World Championship Speedway Grand Prix Series
Round 1 : Viking Ship Stadium
STORY AND PHOTO
By
JOHN HIPKISS
HAMAR, NORWAY, MAY 11
I
eigning World Champion Tony
Rickardsson made a dream start
to the 2002 Grand Prix series with a
stunning win in Norway. Rickardsson
was the most consistent rider on the
night at the impressive Viking Ship
Stadium in Hamar, and he has clearly
fired a warning shot to his rivals that
they have a lot of work to do if they are
to take the crown away from him when
the series ends in Australia in October.
The track was tricky at times,
which is understandable as it was put
into place all within the space of a
week at a venue that is normally used
for ice skating. Riders were making
mistakes when you would least expect
them to, including Billy Hamill, who
crashed out of the semi-final after hit·
ting trouble on the third lap.
But Rickardsson made it look
easy, and he never made a mistake
all night - apart from a brief threat in
the final from his closest rival, Jason
IAbove) Reigning World Speedway
Champion Tony Rickardsson (1) got
his title defense off to a fantastic start
by winning the Grand Prix of Norway
~t Viking Ship Stadium.
Crump. The Australian, who was
back in action just three weeks after
suffering elbow and rib injuries,
worked hard to go through to the last
four, and he was level with Rickardsson coming out of the start. He then
went past Rickardsson down the back
straight, but as he went into turns
three and four, he failed to turn the
bike and went straight towards the
airfence. To give him credit, Crump
tried to get his bike off the track but
failed by a matter of seconds, and
referee Tony Steele ordered are-run
with Crump excluded.
Former World Champion Mark
Loram made a good start in the first
race as he pulled clear from the start
to win comfortably over fellow countryman Andy Smith.
The fans went wild for home
favorite Lars Gunnestad, Norway's
most successful rider, as he set an
impressive pace to win the second
R1ckardsson (cente" was fast and
consistent from the start. He never
made a mistake all evening
20
MAY 29. 2002'
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