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/128614
F IM Indiv idu a l Spe e d w a y World Champions h ip G r a nd Prix S e r ie s Rou n d 1 : Czech Grand P r ix S TO RY A ND PHOTO S BY J O HN H IPKISS PRAGGE, CZECH REPGBUC, MAY 6 ha t' s the message for the rest of the world champion sh ip fi eld a ft e r Amer ican ride r B ill y Hami ll ma de a sensat ional re t u rn to the Gra nd Prix scene with victory in the series o pener at Prague. On ly two seasons a go the man fro m Monrovia, California , was lying in a Polish hos p ital with se rious back injuries - and now he is close to com ple t ing a fu ll circle of fortu ne from de spair to de ligh t. He ha d to do it the hard way, thou gh , as he s tarted the m eeting in th e pr e -m a in ev ent whic h m eant h e h ad t o take six r ides t o re a lize his goal. "What can I say , I al most feel lost for wo rds her e : Hamill s a id a fter the m e e tin g . "T his is a tre mendous win for me , and I rea lly fee l like I'm ba ck T 34 MAY 24, 2000' c u e I e on top of my game. Th is is what I've been dream ing about all w inter . I alwa ys wan ted to see the first Grand Prix come around qu ickl y , and I've got my reward. I don't have a major sponsor and that makes the re sult even better for me . I have to p inch myself to believe th is is happening ." As for fellow American Greg Han cock , he did rema rkably well to ride thro ugh the pa in barrier for seven GP points just da ys after brea king a bone in his foot. Mark Loram was a major doubt going into the meeting be caus e of the s ho ulder and leg injur ies he s ustained racing in th e British Le a gue just six days ea rlier. But the Malta-born rider s howed no ill e ffects in the first ra ce with a lig htn ing start and even had time to look ba c k on his rivals , with Stefa n Da nn o chasing ha rd . Home hero T on i Ka s p e r s howed h is experience and knowledge of the n e _ s Prague track in his open ing ride by go ing wide in t he second turn and pulled clear well down the back stra ight. Former World Champion Ham ill ha s been struggling in his league rac ing so far th is season, but his firstbend aggression in heat three got him o ff to a g ood start as he took out Peter Karlsson in cl inical style a nd went on for a hard -fo ught win. Aussie To dd Wilts hire ma de a flying start in his GP debut as he won he at four under pres s ure fro m a nother GP d eb ut m an Carl Ston eh e we r, the first rider e ve r to ra c e at th is le vel from Britain 's Premier Le a gue , whic h is effective ly th e count ry's ve rsio n of second divis ion. Andy Sm ith and Mika l Mako vs ky we re the first casua lties of the early elimi nation races whe n they m iss ed out in he a t five, Ma ko vs ky suffering from bike pr o blern s. Chris Louis made a dream start to heat s ix and was a convinc ing winner ahead of Mikael Ka rls s o n , with Bo Brh e l and Bria n Karger see ing the ir interest ended. Th e re was more joy for th e British contingent when Stonehewer was a shock winner ahead of Ha m ill after win d ing u p the gas and b la s ti n g aro u nd t he boards in the first two turns. T here was simp ly n o way t hroug h fo r Hamill , b ut his seco nd p la c e was enough t o take hi m thro ugh to the main event. T he best ra c e of th e ea rly s tages ca me in he at nine , whe n Lora m a nd Mika e l Ka rls s on passed ea c h o the r a nd th e finis h went down to the wire with Karl s so n just a bout getting the verdict. Re igni ng world cha mpio n T on y Ric ka rds s o n could ha rdly h av e