Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

F IM World C h ampi onsh ip S p e e d w a y Grand P r ix Series R o u n d 7: M a r k e t a Stadium ot S TO RY A N D PH OT OS By now has 1 13 points and is hot on the tail of both Rickardsson ( 1 15) and Pederse n (1 14), with two of this year's nine roun ds at Bydgoszcz (Poland) on Saturday , September 20 , and Ham ar (Norw ay) on Satu rday, Octob er 4, remaining . Crum p , born in Bri st ol, En gl and , but Au stra lian th rou gh -and -through , was ecs tatic afte r his second wi n of th e series - he also won th e Dan ish GP in Cop enh agen - and he believes he ca n now go on to ach ieve a dream he has che rished since childhood. Bu t h e say s th e m an t o b e a t is sti ll Ri c k ardss on , a r id er h e calls a " speedway legend." Crump hasn 't had th e best of lu ck in recent season s - he appears cu rsed wh en it co mes to drawing th e wron g g ates in the finals - but h e is now ready to put all that beh ind him . " I fee l I am in a po sition t o challeng e Tony now," Crum p said , " and thi s o ne is going right d own t o th e last race , I j ust want ed to pu t myself J OH N H IPK ISS PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBUC, SEPT. 6 he race fo r th e 2003 Wor ld title is set to go to t h e wi r e a fte r a n absorbing Cz ech Gran d Pri x at th e Mark eta St ad ium in Pragu e. Four rid ers now ap pea r t o h av e a realis t ic c hanc e of landin g th e c ro w n - and th e y ar e se p a r a te d b y o nly e ig h t point s. T ony Rickard sson reg ain ed th e outright lead ersh ip of the series fro m Leigh Adams and Nicki Pedersen , but in bein g beaten into sec ond pla ce by Jason Crump for th e th ird tim e on th e n ight in th e fi na l, the defend in g champion's bid for a record-equa ling sixt h c r o w n i s n ow und er seri ous threat from last year's World Cham pi onship runn er -up . Cru m p , unlucky to seize an eng in e at the start in th e fina l of the previous week' s Sc an dinav ian GP in Gothen burg , won four heats , touch ing the tapes in his other ride , an d ap pears to be peaking at ju st th e right tim e. He T 30 S EPTEM BER 24 , 2003' c ue I e n e vv s in a position where I can win - and I have done that." Despite finishing second to Crump , Rickardsson was still happy with the result and his pe rfo rmance. " T h ere h a s n ev er been a closer race fo r th e title tha n this one ," Ricka rdsson said , " and I was pleased with m y pe rfo rma nce, especia lly after Gothenburg ." Ped ersen, li k e Rick ard sson , had to fi ght hi s way th ro ugh to th e fin al via the pre -Main Ev ent qu alify ing rou nds - they both sta rted in heat fou r - and there were ti m es when his cha llenge hung on the edg e, p art icul ar ly wh en he tried to turn righ t on Ad am s as the Aussie ace c ame p a st the fe c kless .Dane off the last turn of heat 14. A d ams co n ti nued h i s r ecord of reach ing the semifinal s in each of th e seven GPs th is ye ar, but he co ul d not ove rco m e Crump and Ric kardsson in a particularly tough heat 24 and had to be cont en t with sev enth o ver all. But he is still very m uch in the hunt on 107 poin ts. " I had to pass Nicki in one race ," Adams sa id, " a n d I had the pass made when for some reason he thi nks he is going to put m e into the fence. I had h im a treat, and I thi n k he th ou ght I was going to turn back , but I had suc h a good run on th e ou t side. I don 't reall y k now what he w as think ing , but I guess he's yo ung, and he wil l learn . It was no big th in g, but I did turn around at th e end of the race, and I gu ess he k new the dea l. " Jaso n ( Cr um p) p ro v ed t on i ght that yo u ca n be a little bit behi nd and m ak e up ground by winn in g a rou nd. I am a few points behind now , but I am not ou t of it, and I perh aps need to wi n one of the last tw o. Bydgoszcz co u ld be a wei rd one becau se yo u are g o ing t o have a l o t o f Poli sh g uy s there wh o are going to be on th e ga s. That could make it really interest ing ." Th ere was little j oy for Ryan Sulli va n , winn er o f th e pre v i ous Grand Pri x in G o t h en b u r g , or to p British rid er Scott Nicholls, who wa s seco nd at Ull evi. Ditt o for Greg Han cock , the

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