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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128128
FIM Grand Prix Challenge Krsko Stadium Hancock won the final ahead of the hard-riding Pedersen, who was dumped off into the fence by Nicholls at the end of a no-holds-barred race, and had to be physically restrained from developing what was an unsavory spat into a full-blown punch-up. "I had my sights set on winning the I meeting," Hancock said, "And now I ' am ready to get myself focused again to chase the World title again next year. We all start from scratch next season, and [ believe I can be in there. I feel I have stepped over a boundary I have been missing for a while. "It was awesome when I went past I the flag in the final. I know it wasn't a Grand Prix final but all the same it was great to be in there and winning the race. "I fought for my right and I am pleased I have got in the Grand Prix again. The final was a real battle and we all wanted to win the meeting, even though we have all qualified. The track seemed to pull you to the fence if you went out wide. It was tough to know where to go at times. "But it was a great to stand on top of the rostrum and hear the American national anthem being played. Most Americans have been having a bad time in recent weeks after what happened on September 1 I, and I feel this is my own small, personal tribute to all the people who were affected by it." The 40-year-old Ermolenko, like' Hancock a ·former World Champion, entered the meeting in the early I stages and looked in good form as he won through to the Main Event with I victories in heats four and eight. He took advantage of Nicholls curiously coming a cropper while leading heat four to collect the checkered flag in the re-run, and he then became the first rider to win off the unfavored gate two in heat eight, despite almost jumping the tapes at the start. A third in heat 12 when his challenge was repelled by Stone hewer meant Ermolenko fa.ced an eliminator in heat 16, but he tucked in for second behind Drmyl and was then second behind Pedersen, a former team mate at Wolverhampton, in heat 19 and on course for a semi-final slot when he attempted an outside pass on the fourth tum. Pedersen, an abrasive young Dane who is renowned for riding right to the limit - and often beyond it too ensured Ermolenko was shoved wide and he took a nasty fall, hitting the safety fence back-first. He was able to walk back to the pits unaided, glaring at English referee Mick Posselwhite in the process, but later diagnosis revealed a cracked vertebra in his back to bring his season - if not his World Championship career - to an end. I I STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOHN HIPKISS KRSKO, SLOVENIA, OCT. 13 reg Hancock salvaged a season of personal Grand Prix woe by emerging victorious in the GP Challenge meeting in Slovenia. The Californian star finally came good to redeem himself after a World Championship campaign of pallid underachievement, emulating the achievement of American buddy Billy Hamill, who also won the GP Challenge at Lonigo in Italy two years ago. But while Hancock celebrated securing his place in the 2002 Grand Prix by proudly standing in top spot on the Krsko podium, there were only commiserations for fellow American Sam Ermolenko, whose brave bid for GP qualification ended in the heartache of failure, and the pain of a fractured vertebra in his back after crashing out with a place in the semifinals beckoning. As well as Hancock, the other five riders who went through into next year's Grand Prix series were Nicki Pedersen, Scott Nicholls, Lukas Dryml, Carl Stonehewer and Andy Smith. Hancock, one of nine 2001 GP riders fighting for their future, was G 38 OCTOBER 31,2001 • Greg Hancock (Above left) reversed his nightmarish 2001 GP campaign with a solid victory at the Grand Prix Challenge in Slovenia. The win secures a place in the 2002 Grand Prix Series for the 1997 Wortd Champion. exempt to the Main Event segment of . the meeting in the former Yugoslavian state that borders Italy and eased into the last eight with a second behind Great Britain's Chris Louis in heat 13, and a win in heat 18 when he took to the front from third place down the back straight. cue' e n III _ S In the second semi-final, he then finished second behind young Czech Dryml, who overcame his much-criticized absence from the British Elite League to prove the surprise packet of the half-dozen who booked spots in next year's World Championship title race.