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/128618
FIM In divid u al Spe edw a y World Championship G r a n d Prix S erie s Rou nd 2 : UnKoping M otor Stadium clearly ha ppy to settle for the ru nn er u p spot, whic h p ut hi m th ro ugh to he at 11. J immy Nilsen was a cl ear winne r of heat e ig ht, but a ll the a ttention s urround ed s eco nd -pla c ed Rune Holta , who wo rked ha rd to get the better of home fa vorite Ste fa n Da nn o to jo in th e ma in event. Joe Scr een wa s fighting for his life in he at nine as he worked overtime to pa ss Dan no a nd stay in the com pe titio n with Kas pe r a clea r winne r. This was a we ll-d ese rved second plac e for S cre en , and it u n d e r lin e d wh a t a n en te rta ining ride r he is. _ C rump m a d e it through to t he main event when he won heat 1 D comfor ta bly to complete a good recovery from his earl y prob lems , and he was jo ined by fellow countryman Le igh Adams wit h Henka Gustafsson and Brian Karge r g o ing out. Billy Hamill e ntered the arena for the first time in he at 1 I , and made a s low start a s he was o utga ted by Carl Stonehewer and Ryan Sulli van , with the Aus sie pulling cle a r of Stoneh ew er down the back s t ra ig h t . Ham ill worked hard, but try as he might, he faile d to get the edge on Stonehewer a nd wa s a lrea dy faci ng a do -o r-d ie race in heat 15. Han coc k wa s also forced to go into a last -c h a nce race af ter t railing in . S TO RY A N D PHOT OS BY J O HN H IPKISS UNKOPING, SW EDEN, JUNE3 us t ra lia ' s Jason Crump battl ed through th e pa in ba rri er on a n ight o f drama and controve rsy to take th e honors in th e Swedish Grand Pr ix , but it wa sn ' t just Crump wh o stole the headlines. Re fere e Wo lfg a ng G las wa s the c ente r o f a tt ent io n , with a seri e s of ' m ista k es wh ich mad e the e ve nt a jo ke . Billy Hamill was the victi m of on e s uc h de cis ion when he was sent through th e ex it do or by an exclus ion in his sec ond ride when he to ok Le igh Adams wid e , but TV repl ay s co n firmed th er e wa s n o c o n t ac t , a nd Adams fell with no assistanc e from Ham ill. At any rate , it was Crump , bat tered a nd bruis ed aft er a high -speed crash in his semi -f inal e ve nt , who came shining through for the win afte r a tough and c o n t ro v e rs ial Swed ish Grand Prix. "I c a n 't be lieve what I' ve been through ," Crump said. "It really was an amazing meeting with plenty of taking points. Of course I'm so happy A 44 JUNE 2 1 , 2000 ' cue I e to hav e wo n the event, a nd that's th e most im po rta nt th ing fro m a persona l point of view , b ut t h ing s happened out there which shou ldn't have been allowed to happen ." Th ere was c o nt ro ve rsy from the start when Crump hit the tapes . Den mark's Brian Andersen followed him , bu t b y t h is s t age the re fe re e had a lrea dy sp ott ed the s itu a t io n and C ru mp was out , de spite .m a k ing a protest by returni ng to the track as if to sta rt the ra c e. . Crump th en poi nt ed to And e rse n a nd tried to get him excl uded instead - th e sig n o f a de sperate man who was clea rly pumpe d up. Crump's fellow Auss ie Ryan Sulli van won the re ru n in im pressive st yle with wildca rd Rune Holta chasing hard . J oe Screen provided th e first pa ss ing o f the night when he edg ed o ut Rafal Dobrucki , but he could do little to p rev ent He n k a Gustafsson fro m pulli ng well cl e a r for victory in he at two. Greg Han c ock su rvived an e a rly s c ar e in h eat thr ee wh en h e was forced to change machinery with jus t 3D-s econds of the two -minutes time allowance remain ing . He made a jetpropelled sta rt and pulled off a ne""s Australia's Jason Crump (left) survived controversy and crashes to win the Swedish Grand Prix at L1nkoping Motor Stadium. superb win after some clever work in the first turn when he closed the door on home favorite Stefan Danno. Peter Karlsson wor ked ha rd to fight for third place in heat fou r, but all th is was to no a va il, as he was forced to go into a last c ha nce race in th e early s tage s o f the m e e t ing - h is fe llo w Swede J im m y Nilsen was a clea r winne r. Toni Kaspe r did well to ho ld off the challenge of Le igh Adams in heat fiv e , an d b ot h went through , with Dan ish du o Nicki Ped ersen and Brian Ande rsen the first c a s u a lt ie s of the nigh t. Crump reco vered we ll from his dramatic start to the event with a s upe rb win in heat six, hitting the di rt in the early stages to pass Dob rucki , who joined him as a qualif ier for th e next stage, whi le Peter Karlsson and Britain 's Andy Smith were o ut. Hancock booked his p lac e in the main event with a fighting second place in heat seven, working hard to try and pass Rya n Sullivan, but there was no way throug h , and he was Not so good: Greg Hancock struggled with his factory Jawas at Llnkoplng, only earning five GP po ints.