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/128620
W o r-ld C h a m p io n s h ip Qualifie r- S e r-ie s O ve r-seas Fin a l Suddenly back: Sam Ennolenko (c e nt e r! flat b lew away the fi e l d on h is way to a 15 - p oint maximum victory during the Overseas Final in Poole, England. The w in marked Ennolenko's strongest perfonnance s ince lifting the World Championship in 1993. ho pe I ca n keep it goi ng for the rest of the year. " Aussie Jason Lyo ns wo n a run -off fo r second p lac e ahead of h is coun try ma n Steve J ohn st on , a nd Gary Ha v el o c k was fourt h. O th er quali fi ers for the Interconti ne nt al fi nal inc luded E ngland 's Pau l Hu rry , Martin Du g a r d , D a v id Ho w e and Sean Wilso n . America was r estric t ed to j us t three riders in the m eet in g follow in g th e w ithd ra w al of F ar i a an d Cook . Brent W ern er responded to the late call-u p but was clearly short on firepowe r as he o nly m a n ag ed threepoints ; understandable afte r he was onl y g ive n a few hou rs to prepare . Josh La rsen was clearly short of race fitness at th is level, as he should be more than capable of beating riders in this fiel d . If he had bee n racing every wee k in Europ e it m ight hav e been a d ifferent sto ry, but he failed to m a k e a serious impress io n o n th e event. eN C a liforn i a n i s sh o w in g n o sig ns of slow ing up. as he continues t o pu rsue a relent less schedule and m aint ain a sup erb st andar d of resul ts. A IS-po int maximum at Pool e was th e p er f ect way to sile nce th e critics who, more t ha n o nce . have accused h im of bein g " finished. " Not on ly did he w in all five of his races, he had to do it the hard wa y on more than one occasion. In heat 12, Ermolenko went from last to first with a daredevil move to bre eze past Mark L e m o n , Scott Nicholls and Cra ig Watson . A ll thi s was achieved i n the f irst lap after m issin g the start, using every inch of the track to gai n the advantage. He was forced to do it agai n three rac es lat er wh en he went w id e in the first turn and the n sw it ched in sid e Sean W ils on a nd M a r t in Du g ar d b ef ore passing Paul Hu rr y on th e fou rth turn . Thi s left h im w ith th ree lap s to pu ll clear , and he di d tha t with ap parent ease. Hi s ma x imum was com p le te d in heat 17 - bu t on ly after a re -run after Co ventr y 's Shaun Ta ce y had crashed o n th e fi rst l a p . Erm o l en k o w as in th ird p lac e at th e tim e of the crash but was cl e arly s h o w ing sig n s of m ov ing furth er fo rward wh en th e race was stopped . In the re -ru n he roared S T O RY AND PHOT OS BY JOHN H IPKISS POOLE, ENGLAND, JUNE 18 m eri c an ride r s pro vi d ed all th e talking po ints in th e latest round of the Worl d Sp eed w ay Ch am pi on ship quali fiers , and Sam Erm ol enko created headl in es fo r the right reasons at Po ol e Stad ium . " Sudde n Sam " was unstop pa ble as he called on all his ex perience to give a vintage perform ance, as he led the qu ali fiers for the Int ercontinent al Final with a I S-point m a ximum . B ut before the meeting, organizers were left baffled wi th th e non a p p earance of American r iders "F ly in' Mike" Far ia and J o hn " Cowb oy " Co o k . FlM officia ls w e re left scratc hi ng thei r head s bec ause they fu lly ex pec te d F ar i a to a rrive , bu t Cook wa s ab sen t for a di ff eren t m at te r as h e w as r u le d o u t t h roug h a t e chn i ca l i t y in h i s ra c ing li cense . Cook has been racing on a Sw ed ish license for th e last f ew ye ars , a nd th is see ms t o be wh ere the problem was c aused . Ermol enk o , wh o li ft ed th e title in 198 6 , 19 89 and 199 4 , has been th e subject of specul ation regardi ng h is ra cin g fu t ure as h e c e le brat es h i s 40 th b irthd ay later th is yea r. But the n 62 JULv 5 . 2000' cue I e n e vv s to v ic to ry an d h is cele bra tions we re as spectac ula r as wh en he wo n th e wo rld cro wn in 1993. "Th is m ean s as m uc h to m e as any other result in m y career, and it m ak es all the ha rd work I'v e pu t into t h i s worthwhi l e , " E r m o l en k o said . "Th e trac k was a b it d ifficu lt in the early stages , but we got there in the end , and I reall y enjoyed the racing . It was one of those days w h e n I fel t th ings were going good for m e. and I Poole Stadium Poole . England Res ults: June l B. ZOOO O /A (To p e ig ht a dv an ce to Int e rc on ti nen t al Fi na l ) : 1. Sam Ermolenk o ( 15 poin ts ) : 2 . Jason L y o n s (13) ; 3 . Steve J o hn st on ( 13): 4 . Gar y Havelock (13); 5 . David Howe (9) ; 6. Mart in Dugard (9) : 7. Paul Hurry (9) : 8. Sean Wilson (8): 9. Shoun Tacey (7) ; 10. Mtl rk Lemon (6) ; 11. Jos h Larsen (5 ); 12. Sco tt Nicholl s (4); 13 . Bre nt Werner (3); 14. Craig Watson ( 3); 15 . Nathan Mu rroy (2); 16 . Lee Richardso n (0) ; 17. J usti n Elk ins (0). Upc oming Round : Intercontinental Final - Halsted, Denmark, August 13 Ennolenko (c e nt e r ) reaps the accolades of h is stunning perfonnance. Australia 's Jason Lyons (rig ht) finished second, with England's Steve Johnstone (left) third.