Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128396
Round 9 WORLD SPEEDWAY September 10, 200S ~ FIM World Speedway Grand Prix Series STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOHN HIPKISS e began the Grand Prix season with seven wins out of seven at Wroclaw in Poland, and last Saturday night in Italy, World Champion Tony Rickardsson finished like he started, with another carbon-copy clean sweep of seven straight victories. The untouchable Swede crowned an unforgettable campaign to land his sixth success in this year's nine rounds with another masterful performance in the Italian GP. Rickardsson was a cut above the rest on a night that saw the big, flat and at times hazardously slippery lonigo circuit generate a bucket-load of incidents. There was passing galore, a liberal sprinkling of falls, but amid all the mayhem and mishaps, Rickardsson shined again. The 35-year-old six-time World Champion displayed the superiority that has been his hallmark this year, and though he managed to steer clear of any major problems, he did have to show his class to cut back from third to first on the first lap of heat I I and then pick off Dane Hans Andersen to win heat 13. Rickardsson topped the qualifying with a IS-point maximum, then swept away in the first semifinal, taking the flag in the final as well. The 25 points he banked took his final total to an incredible 196, a Grand Prix record. H "I think I surprised myself with what happened tonight," said Rickardsson, who had clinched the crown in the previous round at Bydgoszcz in Poland. "It's very much down to the fact that I've got a superb team around me who can get me motivated when I'm not really up and ready. We got a really good setup on the bike, and it was working really well, and it's been a big relief. It was a long wait before that Bydgoszcz meeting, so just to come here today to be able to have fun and enjoy racing, that was the main recipe." Rickardsson said that he didn't come to lonigo with the expectation that he would be so strong. "I didn't really come here with the intention of trying to win all seven races," he said. "I was just going to see how things were going, but I felt straight away in the first race my bike was working really good, and after that I just got more and more into the meeting, and things were 36 SEPTEMBER21,2005 • CYCLE NEWS going better and better. I became very focused to win the meeting." Jason Crump had already secured second spot in the series, but the contest for third went to the wire, with American ace Greg Hancock and leigh Adams going into the final vying to overhaul a far from fully fit Nicki Pedersen, who had failed to make the semis when he was excluded for wiping out Siovenian wildcard Matej Zagar in heat 20. Hancock had to win and needed Adams to trail in last to retain his position as World number three, but he could only finish third. Though Adams was last, the 16 points meant the Aussie finally threw off the monkey of fourth place - after three successive years - to displace Pedersen for the final rostrum finish on 107 points to Pedersen's 102. Hancock was fifth on 100 points, the fourth year in a row he has scaled the 100-point barrier. "I knew I could have ended up where