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Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center: Anthony Barlow leads James Mann en route to topping the main event at the opening round of the World Cup ICE Speedway Championship Series in Augusta, Georgia. World Cup ICE Speedway Championship Series Round 1: Augusta·Richmo dCo nty Civic Center BarloV\T Ices 'em By Nick FaFard from St. Cuthbert, Quebec, Canada, had the pole. The champ showed he hadn't lost anything by winning his first heat of the season wire to wire. Behind FaFard was an excellent race between Painter and McNeil until the latter fell off on the third lap, giving Arms a third-place finish. The third heat lined up with James Mann from Bolton, England, on the outside; Westminster, Colorado's Shawn Hurley in the third position; David Speight from Dublin, Ireland, in the second slot, and Bill Hermant from Sparks, Nevada on the pole. The tape went up clean and Mann got the gate. He won the drag race to turn one and came out the other side with a bike-length lead. As "Manny" streaked off to stretch out his lead, a pretty good race for position was taking place between veteran ice racers Hermant and Hurley, who swapped positions on laps two and three while rookie Haigue tried to keep pace. As Mann took the checkered, Hurley slid into second place. Haigue crashed all by himself on the last lap, giving Hermant third. The buzz in the pits between heat rounds centered around the new Silver Rocket racing studs. The die used to forge out the original Silver Rockets had cracked and broken last year. The manufacturer made a new die in the summer, and the new product seems to be grippier. ICE/WSRA mandates all racers use Silver Rockets. The new studs are more consistent in height, and have a much nicer head definition and sharper edges. They appear to be a better mouse- GARY DENSFORD AUGUSTA, GA, DEC. 26 T he first round of the 26th annual World Cup ICE Speedway Championship Series took place on a wintry Wednesday after Christmas. A large crowd of Georgians and South Carolinians braved the bone-chilling 20-degree cold to take in the season opener. In the first heat race, two-time World Champion Anthony Barlow from Merseyside, England, lined up on the outside. David Haigue from Cardiff, Wales, was in slot three. Carr, North Carolina's Ronny Kemp started in the second slot, and Will Beverage from Northumberlin, England, had the pole. All heats are four-lap scratch events; the winners earn 10 championship points, second place earns five points, third gets three, and last place receives one point. When the electronic starting gate went up, Barlow launched out ahead on his fuel-injected Jawa and won the drag race to the first tum and then pulled away from Kemp, Beverage and Haigue. On the second lap, Beverage lost it and hit the wall pads hard. Luckily, he was unhurt and up immediately. No one had anything for Barlow as he raced on to take the checkered. Kemp finished second and Haigue wound up third. The second heat placed Robbie McNeil from Glasgow, Scotland, on the outside. Neil Painter from Birmingham, England, was_in the third slot. Robert Arms from Taylors, South Carolina, was in the second slot, and defending World Champion 38 JANUARY 30, 2002' cue I e nlll_s trap, but riders have had to change their setups to adjust for the increase in traction. In the second round of heats, Hurley, Barlow and Mann were the winners. The toughest heat pitted Barlow against FaFard. It was a good race all the way, with FaFard giving Barlow all he could handle. Barlow edged out the victory just ahead of FaFard, Speight and Arms. In the main event - the only sixlapper of the night - Mann, Barlow and Hurley were in row one, and FaFard, Kemp and Painter rounded out the field in row two. When the tape went up, Barlow and Mann raced side by side to turn one. Mann - a protege of Barlow - came away from the corner with a slight lead. Barlow might be teaching him too much, but he didn't teach him everything; the "British Bulldog" got by Mann on lap three after some minor contact. Meanwhile, FaFard passed Hurley and was charging forward. By lap four, Barlow, Mann, FaFard and Kemp were bunching up for what promised to be another patented ICE last-lap showdown. Just as the white flag waved, Mann lost control trying for the lead, slamming into the turn- two wall. The red flag was immediately waved, stopping the event for Mann's safety. The race was scored as complete, as the leader had taken the white flag. Barlow was the winner, scoring a perfect 50 points. Mann's wreck put him in last place, moving everyone else up one position. FaFard got second, Kemp moved up to third, Hurley took fourth and Painter got fifth. Mann was not seriously injured. Though it was originally thought he may have dislocated his shoulder, happily that turned out not to be the case. eN Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center Augusta, Georgia Results: December 2&, 2001 (Round 1 of 11) HEAT 1: David Haigue. HEAT 2: Robert Arms. HEAT 3: Bill Hermant. HEAT 4: I. Anthony Barlow; 2. Ronny Kemp; 1. Nick FaF8rd: 2. Neil Pllinter; 3. 1. James Mann; 2. Shawn Hurley; 3. 1. Shawn Hurley; 2. DllVid Haigue; 3. Bill Hermant. HEAT 5: 1. Anthony Barlow; 2. Nick FllFard; 3. David Speight. HEAT 6: I. James fv\zInn; 2. Ronny Kemp; 3. Robbie McNeil. LCQ: 1. Nick FaFard; 2. Ronny Kemp; 3. Neil Painter; 4. DlIvid Haigue; 5. Bill Herment. IWlAIN: I. Anthony Barlow; 2. Nick F8Fard; 3. Ronny Kemp; 4. Shawn Hurley: 5. Neil Painter. WORLD CUP ICE SPEEDWAY CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 1 of 11 rounds): 1. Anthony Barlow (50/1 win): 2. Nick FoFord (40); 3. (TIE) Shown Hurley/Ronny Kemp (30): 5. James Mann (25); 6. Neil Pointer (20); 7. David Holgue (9): 8. Robbie McNeil (7): 9. Bill Hermon' (6); 10. Robert Arms (4): 11. Will Beverage (2). Washington State Vintage Arenacross Championship Clark County Fairgrounds Exposition Arena Thompson's TV\Tins STORY AND PHOTOS BY CLAY LIGHT BATTLEGROUND,WA,JAN.5 H onda-mounted Washingtonian Paul Thompson's Vintage motocross reign of terror in the Northwest this season continued with twin wins - in the 250cc and Over 40 main events - at the Washington State Vintage Arenacross Championship, held at the Clark County Fairgrounds. Despite pressure from several of the Northwest's top riders, Thompson was the day's top performer. This was the first such event fOl the older machines (1981 and earlier) in the Northwest. The track was toned Clart< County Fairgrounds Exposition Arena: Ossa rider Leland Loper topped the Over SO/Over 60 final at the Washington State Vintage Arenacross Championship in Battleground.