded away off gate two to see off both Rickardsson and Crump in the three-man final. Rickardsson's second place in a dramatic finale that saw Gollob furi- cue. e Martita Stadium Prague, czech Republic Results: August ZO, ZOOl [Round 4 of 61 SEMI 1 (Top 2 transfer to Main Final): 1. Tony Rickardsson: 2. Tomasz Gollob: 3. Orzegorz Walasek; 4. Carl Stonehewer. SEMI 2 (Top 2 transfer to Main Final): I. Jason Crump; 2. Billy Hamill; 3. Leigh Adams; 4. Ryan Sullivan. CONSOLATION FINAL: 1. Ryon Sullivon: 2. Grzegorz Walasek; 3. Carl Stonehewer; 4. Leigh Adams. MAIN FINAL: 1. Billy Homill: 2. Tony Rickardsson: 3. Jason Crump; 4. TomaSI Gellob (exclusion). WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX SERIES STANDINGS (After 4 of 6 rounds): 1. Tony Rickardsson (86/2 wins); 2. Tomasz Gollob (75/1 win); 3. Joson Crump (63): 4. (TIE) Leigh Adams (Australia) (48)/Todd Wiltshire (48)/Ryan Suilivon (48); 7. Niklos Klingberg (43); 8. Nicki Pedersen (38); 9. Billy Homill (37): 10. G"ego" Wolosek (30). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Bydgoszcz, Poland, September 8 Round 6 - Stockholm, Sweden, September 29 n e _ s • SEPTEMBER 5, 2001 47