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place in the 2003 series for those finishing below the cut. Those riders who finish outside the top 10 will be out on a limb and reliant on being given one of the six special nominations for next year by Benfield Sports International. the rights owners and organizers. Given their reputations. and recent history in the Grand Prix. Hamill and Hancock would surely get the nod to return if they finish out of the top 10 but neither will want to have to sweat out that particular scenario. The gutsy Andy Smith. the Harry Houdini of the GP Challenge. once more displayed his adhesive qualities in reaching the main event. Smith. who had passed Matej Ferjan to avoid elimination in heat five, was then knocked off by Niklas Klingberg in another eliminator in heat 12. but he got up. dusted himself off and cut inside Sebastian Ulamek in the re-run to finish second. His night finished with a third behind Hancock and Hamill in heat 17. and he is in 15th place and still battling to save his GP bacon once again. Jonsson. a teammate of Hamill's at Coventry. and a colleague of Hancock's at the Swedish League team Rospiggama. was the rider most were talking about at the end of the meeting. The precocious 21-year-old Swede. a former World Under-21 champion tipped as Rickardsson's natural successor. is a class act who is improving by the round. Sooner or later. and it is surely set to be the former rather than the latter. he is going to win a Grand Prix round. He came close to doing just that in Krsko last Saturday. reaching his first final in only his fifth GP appearance. Prior to the final. Jonsson had only been beaten once in five starts. by Sullivan in heat 13. (Above leftJ World Champion Tony Rickardsson had an uncharacteristically off night In Slovenia, fa ling to make the final. (Above) Greg Hancock had an even rougher night and now finds himself outside the top 10 in the standings. (Left, Left to right) Run_r-up Tomasz Gollob, winner Sullivan and thirdplaced Marl< Loram on the podium. Sullivan now holds a 12-poim lead oyer Rickardsson. was left at the back and had to make do with fourth place. Another up-and-coming youngster. Britain's Scott Nicholls. was the unfortunate victim of a freak accident. Nicholls. part of Hancock's new Team GSR setup this season. broke an ankle as he was coming off the track when one of Rickardsson's mechanics ran into him while warming up one of the Swede's bikes. He has been told to stay off a bike for at least a month. yet. typical of speedway riders. he has refused to rule himself out of next weekend's Grand Prix in Stockholm. "I want to ride in Sweden," he said. "To stand a chance of finishing in the top 10 - and quali· fying for next year - I need to ride." Mallje 6ubjca Sbdium Krs..... Slaveni. Results: June 22. 2 02 (Round 4 at 10J His rare ability to hang on by the seat of his pants was never better illustrated than in heat 20. when he surged past Crump and Karlsson tight to the fence down the back straight and almost took off when he hit a rut on the third turn. Jonsson's hopes of going all the way to the podium ended with the ba 1I0t for the gate positions in the final. Having won through his semifinal against Gollob. Adams and Karlsson off gate two. he drew the outside grid. which had yielded just one win and two second places in the previous 24 races. With riders of the caliber of Gollob. Sullivan and Loram on his inside. he c u .. I e SEMI 1 (Top 2 advance to final): 1. Ryen Sullivan; 2. Mark Lor"m; 3. Tony Rickardsson; 4. Jason Crump. SEMI 2 (Top 2 advance to final): 1. AndreelS Jonsson; 2. Tomasz Gollob; 3. Leigh Adams; 4. Mikllel Karlsson. FINAL: I. Ryan Sullivan; 2. Tomasz Gollob; 3. Mark Lorlllm; 4. Andrees Jonsson. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX SERIES (Arter 4 01 10 rounds): J. Ryan Sullivan (83/2 wins); 2. Tony Rickardsson (71/1 win); 3. Tom8sz Gollob (63/1 win; 4. leigh Adllms (55): 5. (TIE) Joson Crump (54)/Mlkael Karlsson (54): 7. Mark Loram (52): 8. Todd Wiltshire (45): g. Billy Hamill (36); 10. Andrells Jonsson (34); 11. Greg Hancock (24): 12. Rune Hoi" (22): 13. Carl Stonehewer (21): 14. Scott Nicholls (20): 15. Andy Smith (20). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5· Stockholm. Sweden. July 6 Round 6 - Prague, Czech Republic, July 20 n __ S • JULY 10. 2002 53