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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128229
On a dangerous, rutted track that was hardly befitting such an occasion, they appeared to have gotten the measure of Sweden, as well as Poland, Denmark and Great Britain. But in pulling clear of the field, the Aussies inadvertently allowed their pursuers to turn to tactical joker rides, and Sweden used it to maximum effect. Mikael Max sparked the revival when he claimed eight points in one hit by landing heat 19 as a joker, a haul that coincided with out-of-sorts Aussie Jason Lyons' failing to finish, something he managed in all his five rides after being excluded three times and then retiring twice. When Andreas Jonsson won heat 20, the Swedes had outscored the Aussies 12-2 in two heats, and with two races remaining the scores were level at 55 points apiece. Australia had their top two of Leigh Adams and the unbeaten Jason Crump still to take their final outings, so the general consensus was that the reigning champs still held all the aces. But the anticipated script was reduced to shreds by Peter Ljung, 20, the replacement for Rickardsson, who remarkably went out and won heat 24 as Adams finished fourth. Peter Karlsson then confirmed the unlikeliest of Swedish triumphs with a second place in heat 25, with Crump this time back in fourth spot. When it came to explaining their victory, the Swedes sat in the press conference with the Ove Fundin Trophy, staring at their medals and sharing a quizzical look of collective disbelief. Max, whose bumper 25-point haul proved vital, said: "It is a great feeling, but I can't believe we pulled it off. It is a dream come true, but it will take a while for it to soak in. We said before the meeting we can only do our best in every heat. With five rid- ers in a race and so many good riders, we didn't feel anybody was going to clean up. We hung in there, and though we dropped 13 points behind, we caught Australia by surprise with my joker win and then came on strong at the end. Peter Ljung was awesome to win the next to last but one race, and that really clinched it for us. Things haven't been happening for me, and I really needed a good meeting, so it was fantastic to have it on Saturday night. I felt terrible in the week and as if I wasn't any good for the team. I had problems with my machinery in the qualifier when we lost to Poland, and though I had a half-decent meeting in the race-off, I still wasn't happy. We tried to be smart in the first corner on Saturday, which was important because the track was very rough. My joker ride was important, but I was going well at that stage and feeling confident. I was in the Swedish team who won the World Team Cup at Coventry in 2000, but it doesn't compare with this. It was just unbelievable." Host nation Denmark finished with the bronze medal while Poland was fourth. Injury-hit Great Britain, who had defied their critics to reach the final and beaten Sweden in the lastchance race-off, made a disastrous start in the final by running four last places in the first six races. After that they rallied, with Lee Richardson also banking eight points for a joker win, and at one stage they were in a rostrum position. But they tailed off to finish last on the night. All the same, boss Neil Middleditch chose to highlight the positives rather than the negatives. "I am very proud of the boys, and they can all hold their heads up high," Middleditch said. "The track was very tricky on Saturday, and though it was the same for everyone, it didn't suit our style of riding. Had it been different, we might have done better. I said to the boys, 'Ride the line you can ride, and take advantage of any mistakes.' But we weren't getting off the starts early on, and we had to use Lee as a joker to get ourselves back into things. The lads were very down after the early races, but I told them there was still a long way to go. We were actually in a medal position at one time, and we were hoping for a bit of good luck here and there, but that never came our way. I actually didn't fear Sweden as much as the other teams, and I thought we would finish ahead of them. But they pulled it out the bag, and fair play to them for that." Denmark, Australia and Poland had won the three qualifying meetings, with Great Britain and Sweden joining them in the final via the Repecharge meeting. The Danes made light work of the opening meeting, sweeping aside the challenge of the Czech Republic, Finland and Germany, with skipper Nicki Pedersen coming from the back on three occasions to clean up with a classy 15-point maximum. In the absence of the USA team, Australia and Great Britain fought a tense two-horse battle in the second qualifier, with the Brits actually leading by one point with three races to go. But in the end they had nobody to touch Crump and Adams, who both finished unbeaten, with the Aussie collecting 15 heat victories to Britain's eight to edge through by two points. Italy, the last-minute replacements for the USA, mustered only six points - a new record low in the Speedway World Cup. Poland also beat Sweden by two points in the third qualifier Rickardsson rode and scored 14 points - and Great Britain and Sweden then clinched the last two places in the final from the race-off. The Brits led the way on 80 points 17 more than eventual World Champions Sweden - with the Czech Republic close behind in third place just to miss out on a spot in the final. Overall, the crowds in Denmark were disappointing, the quality of the track surfaces even more so, and perhaps the event needs to be tweaked for 2004. One idea is to cut out some of the less competitive nations, and possibly run the event over a shorter time-span, say a long weekend rather than a whole week. Next year's Speedway World Cup could be back in England, though Poland and the Czech Republic are also believed to be in contention. USA, providing they can come up with a team, will have to qualify for next year's contest, and probably in some far-flung corner of the speedway world. This year's qualifier was in Latvia! eN Speedwey WDrid Cup VDjen., Denmerk Reaulb: Auguat 9, Z003 FINAL: 1. Sweden 62 (M. Max 25. A. Jonsson 12. P. Ljung 10. P. Karlsson 10. D. Ruud 5): 2. Australia 57 (J. Crump 17, L. Adams 15, T. Wiltshire 15. R. Sullivan 10. J. Lyons 0); 3. Denmark 53 (N. Pedersen 21. C. Gjedde 12. B. Pedersen 9, H. Andersen 7. R. Pedersen 4): 4. Poll!lnd 49 (T. Gollob 18. J. Hl!lmpel 13. T. Bajerski 8. S. Ulamek 6. P. Protasiewicz 4); 5. Great Britain 44 (L. Richardson 14. S. Nicholls 13, D. Norris 6. D. Barker 6. G. Havelock 3). Bjame Pederson had a hard getoff during the meet and could do no better than g points for his home Danish team. They still managed third.