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Australia's Ryan ullivan lright) had an outside shot at catching Rlckardsson In Vojens, but a third-place finish In the first Semi locked him out of championship contention. also had reason to ponger some more poor fortune. His series has been beset by one problem after another, and last Saturday was no different. Knocked off by Niklas Klingberg in an eliminator in heat 11, his bike then sta lied prior to the rerun, and he was frustratingly excluded for exceeding the twominute time allowance. Jonsson, one of the six nominated riders this year, will now have to rely on a similar invitation to compete in 2003. The top 10 riders - Hancock is seventh and Hamill ninth - are guaranteed a place in the 2003 series, even though Dryml in 10th spot could still be caught by Nicki Pedersen and is great to know I am back in there for 2003." Hancock, meanwhile, had a testing night, and was involved in three furious battles, with Poles Sebastian Ulamek and Gollob, and then Denmark's Bjarne Pedersen. He avoided an early exit by repassing Ulamek in 12, had another storming side-by-side scrap with Gollob before finishing third in heat 13, but then ensured further progression by winning heat 17, an eliminator, ahead of Rune Holta and Mikael and Peter Karlsson. Hancock then had to use all his mettle to pass Bjarne Pedersen in heat 21, having tried to shove the Dane wide on the first turn before being hit by Lukas Dryml exiting the second turn. Second place took him into the semi-finals, but he finished third, behind Crump and Hamill. The 13 points collected by Hancock lifted him to seventh place overall, his highest position of the year. "I am climbing the ladder, and I feel I can still have the chance to climb even higher in the final Grand Prix in Australia," said Hancock, who missed the final round of the AMA National Championship Speedway Series with a bout of bronchitis. "I had to fight for every point, and 1 even got warned by the referee for dangerous riding in the race with Tomasz Gollob. I haven't had that too (Above) Greg Hancock Ilett) made the semis at Volens, eamlng enough points to see him safely In seventh place with one round left. ILett) Jason Crump (2) made the A Final, only to lose control of his machine in the race and slip to fourth. The Aussie will be gunning for his second win of the year at his home GP In Australia on October 26. many times in my career, and I actually thought Tomasz was over-riding a little. Things were not flowing for me, and I seemed to be getting too much wheelspin for most of the meeting. The track was so different on the night from what it was like in practice. It had plenty of dirt on for practice, but then was hard and slick for the meeting, which didn't make a lot of sense, to be honest. Hancock said that his goal was to get to the semi-finals again, and at least he achieved that. "There is no doubt Tony Rickardsson has deserved this year's title," Hancock said. "The guy sets the pace for the rest of us, and he has been on fire all season. He is inspiring and is a worthy World Champion again." The unluckiest rider on the night Holta, though they would have to finish first or second in Sydney and hope that Dryml makes an early exit. Dryml has already qualified via the new World Championship rounds (the top six in the final won places in the Grand Prix), so if he does finish 10th, it means that an extra place will open up for the 2003 series, whether to the 11th placed rider in this year's series or the seventh-placed rider (Australia's Jason Lyons) in the World Championship final. eN had to be Denmark's Nicki Pedersen, whose victory in the previous round in Poland had clearly boosted the crowd at Vojens. Pedersen's reward for producing a moment to savor for the partisan home fans in heat 19, when he passed Rickardsson in typically truculent manner to lever a hole for Hamill to follow him through, was to be harshly excluded for falling when left with nowhere to go on the outside of Gollob and Rickardsson on the first turn in the first semi-final. Pedersen was justifiably incensed by the decision, which denied him a possible crack at Rickardsson in the final, and made his feelings known to the referee. Young Swede Andreas Jonsson - a colleague of Hamill's at Coventry and Hancock's in Rospiggarna, Sweden cue I • Vojeas Speedway Vojens, Dennwtr Results: September 28, 2002 (Round 9 at 101 SEMI 1 (Top 2 transfer to Final): 1. Tony Rlckllrdsson: 2. TomZllsz Gollob; 3. Ryan Sullivan; 4. Nikki Pedersen. SEMI 2 (Top 2 transfer to Final): 1. Jllson Crump; 2. Billy Hllmill: Greg Hancock; 4. Rune Halta. FINAL: 1. Tony Rlckllrdsson; TomaSI Gollob; 3. Billy Hllmill: 4. Jason Crump. FIM WORLD C'SHIP SPEEDWAY ORAND PRIX SERIES POINTS ST ANDINOS (Arter 9 of 10 rounds): 1. Tony Rickardsson (173/3 wins): 2. Ryen Sullivan (147/2 wins); 3. Je:ion Crump (144/1 win); 4. Leigh Adams (122/1 win); 5. Toman Gollob (109/1 win); 6. Mika.l Karlsson (109); 7. Gre9 Hancock (97); 8. Mark Loram (96); 9. Billy Hamill (88); 10. Luka. Dryml (84). Upcoming Round: Round 10: Sydney, Australia, October 26 n e _ S • OCTOBER 16. 2002 27