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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128341
Round 7 WORLD SPEEDWAY Se p te m be r 4 , 2 0 0 4 ~ FIM World Individual Speedway Championship t won't go down as one of the more incident-packed meetings in Grand Prix history, but Saturday night's events at Krsko in Slovenia were nonetheless compelling and ensured that this year's World title race should go down to the wire . Jason Crump's failure to make the final for only the second time in seven rounds in 2004, and Tony Rickardsson's first Grand Prix win in 15 attempts, trimmed the Aussie's lead at the head of the standings from 23 points to a more vulnerable 15. Crump, who lost second place in the first semifinal when he was thrown wide off a rut on the third and fourth turns, is still the man to beat, with American star Greg Hancock also making up ground, moving to within 16 points of the leader. On a night of few mishaps - the only fall came when Andreas Jonsson clipped the back of Hans Andersen on the last lap of the final - the racing improved as the meeting progressed on a slick surface, and some thrilling contests culminated in a final lineup of Rickardsson on the inside, with Hancock, Jonsson and Andersen further along the grid. Hancock made the gate, and Jonsson also took off from what had been a graveyard gate three, but the sublime Rickardsson, who had looked the part from his opening ride in heat 10, completed his fifth win o ut of five to pass the unsettled Jonsson and then drive inside Hancock, who admitted he "lost con centration" on the tricky third and fourth bends. "I've been feeling quite strong in a number of GPs but haven't quite been able to pull it off," said the Swede , whose last GP victory was in the opening round of the 2003 campaign. "Strangely, I wasn't feeling that confident this time, but I just focused hard on what had to be done and kept my concentration. It's good to be right up there again." Rickardsson certain ly had the good fortune to get gate one in the final, but on the other side of the coin Leigh Adams, in joint second place before Saturday 's meeting, had the poor luck to get gate three in his semifinal after two successive wins, and he finds himself 25 points adrift of his fellow Aussie with two rounds, at Bydgoszcz (Poland) and Hamar (No rway), to race. Adams now looks out of contention, and he bemoaned the system of drawing gate positions for the semifinals and fi nal. "I felt good , I felt like I was fast and on the pace, and then to get gate three in the semifinal was cruel," he said. "I feel they need to do something about the draw for gates . You are going good and then bong, I L~tlL' t:..Lt!..EEt!. LL '[ tLLE ~ It!. ~ t:LLtt:..LL (£L~ L l Lt.~ LLL L LLL tEE t: E L:- LL t:.. L STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOHN HIPKISS ~ ~n CCnTC .... OCD 1 C. ntV\ A