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
thi rd in he at 12 , Brita in's Mark Loram a n imp re s s ive winn er we ll clea r of Mika e l Ka rls s on . Reign ing wo r ld c ha m pio n T on y Rickards son ma de no m ista ke in his first ride of the n igh t with a je t-p ro p ell ed s ta rt in he a t 13 , pull ing we ll clea r to make prog ress into heat 17 , a nd a t this sta ge he wa s clear ly justifyi ng t h e pre- m a tc h pre d ic t ion s o f m o s t ex per ts w ho m ad e h im a fa vor ite . Cr ump served warning to h is m ai n ev e n t r ivals wit h a b ra ve pa s s o n Tom a s z Go llob , goin g wide into the dirt, whic h proved c ruc ia l a s he us ed h is val uable knowledge fro m th e earlie r stages of the meeting . Co ntrove rsy surro u nded Hami ll's ne xt ap pear anc e in a c ritic a l heat 15 when he took the lead and , as the rid e rs s t a rt e d to g o down the ba ck s t rai g h t, Le ig h Ad ams cl ipped th e fen c e and c ra s he d wh ile t ry ing t o pa s s Ham ill. Amazingl y a ll four riders we re a llowed back in th e rerun , with s ome p eople sugg esting Hamill was t o o hard and o t he rs s u g g e s t in g Ad ams went down with o ut a ny oth er influen ce and th erefore sho u ld ha ve been e xclu ded . In the re -run , J o e Sc reen cl ipped Ha mill ' s bac k wh ee l a n d was se nt c ra s hing toward the fe nce , and th is forc ed a second rerun , with Scree n excl ude d . But the dram a d idn ' t stop there with Hamill missing the s tart. On the la st lap, he look ed to have gotten the drop on Nils e n , o nly to be taken wide and into the fence in d ra matic style. He was awarded thi rd p la ce but this mea nt nothing as his inte re s t in the meeti ng h ad ende d after j us t two rides with s ix-points. Ha nc ock wa s a nother c asua lty in hea t 16 whe n he los t contro l and hit the fence on the last la p , a nd both he a nd Kasper we nt out - Hanc ock pick ing up only five -poi nts . Wo rld Champ ion Rick a rd sson wa s s u perb a ga in in he a t 17 to win comfor t a bly b u t t he re w a s a ls o s ome s u p erb a ction fro m Gollob who cut ins ide with a fa b ulou s m ove to pass both S ulliva n a nd Mika e l Karlss on fo r the runne r-u p s po t , wh ich put him in th e s e m i-fina ls . Mark Loram wa s fo rce d to work hard in heat 18 to pass fellow coun t ry m a n Ston eh ew e r at th e li ne in a nother superb move wh ich pr ovided enterta inment for the 12 ,0 00 fa ns . Ricka rdsson secured his inevi ta ble pla c e in th e final with a no th e r perfect ride in the first sem i-fina l a nd Lor am a lso booked his s pot by s ettling for the ru nne r-up spot. Gollob's hopes of rea ching th e fina l e nded after an inc id en t in th e s econd s emi .'final when he was e xc lu de d for b ringing d o wn Crump , eve n th ough Gollo b h ad div ed to the in sid e and it was Cr ump 's leg wh ich cl ip pe d Go llob' s back wheel. Both ride rs charged into th e fence at high spe ed , but the rev o - luti o n a ry ne w a irfence di d th e jo b superb ly to allow both to walk a way . Cru mp showed great c ha ra cte r to win the reru n and boo k his place in the fina l along with T od d Wiltshire , who just had the edge on Su llivan . Controvers y rea ched the highest poss ible le vel in th e Main Final when Rick a rdsson was excluded de s p ite the fa ct th at Ma rk Lor am clearly too k his front wh e e l. T he re fe ree th en p u t Ric kardsson ba c k in the ' ra ce , but the o t he r thr e e r id e rs th en sa id th e y wo uld pu ll o ut of th e rerun in protest. Cr ump we nt on to complete a fai ry ta le recove ry by winn ing the final with Loram second a nd Wilts hi re third . Lora m is the new lea de r of the Grand Pri x se rie s , a nd he' s d e te rmin ed to stay the re . "It's a great result for m e , a nd I know e ve ryone will be talk ing a bo ut th e [Ric ka rd s s on] co ntroversy, bu t I ca n't affor d to loo k a t th at too much , I was th er e to take m y c ha nc e . It ' s nic e for m e t o be out on top a t this stage but there is still a lo ng way to go , a nd I ha ve to sta y fo cu s ed o n what's ahead. " CN Mark Loram (rig ht ) chases fellow B rit Carl Stonehewer (l eft) in elimination action. Loram finished second for the second t ime i n as m any rounds, and now leads the series standings. Billy Hamill's (right) hopes f or a second straight GP win were derailed after a controversial exclusion. Hamill now sits third In the series standings. Unkoping Motor Stadium Unkoping, Sweden Results: June 3, ZOOO (Round Z of 61 MAIN FINAL: 1. Ja son Crum p: 2. Mark Lc rem: 3. Todd Wiltsh ire; 4 . Ton y Rickards son. FIM INDIVIDUAL WOR LD SPEEDWA Y C 'SH IP GRAND PRIX SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Aft er 2 of 6 r ound s ) : t . Mark Lo ram ( 4 0 ); 2. T o dd Wilt shire (34 ): 3 . Billy Harnlll (3 1/1 win ); 4 . (TIE) J a so n Crump (30/1 win){fony Ric ka rds son (30) ; 6 . T om asz Go llo b (29 ); 7 . Chr is Lou is (25) ; 8 . Ji mmy Nilsen (2 1); 9. (TIE) Ryan Sullivan/ Mikae l Karlsson (20); 11. Ca rl Stonehewer ( 17); 12. Leigh A dams ( 16); 13. To ni Kasper (13 ); 14. (T IE) Greg Hancock I Henk a Gustafsson (12); 16 . Joe Scree n ( 10) ; 17. Run e Ho lt a (8); l B. ( TI E) Stefa n Da rmo /Refa l Dobrucki (7 ); 20 . Brian Karge r (3) ; Upcoming Round s: Round 3 - Wroclaw , Poland, July 1 Round 4 - Coventry, England, Ju ly 29 Loram, Crump and third-place finisher Todd Wiltshire enjoy the spoils of the podium. c y c I e n e _ S • J UNE 2 1 , 2000 45