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FIM World Championship Speedway Grand Prix Series Round 5: Stockholm Olympic Stadium I STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOHN HIPKISS STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, JULY 6 I eigning World Champion Tony Rickardsson regained the lead in the race for the 2002 title, Lukas Dryml provided the surprise performance of the Grand Prix series so far, but the man wearing the widest smile inside Stockholm's Olympic Stadium last Saturday night was surely Californian star Greg Hancock. After two years of scrapping around in the nether regions of the Grand Prix, Hancock turned back the clock to reach his first final for 11 rounds on a demanding, rain-affected, one-off track. That he finished third on the rostrum, rather than first, mattered little. The message was unmistakable Greg Hancock was back with a bang. Hancock, now domiciled in Stockholm after being squeezed out of British speedway in the winter under a controversial ruling limiting the use of GP riders, started in the first race of the night, seeing off Norway's Rune Holta to win that in style, and was still there battling when the tapes went up for the last race in heat 25. In between, he produced some of his best racing of the series, taking charge of heat seven down the back straight in front of Billy Hamill, and In the final, Rickardsson (left) was able to block a charging Hancock (right), who eventually slipped to third, behind Dryml (hidden behind Hancock). 54 JULv24, 2002' cue I e then working some deep dirt in heats 13 and 20 to make progress into the semi-finals. The racing line heaped up closer to the fence as the night wore on, and a big outside drive in 20 took Hancock past the four-time champion Rickardsson into second place behind Mikael Karlsson. Hancock won his semi-final from Dryml, Mark Loram and Ryan Sullivan, and though he was relegated to third in the final - Rickardsson successfully blocking his attack for the lead and Dryml celebrating his firstever final appearance by following n e _ 55 the Swede past the checkered flag the night was one to savor for the 1997 World Champion. "It's been a long time since I stood on the rostrum at a Grand Prix, and it was a fantastic feeling," Hancock said. "I had a great practice, I felt good in myself and my bikes were brilliant. "Things have been slowly improving for me in recent rounds and hopefully I am now on course to pick things up and go forward from here. I have always retained faith in my ability to get back up there. Tony Rickardsson (centerj regained his toehold at the top of the World Speedway standings with a GP win at Olympic Stadium In his home country of Sweden. America's Greg Hancock (right) also stepped up large with a third-place finish to get his series run back on track. Lukas Dryml (left) was second. "My main aim was to reach the semifinals on Saturday, and having done that, I went all out for the final. The track was very difficult, mainly because of the rain, but it didn't matter to me. It was my night and I really enjoyed it. "I didn't always make the best starts, but I used the grip to my advantage, especially off the first two turns. That was perhaps the strong point of my performance. "I have to thank all the guys in Sweden who helped me, and it was nice to do so well in front of so many of my Swedish sponsors and friends. "It means 1 can now look forward to Prague in the next round with fresh purpose. I have done well at Prague in the past, and I feel I can go there and do well again. It is obviously going to be a very tall order to match Tony Rickardsson and Ryan Sullivan from here, but I am going to give it a real push to reach the top six." A semi-final place also beckoned for Hamill until he was let down by his machinery. Hamill won heat three, and then sandwiched second places in heats