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Event when he crashed in heat 12 and was stretchered off. Rickardsson started with a second place in heat 10 but then impressively won heats 14 and 20 off the inside and the second semifinal off gate two. He looked like the odds-on favorite after drawing the inside gate in the final, but Crump - bidding to become Australia's first speedway World Champion in 51 years - had also been making some flying starts, and he got away off two to lead from Hancock, who was then overhauled by a battling Rickardsson. The Parken Stadium was only built in 1992, and it is the home of both the Danish national football team and FC Copenhagen. A retractable roof was added to the site in 2001, and since then some major rock and pop acts have appeared there, including Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney and Tina Turner. The 2001 Eurovision Song Contest was also staged there. Last Saturday was its speedway debut, and 2500 tons of British shale had been shipped over from the Breedon quarry in Derbyshire to make up the trac~. The partisan Danish crowd of 24,280 were mostly behind Nicki Pedersen, who had won the British Grand Prix at Cardiff a fortnight earlier to move into second place in the standings. Pedersen followed a win in heat nine with three second places to reach the fina I. But when the heat was on, his bid for a second successive Grand Prix victory was hit by nerves in the final, and he jumped into the tapes. "The pressure was really on me tonight," Pederson admitted, "an.;! of course I am sorry that I didn't win, but reaching the top eight was my target, and I did better than that." Nicholls won heat 13, and the lone British rider also won heat 19 to book his place in the semifinals. But just as at Cardiff a fortnight ago, the Ipswich rider crashed out of the semis when he came down on the outside of Crump trying to make up ground off the unfavored gate three down the back straight. "If I had got to the final, I could have won it," said Nicholls. "The crash was no one's fault, but if it happens after the first turn, the referee has to exclude someone." While Crump made the most of the rerun, Gollob was hit hard by the stoppage, having been leading at the time. He finished third, behind Crump and Pedersen to miss out on the final. World number two Crump went on to secure his seventh Grand Prix victory and his first since round six last year in Prague. "Having my family back around me, as I did in Cardiff and again here in Copenhagen, has been a big boost," Crump said. "It was a brilliant night all round. I rode really well in Hancock has been missing from the British scene since the 200 I season, when Coventry was forced to make a decision between Hancock and American colleague Billy Hamill at the start of the 2002 campaign, and chose Hamill. Hancock has since relocated his European base to Stockholm in Sweden, and he has also established a second base in Germany this year. He has continued to ride for both Rospiggarna in the Swedish League and Wroclaw in the Polish League. CN Parken Stadium Copenhagen. Denmark Results: June 28, 2003 [Round 4 at 91 SEMI 1 (Top 2 transfer to Final): 1. Jl!lson Crump; 2. Nicki Pedersen; 3. Tomcsz Oollob; 4. Scott Nicholls. Rickardsson (1) continued his steady title attack at Copenhagen, finishing second in the Final to stretch his lead over second-placed Nicki Pederson to seven points, 76-69. the heats, and then I scored gate two in the final, which proved to be the best one as the night wore on. I must say, for a purpose-built track, it was as good as I've ever ridden on. I was 20 points behind Tony, and now it is only 15 with plenty of rounds to go. Now I can't wait for the next GP, where I really want to close the gap even further." The fifth leg of the nine-round Grand Prix series takes place at Krsko's Matje Gubca Stadium in Slovenia on July 12. After that there is a six-week break, during which the Speedway World Cup takes place in Denmark, before the series resumes at Gothenburg in Sweden on August 23. Hancock is on the verge of making a surprise return to British speedway. He had telephone talks with Oxford promoter Nigel Wagstaff both prior to and after the Danish Grand Prix, and a decision was expected from the club on Monday or Tuesday. "I have looked at the Oxford fixtures, and they fit nicely into my schedule," Hancock said. "I have missed riding in Britain, and I am excited about the chance of going back there. I told Nigel Wagstaff that I wanted to ride over there again, and it was down to him to say yes or no." SEMI 2 (Top 2 transfer to Final): 1. Tony Rickardsson: 2. Greg Hancock: 3. Rune Holte; 4. Leigh Adams. FINAL: 1. Jason Crump; 2. Tony Rickardsson; 3. Greg Hancock; 4. Nicki Pedersen. FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPEEDWAY SERIES STANDINGS (After 4 of 9 round.): I. Tony Rickardsson (76/1 win); 2. Nicki Pedersen (69/1 win): 3. Jason Crump (61/1 win); 4. Gfeg Hancock (58): 5. (TIE) Leigh Adams (53)/ Luka. Dryml (53): 7. Rune Halla (48); 8. Ryan Sullivan (46/1 "'in): 9. Tomasz Gollob (40); 10. Piotr Protasiewla (33). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Krsko, Slovenia, July 12 Round 6 - Gothenburg, SWeden, August 23 The track surface was much improved at Parken Stadium, with some of the riders saying that it was the best attempt yet at producing a temporary track. cue I ... n. _ s • JULv16,2003 31