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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128237
Although h e f ailed to make the se m is at Norway , Tomasz Go llob (7 ) fini sh e d well enough a ll season to f inish s ixth i n the series standings - one b ette r than l ast y e ar. c ampa ign on a pe rso na l hig h by win ning th e last GP of the season for th e second su cc essiv e ye ar. Pedersen we nt in to the final round trailing Crump by j ust one point - 133 to 132 - and 11 poin ts in fro nt of fiveti me and d efendin g World Champion Ri c k a rd sso n . Ada ms was a fu rthe r three po ints ad rift, bu t by the time th e dra w fo r t he se m ifi nals was m ad e , bo t h Rick ardsson an d Ada m s we re out of co nte ntion . It had come do wn to a stra ight sh ootou t betw een Cr ump and Pedersen , and the feisty y o u ng Dane sto rmed from fou rth t o sec ond in th e fir st sem ifin a l to secu r e h is place in the final. All e y es we re o n Cru mp as he lined up aga inst Hancock , Rune Ho lt a and A nd reas J o nsso n in the second sem ifinal. Cr ump, bi dd ing to becom e the fir st A ustral ian to lift t he title sinc e J ack Young in 195 2, had t o fi nish first o r sec ond to extend the title chase to th e fi na l ra ce of th e G rand Pri x season , but he fo und him self in thir d spo t go ing d own t h e ba c k st ra ig ht for the fi r st t ime. Hancock le d , w ith Ho lt a in seco n d p l ac e b ut appearing as if he wasn 't in tota l con trol of hi s m achin e or dest in y . Cr um p deci ded to go fo r brok e enterin g tum three, and an im petuo us move - ev en a re c k less one - to force h is w a y under the Norwegian ride r took awa y Holta' s left leg and dumped hi m ont o the shale. T he c row d was ago g as it waited for Po lish referee Marek Wojaczek to p ress the button for the wh ite excl usio n li g ht. Th e dec isio n? Crump was o ut, and Pedersen was th e new Worl d Champion . Wh il e it m eant th e fi na l b ec am e so mething of an anti cl imax fo r the 6208 crow d inside th e ind oo r Viking Ship St adi um , Pe d e r s e n a n d h is c a m p b egan t h e ir c e l ebra tion s in earnest as he joined fellow Danes Ol e Ol sen , Eri k Gu ndersen , Hans Nie lsen an d J a n O . Pe d e r s e n i n being c ro wned k ing of Worl d Speedway . Hanc ock sto le som e of hi s thunde r by gating ahead of Ped ersen to t ake the fi nal, but tha t co ul d take not hing away from th e Da ne's night of nights. Pede r sen , a o ne -t ime wi ld bo y w ho has worked to curb h is natural volatil ity, j o ined an eli te g ro up o f Dan i sh rid er s who ran k am ong the best wh o eve r parti cipated in th e spo rt . " Ri ders lik e H a n s Nielsen , Erik Gundersen and Jan O . Peders en were m y hero es : Pedersen said . " I have alwa ys wanted to ach ieve what they di d , but it still hasn 't sunk in ." Pede rsen, who was 12th in la st ye ar's World Cham pi onship , has been o ne of the most co nsistent riders th is season , and even w h e n h e fa ced eliminatio n aft er c rashing spe c ta c u larly in Heat 19, ironic all y whe n lead ing Crum p , he stayed ca lm . "I hav e lea rne d how to control m y emotions : he said , " and th ou gh I was v ery n erv o u s , I sta y ed fo c used on wha t I had to do. "M y body mu st be fi t , and I m ust h a v e som e go od bon e s, b eca us e w hen I was lay ing th ere on the track , it was h u rt i ng eve ryw h ere . I d on't k no w if I m ade a mi st ak e o r not ; it just happe ned . I went into a big rut, and the bik e wa s lik e a horse. I tried t o st ay o n , I w a s t ry in g to ba lanc e like in a circus, but I di dn 't have m y foot on the footrest , and it th rew m e off . But I had both bad lu ck and good lu ck . Jas on h ad t o go for it in h is sem ifin al, and I wo uld have done the same. Wh en there's a little gap, yo u have to go for it. If you' re a racer, you go fo r it. Fair play to Jason, he made the m ist ake, and it co uld have been me. I know J aso n well , he' s a good gu y , but he k new he had m ade a m ist ake. " Cru mp, now World number tw o for each of th e past three seaso ns, was devasta te d but bravely face d both the T V c a me r as a nd th e m ed i a sc r u m afte rwa rd, "What can I say ?" he sai d. "I felt it wa s my o nly cha nc e to pass Run e. I d id n' t feel at m y b est all n i g ht , but tha t' s j ust the way it goes. I bl ew it an d I will j u st have to try aga in next year. I feel prett y bad now , but life goes o n , T on y ( Ric ka rd sso n ) sa id at th e Tony Rickardsson may have seen the t i tle s lip f rom his f ingers, but the Swede vows to be back next year to c la im his sixth