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
wished fo r a wo rs e s tart to th e defense of his c rown, as he s uffe red a n e x c lu si o n in h e at II when he clippe d the back whe e l of le a de r Wilts hire . The Ston ehe wer fa iryta le c ontinued as he went out and wo n the re run . Hanco c k strug gle d in heat 12 after failing to m a ke the start a nd with his foot injury, whi ch was sustai ned in a Swedish League m a tch just four da ys earlier. He d id s e e m to be in s o me discomfort. Toma sz Gollo b m ade no m ista ke fro m th e s tart , a n d Ham ill ba ttl ed hard to c o me th ro ugh for an important second pla c e . Lora m put in a breathtaking ride in heat 14 as he ign ored injury problems agai n by passing Leig h Adams to move into s econd place. Lora m th en gra bbed a handful o f throttle and d ived around the outside of Gus tafsson. It left on e t o wonder what he would have been like if he wa s n 't suffe ring from a d islocated sh oulder and knee Iig· ament damage ! Han co c k boun c ed b a ck fro m h is firs t race d is ap p o in t m ent in superb style with a n im p ressive win in he at 16 to ex te nd his in ter est in th e com pet ition. Rickardsson wo rk e d ha rd for second place a nd both Adams a nd Cr u m p w ent o u t. Hamill m ade progr ess w it h a n im pr e s si v e sta rt in h e at 17 , but the re al a c t io n ca m e b e h in d h im wh en Sto ne he we r e ns ure he wo u ld jo in Ham ill in t he se m ifin a ls by p assi n g He nka Gu s t a fs s o n w it h a superb ride d own the back st ra igh t in th e last lap . Loram conti nue d to live up to his la bel as the "Miracle Man, " with a winning ride in h ea t 18 , pul ling we ll cle a r o f Mik ael Ka rls son shire. Gollo b was ba c ked by thou sands of Po lish fa ns who had made the short trip acros s th e border , and he rew a rd ed them for the ir s upport with a powe rfu l ride in he at 19 . He m iss e d th e st a rt but sw itc hed his line supe rbly in the s econd turn a nd div ed a head of Rick ardsson , but most im porta ntly for them wa s tha t th ey we re thro ug h to the s e mifina ls , with both Gustafsson a nd Ka s per e lim ina te d . Ha nc oc k's hopes were e nd ed with a last pla c e in he at 20, a ra ce wo n by anoth e r GP d e butan t in Wilt sh ire , who, it seems hard to believe, retired s o me e ig h t ye ar s ag o w ith b a c k inj u rie s. His c o me b ack h a s be en a massive s uccess , and b y this sta g e he was a GP s em i-fina list al ongs id e Chris Loui s to giv e Brita in thr e e rep res e nta tives in the closi ng s ta ges . Ha m ill m a de it thro ugh to the fina l with o ne of the hardest second-pl ac e finis hes he has ever had . Chris Lou is made a th rilling div e arou nd the o ut side to ta ke the lead , and Ha m ill ha d to fight off the challenge of Go llob for the bes t pa rt of three la ps . He man aged to q ua lify , underl inin g Hamill 's re- emergence on the wo rld sc e ne . Rickardsson was fortuna t e to be in v ited ba ck for a r e -run o f th e B Final wh e n he caused th e stoppage by jumping at th e gate. In that restart he was a ble to finish second , behind (Abovel Chris Louis (101 defeated Michal Makovsky (231 and Henka Gustafsson (151 en rou1e to the Main Final, where he finished third, behInd Hamill and Loram. (Left) Mark Loram (161 chases Hamill (111 in preliminary race number seven. Injury-plagued, Loram pu1 in a heroic effort to finish second to Hamill In the Main Final at the end of the evening. (Below Left) Loram, Hamill and Louis peft to riglrt) on the fim Grand Prix podium of the new m illennium. (Belowl Australia's Todd WIltshire peft) battles with Loram (c e nt e r! and reigning Wortd Speedway Champion Tony Rickardsson (right). WIltshire also made the Main Final, finishing fourth. Rickardsson bowed ou1 earty, starting off h is defense of the crown terribly. Go llob , wit h Mikae l Karl s s o n t hird and Stonehew er securing fourth for a satisfa cto ry e ig ith place overall. Th e fina l wa s a hard-fo ught a ffa ir, with Ha mill hanging o nto his handl e b a rs to sec u re a s tunning win . He m ad e th e sta rt well bu t soo n came un d e r p re s s ur e from Lo ra m , a nd he h ad t o pr e -judq e wh ich m o ve t he Engl is h rid e r wo u ld mak e in eve ry la p in order to win t he ra c e . It wa s like a ga me of c hess as both ride rs tri ed d ifferen t line s , but Ha m ill ha d e noug h tra c k c raft to s e c ure th e victo ry. "T h a t w as a real t o u gh fina l , " Hamill sai d . "I c o ul d tell Ma rk was th e re b ehin d m e , a nd I had to b e cleve r a bou t the way I rod e the ra ce , a nd I'm so plea sed to ha ve fin ished the jo b off: Ha m ill also sa id tha t he ha s set his sights on winning the world c rown he last lifted four-ye ars a go a fte r victory in the o pe n ing Grand Prix. " I wan t to b e w orld c h a m p io n agai n th is yea r," Ham ill said. "I rea lly fee l like I'm re ad y for that , altho ugh I re alize th e re is a long wa y to go . Thi s is jus t the start of a long , ha rd road , bu t it' s a perfect CN sta rt for me. " cue I e Marketa Stadium Prague, Czech Repu li e Results: May 6, 20 0 (Round 1 0161 MAIN ANAl: t . Billy Hamill ; 2. Mark. Lc ram: 3. Chris Louis; 4 . Todd Wiltshire. FIM I N DI V I D UA L SPEEDWAY WORLD C'SH IP GRAND PRIX SERIES POINTS STANDINGS ( A rt er I of 6 round s) : 1. Billy Hamill (25 /1 wi n); 2. Mark Loram (20) ; 3. Chri s Lo uis (18); 4 , To dd Wiltshir e ( 16) ; 5. Tom esz Gollob (15); 6 . Tony Ric ka rdsso n (1 4 ); 7 . Mikael Kar ls so n ( 12); 8 . Carl Stone he we r ( to); 9. (TIE) Ryan Sulliva n/ Henke Guste fsson (8 ); I I. (TIE) Toni Ka sper/Gre g Hancock (7) ; 13. (TIE) J immy Nil sen/Leigh A dam s (6 ) ; 15 . (T IE) J ason Crump/ J oe Screen (5) ; 17 . Pet er Karl sson /Stefan Denne (4) ; 19. (TIE) Brian Andersen /Rafal Dobruc ki (3 ). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 • Unkop ing, Sweden, June 3 Round 3 - Wroclaw , Poland, July 1 n e _ S ' MAY 24, 2 0 0 0 35