Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World S peedw ay Championship Ryan Sullivan passes Lel§h Adams In atrocious track conditions during the se mi final. his bike spec tacularly cartwheeled down the track . Referee Mick Posselwhite, having called all three riders back to the start when Rickardsson hit the fence on the outside of Hans Andersen and Tomasz Gollob in a congested coming toget her in heat 16, followed that precedent in allowing Pedersen back in, but it was Hancock who had the last laugh. As Gollob raced away into the lead in the rerun, the Californian sta lked Pedersen and gave him a big shove off turn four of lap three to claim second place. The kisses and pointed finger at the end of the race revealed it was a sweet moment for the 199 7 World Cham pion. Hancock the n fini shed last in the second se mifinal as the crash got the better of him. "I just don't know about Nicki: ' Hancock said. "He's had me a few times , and I have never bee n in a position to give him a push back. You forget about all the old days, but it goes way back, and then he goes and does somet hing like that. He got me good , and the re was no need for it. He is a good speedway rider, and he does n't nee d to do th ings like that. It showed he is not riding like a World Champion. He is riding out of des peration, and he should remember what won him the World Championship, and that was determination and not desperation. I was very surprised that he was allowed back in the race . The refe ree had alread y made a decisio n to put all three guys back in wh en Tony (Rickardsso n) came off on the back straight, but tha t was a very tight one, and you could understand it. The way I saw it with Nicki, he had only one thing on his mind, and he wasn't going to stop . He came at me with a lot of speed and at a strange angle, and it rea lly sucks. I hate to have to say bad stuff about the 50 MAY 26, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS guy, but what he did wasn't called fo r. In the re-run, it was sheer adrenaline. I was so angry with him, and sometimes you feel it was a shame he didn't come off when I pushed him out . It would have bee n nice to see him picking himself up off the gro und. In the sem ifinal, the bikes we re going we ll, but I think I lost the will a bit, and things sta rted to catch up with me after the crash. It was also very rainy, 40th Anniversary and I lost all my tear-o ffs after a coup le of laps. My left leg and knee are quite sore, and I hit my head quite good as we ll. My shoulder is a litt le sore, and I feel like I have some whiplash as well. Iwill be okay, but I nee d some rest for a few days." Pedersen was in no mood to apologize for his actions , even if the consensus of o pinion was that he was extremely fortu nate not be excluded for the second time on the night. In heat 14, he had been red lighted for helping Czech rider Bo Brhel off on the third turn. "I have hear d Greg has said I was desperate and it was dangerous riding in the fi rst running of that race : ' Pedersen said. " Idon't agree w ith that at all. I have never bee n more relaxed in my life. I am so relaxed, and I don't want other riders saying I am a desperate rider. Greg came up to me screaming, but I don't want to knock anyone off. I want to win the event, so why would I do tha t? In the rerun , he came in tight and moved me out , and I tried my hardest to stay on the bike. The dirt was very heavy out there , and the fence was getting closer, but I managed to stay on. It was close to me getting off the bike, but I didn't want any trouble so I tried to stay on ." The pre-Main Event posturing was - as is the norm in Grand Prix events these days - rather tepid . Robert Barth, Piotr Protasiew icz, Toni Svab and Kaj Laukkanen were the early departures, and they were followed by Bjarne Pedersen, Mikael Max, 2000 Wor ld Cham pion Mark Loram, and Ales Dryml ahead of the real business of the Main Event. Adams, winner of the first GP in Sweden, came past Lee Richardson to w in heat 13, and Cr ump was overhauled by Sullivan in the re run of 14 after Pederse n had been excluded . Hancock had to work the ora cle to kee p jesper B. jensen behind him to secure second behind Hampel in heat IS, but the Dane, who had been one lap from t he final in Stockholm w hen he came to grief while leading his semifinal, re tired at the back in heat 17 and pointed the finger of blame at possible sabotage. "My racing was good , even though I wasn't gating that we ll, but in my last racing, five screws in the clutch came out," jensen explained. "I have neve r in my career had that happen before, and I had no problems at all w ith my clutches at

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