career t itle and thus t ie Iva n Mauger in the record books. press co nference he wante d to go into a dark roo m and sleep for three week s. I'd tak e three m onths right now !" Ric ka rds so n h an d e d o ve r his c ro w n wit h a h a n d so m e tr ib ute to bo th Crump a nd Ped ers en b ut also w a rne d t he m th at h e w ill b e b ack ne xt ye ar , m o re determ ined than ever to reg a in his c ro w n and eq ua l Iva n Ma uger's rec ord o f si x W o rl d title wins . Mauger was able t o cel eb ra te h is 6 5th b irthda y know ing that his reco rd is still intact. " I can't say that I am disappoi nted th at I am no lo ng er World Ch am p i on : Ric kardss on said. " Do n't get me w rong , I have reall y enjoyed my tim e as be ing ch am p io n . It' s been rea ll y good , a l t ho u gh on track i t hasn 't been m y year. I think next yea r I wil l c o m e b a c k m o r e h u n gri er a nd be do ing som e hunting rather than bein g the hun t er. I feel I ce rta inly have one more Wo rld title in m e - at lea st!" Han cock wo n the fin al rou nd of the Gra nd Prix in Syd ney la st year , and he w as de ligh t ed to have aga in fin ished wit h a v ic to ry . " I seem to save my best for t h e last rou nd ," Hancoc k said. " Next year I wi ll try and sta rt a bit better. I lost a bit o f confi de nce d uring the seaso n , b ut I have a gr eat team aro u nd me, an d they have helped m e back to th e to p , I am so del ighted to hav e wo n here. " Ha n c o ck beg an th e n i ght with a . las t p lace in heat nin e - noth in g m o re tha n a warm -up ra ce - and then ran thir d b eh in d Bj a rn e Ped ersen a nd Cru m p in heat 16 as Ricka rdss on fi n ished at the bac k . It me ant t he A meri c an fa ced a n el iminator in heat 18 , b ut his n igh t suddenl y took a turn for the bett er as he stor med to v i ct or y i n f ro nt of Ad ams , w ith Hans Andersen and Ma rk Lo ram making the ir ex its . Ric kardsson had also bowed out in the previ ous race as he eq ua led his wor st -ever Gra nd Prix perf o rm ance fo r the thi rd time in th e las t four ro unds . Hancock then won heat 22 ahead of Tom asz Go llob, la nd ed his sem ifi nal as well at th e sec ond attem pt and sw ep t to vi c tory in th e reru n of th e final. T h e f ina l had to b e rest arted cyc le n when Nick i Peder sen appeared to take off Jonsson on the first two turns , but th e Poli sh referee, who had excl uded Gre at Brit ain's Lee Rich ard son in heat 22, again sho wed hi s lack of c onsisten cy by ch uc ki ng Jonsson o ut. A t the very least it shou ld have been all f our ba c k , at wo rst h e co ul d ha ve excl uded the new Wo rld Ch ampion! H an c o c k refused to a l l o w th e resta rt to p hase him, and his vi ctory g ave hi m his sixth G ra nd Pr i x w in s in ce th e se ri es was lau nc he d in 1995 . It also m eans that Hanco ck finis he d fift h ove rall in t he st andin gs , with 121 po int s, an d alo ng with Nicki Ped e rs e n , C r ump , Rickar d s so n , Ada ms , Gollob, Scott Nic ho lls , Ho lt a, Ryan Su ll iv an a nd J o nsson , he has sec u red au t om at ic q ualifi ca t io n fo r the 20 04 Grand Prix series. Piotr Pro tasiewicz, Bj arn e Pedersen - who ha d hi s best GP to dat e in Norway - A les Drym l, K aj La uk k anen , Bo Brh el and J esp er B . J ensen all q uali fied thro ugh the Grand F inal at Poo le in A u g u st , and th e si x r e m a in i n g see d ed ri ders wil l be nam ed by th e FIM and Benfi el d Sports Int erna tional lat er th is m onth . It seems li kely that Rich a rd so n, Ja rek Ham pel , who is the new World Un de r 2 1 Ch am p ion , and th e inj ured Luk as Dr yml will get three of the six places. As fo r the othe rs, wh o k no ws? Ma rk Loram , M ik a e l Max, T om as z Bajerski , Hans Andersen , Ma t ej Zagar a nd how about even B i ll y Ja n ni ro? We c an only wait and wo nder. CN Viking Ship Stadi um Hamar, Norway Results : October 4, 2003 (Round 9 of 9J SE M.I 1 (T op 2 adv anc e to Fi nal) : 1. Bjarne Pe dersen ; 2 . Nick i Pede rse n: 3. Scott Nich olls ; 4 . T om asz GoJl b . o S EM I 2 ( T op 2 adv ance to Fin al ) : 1. Gre g Ha nc oc k; 2 . Andrea s J on s son : 3 . Rune Ho lt a ; 4. Jason Crump. FINAL: I . Greg Hancock ; 2. Nicki Pedersen; 3. Bjam e Pedersen; 4. Andreas J on sson. A M WO RLD CHAMPI ONSHIP SPEEDWA Y GRA ND PRIX SERIES POINTS STANDING S ( Aft er 9 of 9 roun ds): 1. Nick Pedersen ( 152) ; 2. J ason Crump ( 144) ; 3. Ton y Rick erdsson ( 127); 4 . Leigh A dams ( 126 ); 5 . Greg Hancoc k ( 121 ); 6 . Tom asz Goll ob ( 111); 7 . Scan Nic holls ( 102 ); 8 . Rune Holta (9 8) : 9 . Ry an Sullivan (94) ; 10. Andr eas Jo nsson (76) . e _ SO • OCTOBER 2 2 . 2003 43