he Auss ie, World number
two in each of the last three
years , clinched a hat trick of
wins at the Marketa Stadium
to seize the 2004 series lead,
off fellow countryman Leigh Adams , who
was eliminated in the sem ifinals when he
was passed by Ryan Sullivan on the last
two turns.
But the meeting was mar red by a nasty
crash for Ame rican Greg Hancock on the
outside of defending World Champion
Nicki Pedersen in heat 21 , a controversial
incident that prompted a bitter war of
words between the two riders .
Crump, beaten into second place in his
first three races , took the checkered flag
when it mattered most. winning his sem ifinal ahead of Sullivan and then beating
Polish surprise packet Jarek Hampel in the
final as the rain that had delayed the
meeting returned with a vengeance.
Hampel had beaten Crump in the earlier rounds, but th e Australian flyer got his
revenge in the final to secure his ninth
T
Grand Prix victory and is now only three
wins behind Tony Rickardsson, who was
th ird on the night for the second time this
season .
The start was put back by nearly two
hours after the riders unan imously
voted not to race unless a wet, mushy
top surface was bladed off. After initially
insisting they had no machinery to do
the jo b, the Prague club the n mysteriously found a blade, and remedial work
was undertaken .
"It was worth the wait ," said Crump.
"Th e track was good, but by the time the
semis and final came around , it was raining hard . I wouldn't say that Prague is one
of my favorite tracks but I always seem to
do well at the Marketa Stadium ."
The big talking point of the night sur rounded the heat 21 incide nt involving
Nicki Pedersen and Hancock . The first
ru nning of the race saw the unforgiving
Pedersen blatantly fence Hancock entering the backstraight, and the American
ended up taking a painful rag-doll fall as
(Above) Greg Honcock had a spectacular cra sh in heat 21 after World
Champion Nicki Pedersen forced
him into the fence.
(Above) Greg Hancock charges under Nick i Pedersen in
the rerun of Heat 21 . Can you say payback time?
Runa Holla, Bo Brhel and Piotr
Pro ta siew in do ba"le .
~~~~~; _ ...-==
www.cyclenews.com
.....;;.;;.....;..........
...._ .....
C YC LE NEWS • MAY 26,2004
_
49
